Pack testing
Check your pack gets seen, read and picked
Test new pack designs against your current pack and the products that sit beside it. See what shoppers notice first, what they take from the pack, and which design they would choose.
Why test the pack
A pack gets a few seconds. Test it before you print it.
Shoppers scan a shelf fast. A redesign can look great in a meeting and still fade next to rivals, or lose the color and shape that loyal buyers look for. Once the print run is done, changing it is slow and costly. A pack test puts the design in front of real shoppers first, next to the products it will compete with.
What can go on the bench
On the shelf
Watch a pack meet the shelf
- 01The pack goes on the shelf
- 02Shoppers click, then tell us
- 03The heatmap builds up
- 04Better or worse than today
Step 1 / 4
The pack goes on the shelf
Your design sits next to the products it will compete with, and each shopper sees one design only.
Study set-up
Pack testing
- StimulusTwo new granola pouch designs and the current pouch
- ShelfEach design on a shelf image next to four rival pouches
- WhoUS adults who bought granola in the past three months
- DesignThree groups; each shopper sees one design
- People200 shoppers per design, 600 in all
Set up with our team, or yourself in CatalyseAI
Step 2 / 4
Shoppers click, then tell us
They click what catches their eye, then say in their own words what the pack tells them.
Question 1 of 11
Click what catches your eye first.
Tap once on the picture
Next"The oats on the front look really crunchy."
"I did not see the claim at all, just the color."
"It still looks like my usual one, good."
Step 3 / 4
The heatmap builds up
Every first click lands on the shelf picture. The clicks add up to a heatmap and a share for each part of the pack.
600 shoppers answered
Design 1 · share of first clicks, by part of the pack
- 1Front claim38%
- 2Product shot24%
- 3Logo21%
- -Rival packs17%
Each person clicks once: the spot that caught the eye first.
Step 4 / 4
Better or worse than today
Each new design gets a plain read against the current pack, with significance markers.
Against today's pack
Every design, read against today's pack
Each row is one measure, named the way the report names it.
Base: 200 shoppers per design; each saw one design next to four rival pouches.
Top-two-box shares on labeled five-point scales. Final pick adds up to 100%.
The read
Example: refreshing a granola pouch
A cereal brand has two new designs for its granola pouch and wants to know if either beats the current one. US adults who bought granola in the past three months are split into three groups, and each group sees one design on a shelf image next to four rival pouches. They click on what catches their eye, say what the pack tells them, and rate appeal, clarity and purchase intent. Current buyers are also asked whether they would still recognize the pouch. The report shows each new design against the current pouch, and the heatmap shows whether the new front claim gets seen at all.
Design 1
Take forward
It beats today's pouch on stand-out and final pick, and most current buyers still know it.
The front claim gets seen: it is the first thing people click.
Design 2
Rework
Liked, but only 62% of current buyers still recognize it.
Bring back the color loyal buyers look for.
Current pouch
Reference
The bar every new design is read against.
Strong recognition, weak stand-out.
Ask the studyAnswers from your own data
Does Design 1 lose the buyers we already have?
Mostly not. 79% of current buyers still knew it was their brand, against 88% for today's pouch. Design 2 drops to 62%.
It checks its numbers against your data and draws the chart.
Step by step
How a pack test runs
From flat artwork to a read against today's pack.
01
Send the designs
Flat artwork or good mock-ups are enough. Add your current pack and the competitor packs it sits beside.
02
Split the shoppers
Each shopper sees one design, so the current pack and every new route are judged on equal terms and none of them colors the view of the next.
03
Watch what they notice
Shoppers click on what catches their eye, then tell us in their own words what the pack says to them.
04
Ask what they think
Labeled five-point scales for appeal, clarity and purchase intent. At the end, everyone sees all the designs and picks one.
05
Compare against today's pack
Each new design is read against the current pack, with significance markers, so chance differences are not mistaken for real ones.
Then: decide
It stands out more and keeps most of the brand's loyal buyers.
Plan your study
What you take away
What you get
Output 01
Click heatmap for each design
Where shoppers click when asked what catches their eye, with areas you draw, such as the logo, the claim and the product shot, and each area's share of clicks.
Output 02
What the pack says
Open answers grouped into themes and shown as a word cloud, so you can see whether the message you meant is the message people take.
Output 03
Design scorecard
Appeal, stand-out, clarity and purchase intent for each design, side by side with the current pack.
Output 04
Shelf find task
Shoppers look for your product on a shelf image, and the time it takes to find it is recorded.
Output 05
Claims ranked
When the front of pack has room for two claims and you have ten, a MaxDiff exercise ranks them.
Output 06
Report and data
The report as a PowerPoint deck, with the numbers in an Excel workbook and the raw answers as CSV.
FAQ
Questions, answered
Do I need finished artwork?
No. Flat designs or good mock-ups work. Use the same level of finish for every design, so polish does not decide the result.
Should the current pack be in the test?
Usually, yes. It gives every new design a fair reference point, so the verdict is 'better or worse than what is on shelf today'. We do not score packs against outside norms.
How many shoppers do I need?
Around 200 shoppers per design is a common guide when each person sees only one design.
Is a click test the same as eye tracking?
No. A click shows what people say caught their eye. It is a useful guide to what gets noticed, but it does not record where their eyes went.
Related
Goes well with
Put your pack next to its rivals
Send the designs, your current pack and the products it sits beside. We will set up the shelf image and the questions.
Nearest office: Orlando, FL (corporate office)