A glass-door retail fridge stocked shelf to shelf with brightly coloured craft beer cans.
JournalField Note No. 04CPG + Packaging

The 30-Second Shelf Test

How to judge packaging the way shoppers do: from a few steps back, in a few seconds, next to the competition.

Aaron ArmstrongFounder + Creative Director

Packaging gets approved on a screen, up close, on its own. It gets bought on a shelf, from a few steps back, next to everything else in the category. The 30-second shelf test closes that gap. Print it, put it in the set, and judge it the way a shopper would.

Run the test

  1. Print it at real size. Mock it up on the real substrate, or as close as you can get. Screens flatter colour and hide small type.
  2. Build the shelf. Put it next to its real competitors, at its price point, in the light it will sit in: a cooler door, a fridge, a fluorescent aisle.
  3. Step back two metres. Can you find it in a few seconds? If not, the brand block isn’t doing its job.
  4. Name the brand. From that distance, can someone who has never seen it say the brand name? If they say the category instead, the hierarchy is wrong.
  5. Name the product. Flavour, variant or style should be the second read. If it competes with the brand for first, one of them has to give.
  6. Look at the range. Can you tell the variants apart at a glance and still see they belong together? Colour does most of that work.
  7. Find one reason to choose it. One claim, cue or detail should give a shopper a reason to pick it up. More than one usually means none of them land.
  8. Turn it around. The back and sides matter once it’s in hand. Mandatory copy, story and barcode should feel designed, not left over.
  9. Shrink it. Check the online thumbnail. Plenty of first impressions now happen at the size of a fingernail.
  10. Ask someone else. The designer and the client are the worst testers. Ask someone outside the project, and say nothing while they look.

When it fails

  • Fix hierarchy before colour. Most failed tests come down to a brand name and a product name fighting for the first read.
  • Change one thing at a time and test again, so you know what fixed it.
  • Keep the test photos. They make the case to the client better than any presentation.

Related reading

Got a pack that looks right on screen and gets lost on shelf? Serif + Gold designs packaging for CPG and craft beverage brands that earns the pick-up. Get in touch to talk it through.

Talk it through

Questions

What is a shelf test for packaging?

A shelf test judges packaging the way shoppers see it: printed at real size, placed next to real competitors and viewed from a few steps back. It checks whether a shopper can find the pack, name the brand and the product, and see a reason to pick it up.

Why does packaging look different on shelf than on screen?

Screens show a pack up close, alone and in flattering colour. On shelf it sits next to the whole category, under store lighting, often from two metres away. Small type disappears, colours shift and weak hierarchy gets lost among the competition.

What usually fails in a packaging shelf test?

Hierarchy, most often. When the brand name and the product name compete to be read first, neither wins from a distance. Fix the order of reading before changing colour or adding claims, and test again after each change so you know what worked.

Who should run a packaging shelf test?

Someone outside the project. The designer and the client already know what the pack says, so they read it too easily. Ask a fresh pair of eyes to find the pack and describe it, and say nothing while they look.