The Nielsen Company announced the launch of a Homescan consumer purchase panel in China. With over 40,000 households, this will be the largest consumer purchasing panel available in China, the world's fastest growing market. The panel's size and design will provide marketers with a far superior capability to measure and understand the purchasing behavior of Chinese consumers.

    In today's dynamic and highly competitive retail environment, customers have more choices than ever. Add to that an increasingly diverse set of needs and wants and it is evident why many retailers and their manufacturer partners are turning to Loyalty Marketing to drive customer value, retention and growth. Nielsen helps clients maximize the power of their loyalty program. The Homescan panel will cover a geographic footprint similar to Nielsen's Retail and Media Measurement services beginning later this year.

    "The launch of the Homescan panel is a significant expansion of our capabilities in China," stated Mitch Barns, President of Nielsen Greater China. "It is also a critical step in our commitment to offer comprehensive and integrated services in China, all focused on the goal of helping our clients grow through better understanding of consumers and markets."

    "Our ability to integrate the Homescan data with data from Nielsen's other services in China will enable us to provide our clients with a complete and integrated view of retail sales, media activity, and consumer purchase behavior,“ remarked Mr. Barns. "The launch of a consumer panel in China is a significant investment for The Nielsen Company, and it comes in addition to our other investments in expanding our retail measurement, online media measurement, and several other capabilities in China."

    The service will provide reads for key cities and provinces, as well as city-tier reporting. In addition to Nielsen's existing Homescan panel in Hong Kong, and in conjunction with the Homescan panel launch in China, Nielsen will also be introducing a Homescan consumer panel in Taiwan to provide full coverage of consumer purchasing behavior for the Greater China region. With the addition of these new Homescan panels for the Greater China region, Homescan will now operate in 28 countries, measuring the purchase behavior of over 300,000 households.

    Nielsen provides its clients with a thorough understanding of their retail performance and how it compares to their competitors, helping them in formulating effective sales and marketing strategies. The Company provides clients with continuous tracking of product sales to consumers based on information gathered at the retail point-of-sale. Integration of information from a variety of sources provides accurate, decision-ready reporting and coverage of a broad array of retail channels.

    Nielsen measures what’s happening in the digital universe through syndicated and custom research. We deliver comprehensive, independent measurement and analysis of online audiences, advertising, video, consumer-generated media, word of mouth, commerce, and consumer behavior. By fusing our online data with other offline research, we also track and measure ad effectiveness and consumer behavior across multiple media platforms.