Smart use of supermarket data

How smart data research on food shopping is benefitting health and well-being

Most of us know that vegetables are good for us. But according to the Food Foundation, we are still not eating enough of them. Consumption of veg has remained below Government and global health recommendations for over a decade in the UK, with intakes particularly low among children and low-income groups.

Research by the Consumer Data Research Centre (CDRC), led by Professor Michelle Morris at the University of Leeds, is helping to shape buying behaviour.

The researchers have been collaborating with IGD (Institute of Grocery Distribution), along with major retailers, including Asda and Sainsbury’s. They have investigated shopping patterns and analysed anonymised data from till transactions and loyalty cards. The projects aimed to encourage people to make healthier and more sustainable food choices while on the weekly shop.

About the projects

The work of the Leeds researchers began in 2017. Under the leadership of Professor Michelle Morris, the Nutrition and Lifestyle Analytics team started collaborating with a single supermarket partner. Then, in 2020, the researchers partnered with IGD, an organisation working with the food industry to deliver social impact. IGD’s Industry Nutrition Strategy group members represent over 11,500 UK food stores, accounting for more than 90% of take-home food sales.

The partnership with IGD enabled the researchers to run a series of in-store and online ‘behaviour change trials’ with four UK food retailers, including Asda and Sainsbury’s.

“Traditionally, people’s dietary habits have been recorded through surveys reporting what they have eaten, but this provided limited data to inform national policies. Retailers were reluctant to share more valuable data about shopping patterns due to commercial sensitivities. This project enabled us to build industry relationships and gain access to data sources, such as loyalty cards.”
Professor Michelle Morris, University of Leeds

Working with smart data

The researchers tested a range of interventions aimed at improving the public’s access to healthy and sustainable diets.

As well as exploring online sales behaviours, the team worked with its supermarket partners in-store, changing the environment by experimenting with signposting, product placement and incentivisation.

Crucially, the researchers analysed the data from customer transaction records to understand which experiments positively impacted purchasing patterns.

For example, the team investigated how effective the Sainsbury’s Healthy Start voucher top-up scheme had been in supporting pregnant women and children with access to healthy nutrition.

By examining the transaction data of customers involved in the scheme, the CDRC experts could confirm that these shoppers increased the amount of fruit and vegetables in their baskets by an average of 13 more portions and bought more products in line with the government’s Eatwell Guide.

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Informing retail strategies

The insights of the Consumer Data Resarch Centre team have benefited individual food retailers by delivering evidence-based research about what does and does not work when encouraging consumer healthy behaviours. They have enabled the food stores to make informed cost-benefit analyses and economic decisions about how best to support their customers.

The researchers’ work has also helped the food industry make changes that have improved access to healthy foods in supermarkets across the UK, encouraging people to make healthier and more sustainable shopping choices, including:

using price to incentivise customers to eat more fruit and vegetables
increasing the variety of meat-free products
extending access to support for those most in need

The CDRC team has robust data governance and ethical data use. This reputation has made retailers feel confident in both sharing insights and best practice across the sector. The companies have also advocated for other retailers to be part of the collaboration.

“It has been a privilege for IGD to partner with the Consumer Data Research Centre to evaluate real-life trials in supermarkets across the UK…We look forward to continuing our partnership together with the ambition of making healthy and sustainable diets easy and accessible for everyone.”
Hannah Skeggs, Senior Health & Sustainable Diets Manager, IGD

For Asda, the collaboration with Professor Michelle Morris and the Consumer Data Research Centre team has enabled the company to test and understand the impact of merchandising on consumer food choice in a real-world supermarket setting. Read the Healthy Sustainable Diets: Driving Change report (Oct 2022).

“Using the data and results from the trials we ran with Professor Morris’ team, we have been able to influence decision-making within the business to ensure our Plant Based range of alternatives to meat are accessible for customers.”
Beth Fowler, Nutrition and Health Strategy Manager, Asda

Helping customers

Introducing interventions that alter shopping patterns towards healthier diets means consumers have also benefited from the CDRC team’s research.

In 2022, Sainsbury’s used the findings from the study to make a business case to extend their top-up coupons for the Healthy Start voucher scheme for England, Wales and Northern Ireland for an additional six months. The move meant up to half a million pregnant women and young families were eligible for this benefit.

“Sainsbury’s experience of working with Michelle and her team has been excellent. They have pushed boundaries in how the food industry collaborates with academia and influenced business decisions within Sainsbury’s and choices available to our customers.”
Nilani Sritharan, Group Head of Healthy & Sustainable Diets, Sainsbury’s

Celebrating impact

In October 2023, the CDRC won the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)’s Celebrating Impact Prize. The award recognised the work the team is doing to improve access for customers to healthy and sustainable diets.

About the Consumer Data Research Centre

The Consumer Data Research Centre was established in 2014 and is supported by Smart Data Research UK. It brings together world-class researchers from the University of Leeds, University College London, University of Liverpool and University of Oxford.

The centre leads academic engagement between industry and the social sciences and utilises consumer data for academic research purposes. It provides unique insight into different societal and economic challenges, collaborating with a range of consumer data providers.