Seeing is Believing
Have you ever wished that you could see how your product performed on shelf before launching regionally or nationally? Have you ever felt that the product testing perhaps wasn’t telling the full story? Seeing your product in a small-scale retail test can help you understand how it will perform in “the real world” and give an opportunity to discover any surprises and make any potential pivots to the test. Other tests evaluate the concept or a product itself, but a retail test can assess the entire proposition, in context, “in the wild.”
What can you see (and potentially pivot) in a small retail test? While it’s difficult to change the actual product or formulation, that’s often not the problem, as many companies undergo rigorous product testing before bringing a product to market. There are, however, opportunities to change several of the other “p’s” of marketing during the test.
Placement: Despite all the planograms and pictures of shelf sets that may have been received, there is no substitute for seeing the product on the shelf and talking to consumers who are trying to find it. Sometimes pictures don’t tell the entire story, and the chosen location isn’t quite right. A small, nimble test can find opportunities to improve location, either in the same aisle or a different aisle and make this pivot during the test.
Promotional Materials: While the promotional materials may look beautiful on their own, they may fade into the shelf set when placed in the store. Messages and concepts that may have resonated in a focus group may not be as impactful in a five-word headline. Seeing these materials in stores and hearing consumers’ reactions to them can tell a very different story. In a small test, promotional materials and digital marketing can be modified and replaced quickly.
Packaging: Even if packaging tests well, is attractive, and is on brand, it can also be recessive or not communicate the benefit – which isn’t tested until it’s actually on shelf. It’s possible to redo packaging during a test; however, it’s not always practical. There are alternatives such as stickering that can change the packaging to help it stand out and communicate the right messages.
Pricing: Concept tests that include pricing are certainly helpful to guide setting prices; however, there is no substitute for consumers voting with their wallets. In a small retail test, you can see if the “price is right,” and if not, it can be adjusted during the test to see the impact of the change.
In a recent retail test with a client, we saw that several of these “p’s” were challenges, and we were able to make several pivots that should improve the entire product proposition. We are still collecting data from the test, but if we hadn’t been in-market, in the stores, and talking to consumers in the first few weeks of the test to witness what was happening, we wouldn’t have known to make these changes. Seeing the product perform in-market truly was believing.