Web3_r1_thumbnail.jpg

3D Shelf Research

Expose real shopper behaviour & uncover new insights to drive smarter decisions

Level Up
Your
Surveys

Capture
Shopper
Behaviour

Measure
Shelf
Impact

The Problem

Testing shelf setups sounds simple, but in reality it’s anything but.

Physical tests demand space, stock, and staff — you need to buy products, build shelves, and track every shopper’s move. It’s slow, costly, and hard to scale.

Online tests avoid the warehouse, but preparing shelf images for clicks or survey review is still time-consuming — and if the method doesn’t support realistic shelf interactions like zoom, pan, product pick-up and add-to-cart, the results won’t reflect real behaviour.

Either way, traditional shelf research creates more headaches than insights.

The Solution

With Buzz 3D, you can quickly set up interactive shelf planograms for your surveys that fully support realistic shopper interactions.

Respondents engage with familiar, shoppable 3D shelves in real time, creating a natural shopping experience that drives authentic behaviour.

Behind the scenes, every action feeds into a powerful digital ecosystem, making it easier than ever to capture and interpret shopper behaviour.

Core Benefits

  • Build shelves in minutes using product images and data

  • Seamlessly embed into any survey via a unique URL

  • See how shoppers shop — navigation, clicks, and basket adds

  • Capture rich behaviour data including selection order and dwell time

  • Understand decision paths and identify friction points

  • Export results for segmentation and deeper analysis

Use Cases

  • Measure brand visibility — evaluate block design and standout on the shelf

  • Quantify shelf presence — compare performance across in-store and ecommerce contexts

  • Test NPD strategies — trial new launches and shelf placements before going live

  • Segment shopper types — uncover behavioural patterns and engagement differences

  • Compare competitor positioning — assess how rival brands perform side-by-side

  • Analyse promotional impact — see how POS, price tags, and offers influence decisions

Conclusion

Buzz 3D makes shelf research faster, smarter, and more reliable by capturing how shoppers really behave. No artificial setups, no static image-grids — just natural interactions on realistic 3D shelves that deliver behavioural data you can trust. Test layouts, packaging, and strategies virtually before you commit, and turn shopper insight into action with confidence.

Now see it in action with our free demo — zoom and pan the shelf, click products to pick them up, add items to the cart, and check out to view your results. Experience for yourself how natural 3D shelf research feels for respondents.

Talk About 3D Shelf Research?

Let’s explore how testing realistic 3D shelves can uncover shopper behaviour, validate layouts, and guide strategies that work in the real world.

FAQs

  • 3D Shelf Research uses realistically rendered, fully interactive shelves to study how shoppers behave in a natural shopping environment. Instead of reviewing flat images or answering abstract survey questions, respondents can browse, zoom, pick up products, and add them to a basket — just like in-store. This creates an engaging research experience that captures real behavioural data, helping brands and retailers measure visibility, test strategies, and understand shopper decision-making with greater accuracy.

  • Small changes in shelf presence can make a big difference — influencing which products shoppers notice, consider, and ultimately buy. 3D Shelf Research gives retailers and brands a safe, cost-effective way to trial shelf strategies virtually before investing in-store. By observing real shopper interactions on realistic 3D shelves, you can measure visibility, compare product performance, and test new approaches with confidence. The result is stronger layouts, smarter packaging decisions, and strategies that drive measurable sales uplift without costly trial-and-error in physical stores.

  • 3D Shelf Research studies can be launched quickly — in many cases, an interactive 3D shelf can be set up in minutes, provided the product images and data are ready. Once published to our secure servers, your shelf link is immediately available to embed into any survey platform. Tests can run for as long as it takes to reach your respondent quota, and as soon as the study closes, you’ll have ready-to-analyse behavioural data. That means actionable insights in days, not weeks.

  • 3D Shelf Research with Buzz 3D captures a rich set of behavioural and interaction data, including:

    • Session details: User ID, study name, shelf type, scenario number, date and time.

    • Product interactions: Add-to-cart status, pick-up order, product descriptions, EAN, dwell time, and respondent ID.

    All results are compiled into a clean summary sheet for fast analysis. This goes beyond simple purchase intent, revealing how shoppers browse, compare, and engage with products on the shelf. The result is actionable insight to guide visibility, packaging, and shelf strategies with real behavioural evidence.

  • Buzz 3D supports shelves up to 11 metres (around 36 feet) in length — more than enough for most research studies. This flexibility lets you test anything from a single bay to an entire aisle in one session. For unique projects requiring even longer shelves, get in touch and we’ll work with you to explore extended options.

  • 3D Shelf Research supports multiple languages and currencies, making it easy to run studies across global markets. Currently supported languages include Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish.

    For pricing, we support the main international currency symbols: £ (GBP), $ (US and Brazilian Dollar), € (Euro), ¥ (Chinese Yuan / Japanese Yen).

    Product data — including pack descriptions, shelf labels, and pricing — is displayed exactly as provided, ensuring authenticity in each market. This flexibility allows you to compare shopper behaviour across countries, test region-specific strategies, and capture insights without rebuilding shelves from scratch.

  • Yes. With 3D Shelf Research, you can run product findability tests by asking respondents to locate specific items on a shelf. This helps you measure how quickly and easily shoppers spot key products, evaluate the impact of packaging design, and compare shelf strategies for visibility. The results guide better placement decisions and ensure priority lines stand out in real shopping environments.

  • Yes. 3D Shelf Research provides a fully interactive shelf where respondents can:

    • Zoom in or out

    • Pan across the display

    • View realistic price tags

    • Pick up and inspect products

    • Add or remove items from their basket

    Every interaction is tracked — from dwell time to basket changes — capturing natural shopper behaviour with exceptional accuracy. This rich behavioural data ensures shelf research is conducted in a way that closely mirrors real-world shopping.

  • Yes. 3D Shelf Research supports realistic price tags that can display list price, sale price, and detailed product descriptions. This ensures respondents see the same pricing cues they would encounter in-store, allowing you to measure how pricing, promotions, and product information influence shopper choices within the context of the shelf.

  • Absolutely. Simulating a real-world shopping experience is at the heart of 3D Shelf Research. Respondents can pick up products, add them to their basket, and remove items at any point during their session — just as they would in-store. These natural interactions generate behavioural data that closely reflects genuine shopper behaviour, providing a stronger foundation for your research insights.

  • Because Buzz 3D’s shelf research technology is lightweight and web-based, we can support hundreds of respondents in a single study without performance issues. For most projects, a sample of around 100–150 respondents per shelf provides a solid base for reliable results while accounting for outliers. Larger studies are also supported when additional statistical confidence is required, giving you the flexibility to scale research to your needs.

  • Yes. Respondent revisits are fully supported in 3D Shelf Research and included in the study cost. Participants can return to the same shelf as many times as needed within a session, with every interaction recorded. Each revisit is timestamped and logged, allowing you to track behavioural changes over time and compare results across different viewing scenarios — all delivered in a single, easy-to-analyse dataset.

  • Buzz 3D’s shelf research technology has been trusted by some of the world’s largest brands and consistently shows strong correlation with real-world sales data. Independent academic studies (conducted with less advanced solutions) still demonstrated a 92% alignment between online shelf testing and actual shopper behaviour. These findings remain highly relevant today, and Buzz 3D takes them further with a more advanced, automated platform that delivers shelves faster, more cost-effectively, and with greater realism than ever before.

  • Yes. For ad hoc clients purchasing our minimum 5-shelf research package, we provide ready-to-use generic templates that make survey integration simple.

    Subscription clients running larger programmes gain additional benefits, including:

    • Automated template population from existing survey or shelf data sources

    • Access to a secure live drop folder where individual respondent data records are posted in real time

    This real-time feed allows for survey branching based on respondent actions — for example, triggering follow-up questions when a target product is selected. The result is richer behavioural insight and more dynamic respondent journeys.