Our aim is simple: to use shopping data for public good

We explore how shopping data can be used to support better health research. Our work focuses on understanding how people feel about sharing their data, and showing—through real case studies—how shopping information can be safely linked with health records to answer important questions.

Our aim is to ensure that your data are always used in a way that is safe, ethical, and genuinely beneficial for the public.

We asked people how they feel about their data being used in research. We found that most people are happy to share their information if they understand how it will be used, who will see it, and that they can stay in control. This research was important because it helps us to design studies that are safe, ethical, and respectful of everyone’s privacy.

We summarised all the ways that researchers have used shopping data for health research so far. This helped us understand not only what is possible, but also what we can do to improve our research in the future.

One of our projects used shopping data to look at how people choose meal deals. We found that people tend to pick higher-calorie options later in the day, later in the week (especially on Fridays), and later in the year (towards Christmas). These kinds of patterns help us understand everyday habits and why people make the choices they do.