Customer Panel

What is a Customer Panel?

A Customer Panel, also known as a Consumer Panel is a group of individuals volunteering and selected to provide input on products and services for research purposes. Consumer panels are a useful technique to gather customer feedback, test hypotheses, trial new products and services, discover customer behaviours and gain insights.

An online customer panel is effectively a managed surveying system, where members of the panel have agreed to give feedback and opinions on the areas of interest. Typically panels are broadly nationally representative or focused on a particular target market. However, they almost always consist of a cross-section of the population allowing a range of consumer segments to be explored.

Benefits of a Customer Panel

Having a customer panel is a very powerful tool and it must be managed effectively to be able to achieve the best results. Panel members need to be looked after and feel valued otherwise they will soon leave for greener pastures. Looking after the interests of panel members is at the heart of any customer panel provider. Members are rewarded in cash or voucher to thank them for their time and continued participation. Live or regular news feed helps keep participants informed about research activities, company news, participant incentives and more!

Panels are most effective when they are used with a range of tools, for example, quick polls that provide instant access to feedback and opinions, which then can collaborate question boards, forums and diaries. A key benefit of panels is the fact they are ongoing and allow for longitudinal studies that allow for long term evaluations and studies that require using the same people.