Shopper Digest: Gaining Penetration = Growth?

At our Grow Smart Seminar 2025, we highlighted that penetration is the core driver of market share growth within a category. In fact, our tracking shows that 86% of brands that achieved growth did so by increasing their penetration.

As a brand expands and builds a broader buyer base, it naturally enjoys a stronger level of loyalty. This pattern held true in 2024 and is expected to continue. Growing your buyer base remains one of the most effective ways to increase brand sales and, in turn, grow market share.

The Question Is: How?

Often, conversations focus on winning shoppers from direct competitors within the category. But what if that is no longer the only challenge?

What if brand competition becomes relevant only when shoppers actually choose to buy the category?

Let’s take the Condiments sector as an example.

This sector, comprising several cooking categories, is seeing increased household penetration – shoppers are exploring more cooking aids. Yet, one of the major players, Brand A, is struggling to keep pace.

Our data reveals that while the Total Condiments sector is recruiting new buyers, Brand A’s growth is being hindered—especially due to underperformance in one of its three key categories.

What we know is this: two of Brand A’s core categories are stable, both in attracting new buyers and retaining repeat purchasers. The issue lies with the third category, where the brand is losing shoppers more quickly than it can replace them. Even among remaining customers, purchase frequency is dropping significantly. This imbalance is a red flag for any brand targeting sustainable growth.

As the saying goes: “Penetration is king.” Growth stems from acquiring new buyers—not just selling more to existing ones.

The good news? Category A is gaining importance and traction, particularly among multi-category shoppers. This presents a timely opportunity to drive cross-category purchasing.

Our recommendations:

• Short-term: Leverage cross-category traffic to trigger purchases and attract new category buyers to the brand (e.g. via cross-category bundles or increased shelf visibility). This will drive penetration growth.
• Long-term: Identify the reasons behind shopper drop-off and reduced purchase frequency, in order to address and reverse the decline more effectively.

Since implementing a bundle pack strategy, Brand A has seen recovery – especially in the previously declining category – with a noticeable lift in overall penetration.

Shopper panel methodology goes beyond showing what’s happening—it helps uncover the why behind growth. These deeper insights allow brands to craft strategies that align with real shopper behaviour.

When combined with our Brand Growth Framework, we’re well-equipped to deliver meaningful, measurable impact.

Penetration refers to the percentage of the population purchasing a specific brand over a defined period. It is a critical metric used by industry players to understand the size of their customer base relative to competitors—and to assess potential for expansion.

At Worldpanel, we support our clients in driving brand growth by pinpointing opportunities to win more buyers.

Source: P7 2024 database, Worldpanel Malaysia