🧢 Coach T's Recap
Category and household penetration measure different things. One tracks people, the other tracks homes. They’re not interchangeable, yet each has value depending on your goal.
At Tracksuit, category penetration is calculated at the consumer level. That means when we ask, “Have you purchased [category] in the past [timeframe]?” we're talking about individual people. You might come across household penetration from other sources, especially in FMCG.
So, what’s the difference?
Category vs Household Penetration
| Category penetration | Household penetration |
What is measures | 👤 People who buy (or are likely to buy) from the category | 🏠 Households where anyone buys from the category |
How it's measured | ✅ Tracksuit consumer surveys | ❌ Not measured by Tracksuit - usually comes from household shopping panel data |
Best for | Brand building, media strategy, audience targeting | FMCG & retail: sizing markets, planning distribution |
At Tracksuit, our focus on consumer-level data keeps you closest to real consumer behavior, giving you the insight to build stronger brands, shape smarter strategies, and track progress over time.