Unilever is changing the way it tracks shoppers, honing in on their shopping behaviour rather than their demographic, according to a report published by The Drum.

The Anglo-Dutch FMCG giant has charged its insights team with interpreting the data it holds in a different way to reveal the context of each purchase.

“What we’re observing is very consistent behaviour in the sense that how people shop is very much influenced by the store,” said Keith Sleight, Global Shopping Insight Director.  

Insights are used to inform content, both online and offline, to help post-shopper rationalization. For example, in India, having studied the content of reviews, the Unilever team found that many were concerned that the product they had purchased was fake – the marketing team then tweaked content to reassure customers.