Numerator Launching Inflation Measure

Numerator, the Kantar firm now incorporating Worldpanel, is launching its own consumer-centric measure of inflation, making use of its verified, item-level retail purchase data. The service will be 'similar to' official government stats but can be viewed alongside the firm's data on the evolution of buying behavior.

Numerator was formed in 2018, bought by Kantar in 2021, launched in Europe in March this year, and merged with Worldpanel in the summer. The company blends first-party data from over 1 million US households with advanced technology to provide '360-degree consumer understanding', counts 5,400 employees worldwide and works for 80 of the top 100 CPG brand manufacturers. Led by CEO Eric Belcher (pictured), its separation from Kantar's Consulting business is said to be well advanced.

The company will release the first data from the new service on Thursday November 13th at 8:30 a.m. ET, covering month-over-month and year-over-year inflation changes through October 2025; a cumulative inflation index since 2018; and expenditure and product shares by sector covered in Numerator's Consumer Price Index (CPI). Data in this will cover approximately 20% of the consumption basket captured in the government's Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index, publications of The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Numerator's service will augment the index figures with an understanding of how consumers adjust their shopping when prices change, including brand switching, downsizing, and shifts in where they buy. The service draws on item-level transactions from 200,000 geographically and demographically representative US households, covering categories such as groceries, household goods, and health and beauty.

Web site: www.numerator.com/inflation .