Inflation comes with more than just rising prices – it triggers a major reset in consumer priorities. As households feel the squeeze, their shopping behaviors shift in subtle but important ways. One of the most visible signs is channel switching – when consumers change where they buy, how they buy, or what type of retailer they choose.

Consider these common scenarios:

• A shopper who once bought groceries at a premium organic store now chooses a discount supermarket.
• A consumer shifts from buying skincare products in-store at a department store to buying online during promotional events.
• A family once loyal to a national pharmacy chain now purchases their cold medicine through a bulk membership retailer.

These shifts may seem small, but for brands and retailers, they can cause ripple effects in category share, loyalty, and brand perception. That’s why channel switching studies are essential for tracking consumer behavior changes during inflation. But tracking these behaviors accurately requires more than just running the numbers.

Why DIY Tools Are Useful – But Not Always Enough

Platforms like Numerator provide detailed behavioral data, such as purchase receipts, trip types, and retail channel distribution. Used well, they can help uncover patterns like trade-down behavior, increased reliance on e-commerce, or geographic channel preferences.

However, when teams use these tools without the right expertise, they risk leaving too much insight on the table. Questions like:

• Which switching patterns actually matter?
• What’s driving the change – price, accessibility, experience?
• How should we interpret one-time switches versus sustained shifts?

…all require more than just a technical understanding of the platform. They require judgment, context, and a framework for thinking about behavioral economics – areas where consumer insights professionals can make a big impact.

Tracking the Right Metrics for Today’s Environment

Too often, teams track only high-level metrics – frequency of shopping trips, volume share by channel, or retailer loyalty scores. But in the context of inflation and shifting habits, you need more nuanced indicators:

• Trip motivation: Was it a stock-up, emergency, or deal-driven visit?
• Item substitution: Did the shopper switch brands, or switch channels?
• Retailer variety: Are consumers diversifying or consolidating their trips?

With On Demand Talent by your side, you gain access to experts who know how to translate these metrics into actionable insights – helping your team see not just what happened, but what to do next.

DIY research platforms offer fast, efficient access to valuable data – and tools like Numerator have become essential in tracking shopper behavior during economic shifts. But even the most powerful platforms can lead to misleading conclusions if they’re not used thoughtfully. When it comes to studying channel switching, common mistakes can easily undermine your learnings and leave critical opportunities unexplored.

1. Misdefining What Counts as 'Channel Switching'

One of the most frequent issues in DIY shopper research is a narrow or inconsistent definition of what channel switching actually is. Is it just when a shopper moves from online to in-store? Or does switching from one mass retailer to a value store count, too?

Without a clear methodology grounded in shopper insights and behavioral economics, results may be too broad – or too specific – to support smart business decisions.

2. Data Without Direction

DIY tools generate a lot of data, but they don’t always tell you what’s important. Teams may find themselves with dozens of charts, yet still unsure:

• Which shifts indicate actual consumer behavior change vs. one-time promotions?
• How to separate seasonal trends from inflation-driven habits?
• What changes require action in terms of product strategy or retail planning?

With experienced On Demand Talent, insights pros help interpret the "why" behind the numbers, avoiding misreads that can lead to wasted effort or reactive strategies.

3. Poor Study Setups That Miss the Mark

Setting up studies in tools like Numerator can be deceptively complex. A small oversight – like choosing too broad a category filter or mislabeling key shopper cohorts – can skew results.

Some common setup challenges include:

• Overlapping channel definitions or inconsistent grouping of retailers
• Too-short timeframes that miss longer-term behavioral shifts
• Missed shopper segments due to incorrect filtering

By teaming up with On Demand Talent, brands can get expert market research support to design studies that align with their business goals – without needing to commit to a long-term hire or outside agency.

4. Over-reliance on Quantitative Data Alone

DIY tools focus heavily on behavioral and transactional data. But when studying why shoppers switch channels, it’s not just about what people do – it’s also about why they do it.

Without qualitative context, it’s easy to misinterpret the intent behind changes. Are shoppers avoiding a store because of pricing, convenience, or shifting attitudes around value? A skilled insights professional can bring multiple data sources together – including voice of customer, sentiment tracking, or observational research – to build a more accurate picture.

Bridging the Gap with Flexible Expertise

The bottom line is this: tools like Numerator are incredibly powerful, but they don’t replace expertise. Pairing DIY platforms with On Demand Talent gives your team the best of both worlds – the speed and flexibility of DIY, with the depth and direction of an experienced insights professional.

Whether you need help with study design, shopper segmentation, or interpreting trends in the context of inflation, On Demand Talent equips your team to act faster and smarter – without sacrificing research quality.

Understanding channel switching goes beyond identifying where consumers shop – it’s about understanding why they’re making these choices. This is where behavioral economics becomes essential. While DIY tools like Numerator can track transactional data, they often overlook the psychological factors behind consumer decisions during economic disruptions like inflation. Without this context, it's easy to misinterpret the 'what' without grasping the 'why.'

In an inflationary environment, price sensitivity heightens, but consumer choices are rarely based on price alone. For example, a shopper leaving a premium grocery chain for a discount retailer might not just be reacting to cost, but also to perceptions of value, convenience, or brand loyalty. Behavioral economics helps decode these nuanced motivations.

Key Biases That Influence Channel Switching

Several common cognitive biases affect how consumers react during inflation – and ignoring them can lead to faulty conclusions in your DIY channel switching study:

• Loss aversion: Shoppers fear paying more for the same value, prompting them to switch to perceived “value” retailers.
• Habit formation: Some shoppers may not switch channels despite price increases, sticking to familiar routines unless nudged by external incentives.
• Choice overload: In category-rich environments (e.g., e-commerce platforms), too many options can overwhelm shoppers, shifting them toward more curated or simplified shopping experiences.

Without a behavioral lens, these behaviors may be incorrectly labeled as random or inconsistent. This can skew insights and misguide marketing or assortment strategies.

Why DIY Tools Alone Fall Short

Platforms like Numerator are excellent at highlighting behavioral data patterns, but they rely on the user’s expertise to define objectives, select metrics, and interpret outputs. If your team lacks specialized training in behavioral science, there’s a good chance you’re overlooking key variables that actually drive consumer decisions.

More importantly, subtle shifts – like a consumer choosing a curbside pickup over an in-store visit – might not look like “switching” on the surface. But when viewed through a behavioral lens, these micro-decisions can indicate deeper attitude shifts triggered by financial stress or convenience preferences.

Interpreting shopper insights accurately requires marrying the data from tools like Numerator with behavioral context. It’s here that expertise becomes essential to maintain research accuracy, especially as businesses rely heavily on DIY market research during tight budget cycles.

When teams jump into DIY shopper research tools like Numerator, the promise is speed and control. But without the right expertise, even the most powerful platforms can lead to stalled or inconclusive studies. That’s where On Demand Talent makes a critical difference – providing immediate support that bridges skill gaps without derailing project timelines.

If your team is struggling with study setup, biased segments, or unclear patterns in shopper data, you’re not alone. Many organizations face these common issues when using DIY tools:

• Misaligned study objectives that don't reflect changing channel dynamics
• Incomplete segmentation that misses key switching behaviors
• Difficulty interpreting data spikes post-inflation without contextual expertise

Bringing in On Demand Talent gives you fast access to experienced consumer insights professionals who have used platforms like Numerator extensively. These aren't freelancers learning on the job – they’re seasoned strategists who know how to ask the right questions and extract conclusions with clarity.

Flexible Support Without Sacrificing Speed

Instead of waiting months for a full-time hire or outsourcing to an expensive agency, On Demand Talent can be matched and onboarded within days or weeks. Whether you need someone to guide your data extraction, build a custom dashboard, or provide final analysis, SIVO’s On Demand experts scale with your needs and timeline.

For example (fictional), a mid-sized food brand recently ran a DIY Numerator study to track shoppers moving between brick-and-mortar and delivery during inflation. Their internal team couldn’t translate the behavioral shifts into actionable insights. By bringing in an On Demand Talent expert with retail and panel data experience, the brand clarified its shopper profiles and refined its promotional strategy – all within the original project window.

Achieve Better Results, Even with DIY Investments

DIY tools are not shortcuts – they require the same level of strategic thinking and precision as custom research. On Demand Talent ensures your research efforts remain grounded in objective-based design and behavioral understanding, while maximizing the return on tools you’ve already invested in.

Simply put, you don’t have to choose between expert support and agile execution. With On Demand Talent, you can have both.

In today’s fast-paced market, many companies are asking their internal research teams to do more with less. As DIY market research becomes more prevalent, the responsibility to master new platforms and interpret increasingly complex customer behavior often falls on already-stretched insights professionals. Partnering with On Demand Talent can not only help in the short term, but can also build lasting internal capabilities that set teams up for long-term success.

Develop Talent While Moving Projects Forward

When you bring in On Demand Talent, you're not just outsourcing work – you're inviting in expertise that can accelerate both output and learning. These professionals plug into your processes and tools, working alongside your team to show how to:

• Set up more effective studies in tools like Numerator
• Apply behavioral economics thinking to research findings
• Turn raw consumer behavior data into compelling stories for stakeholders

This type of hands-on collaboration helps your team build confidence with DIY platforms, meaning upskilling happens in real time, not through static training sessions or theoretical workshops.

Future-Proofing Your Insights Function

The consumer insights function is evolving rapidly – incorporating AI, fragmented data sources, and rising expectations for speed and actionability. On Demand Talent can help your team stay ahead by modeling best practices and implementing repeatable frameworks. Whether you’re planning to scale your research operations or help junior analysts grow faster, this flexible support gives you options without long-term commitments.

And importantly, unlike freelance marketplaces or traditional consultants, SIVO’s On Demand Talent are tightly vetted professionals with backgrounds working for notable brands. You get peace of mind knowing they can operate independently while aligning with your business goals and research ethic.

In one fictional case, a digital-first brand leaned on On Demand Talent to modernize its channel tracking during inflation and teach its analysts how to run similar studies going forward. What started as a three-month support role turned into a capability-building engagement that transformed the internal team’s confidence with platform tools – all without adjusting headcount.

Partnering with research experts through On Demand Talent isn’t just about filling temporary gaps – it’s about making your research team more nimble, capable, and ready for what’s next.