A consumer panel is a group of individuals selected to provide input on products and services for research purposes. Consumer panels are a useful technique to gather feedback, test hypothesis, discover behaviours and gain insights in a controlled method.

The activities of consumer panels can range from focus groups to answering surveys and questionnaire. The former, which involves gathering a small group of consumers in a room for discussions, is costly and labour-intensive. Using the right technology and incentives, you can get the same high-level engagement and input from consumers by distributing a survey to thousands of respondents and do it for a factor of the cost. In this instance, a consumer panel can range from 100 respondents to thousands.

The purpose of a consumer panel is to measure what consumers do and like. Consumer panels are involved in things such as testing products, tasting foods and wines, and testing ads. Companies will put together a consumer panel to figure out what new products to release or whether a new recipe works or not. Some companies use consumer panels to test whether a particular advertisement works or not before releasing it as a commercial or other expensive advertising method.