The Times

Often the data is wrong, missing or misinterpreted. Danielle Pinnington, managing director at shopper research agency Shoppercentric, says new product launches are a great way to watch this error in action. “Big data can’t tell you what it hasn’t already measured. It can’t predict the outcome of a wholly new idea because it doesn’t have relevant data on which to base the prediction,” she says, recommending bespoke research to address this.