Christmas, Easter, back to school: a seasonal peak plays out over a few weeks, with no second chance. A poorly planned seasonal aisle or a wrongly sized POS display is discovered on installation day, when it is too late to fix. The answer comes down to one method: test the shopper journey, the POS and the fixtures in 3D before the in-store rollout, then pass the approved rendering on to stores as the instruction.
Here are the four tests to run before every seasonal peak, and a step-by-step example for a Christmas aisle.
- A seasonal peak leaves no time to fix things in store: errors have to be found before the rollout.
- Four tests to run in 3D: the shopper journey, POS and fixtures, approval with the retailer, and the field brief.
- The approved 3D rendering becomes the installation instruction, adapted to each store format.
- 3D doesn't replace in-store measurement: it reduces the number of errors that reach the store.
Why a seasonal peak should be tested before it reaches the store
A seasonal peak concentrates a lot of revenue in a short window, with temporary displays: an error discovered at installation has no time to be corrected. Three figures set the stakes.
Yet most seasonal peaks are still decided on 2D plans, POS spec sheets and isolated renderings. Nobody sees the whole picture before the store. The result shows up in field audits: during the year-end launch of NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® Neo, the audit carried out by Reco in 500 stores found stands set up in regular aisles instead of the planned central aisle, and cardboard POS damaged by shopping carts over the weeks (see the full case). These are exactly the problems that testing upstream helps anticipate.
Test 1: walk the store like a shopper
The first test covers the shopper journey: in a store rebuilt in 3D, you walk the seasonal aisle at shopper eye level and compare several layouts before committing the space. A top-down plan doesn't tell you what shoppers see as they walk in, or how they move around a display island.
With Store Builder, the store is built in 3D and you move through it as you would in real life. Three questions guide the test:
- Visibility: can the seasonal offer be seen from the entrance and from the central aisle? What does it hide?
- Traffic flow: does an island or end cap leave enough room for shopping carts at peak times?
- Core aisle: do shoppers still go through the regular aisle, or does the seasonal aisle capture all the traffic?
The last point is the one most often overlooked. At Easter, if chocolate figures in the seasonal aisle divert all the traffic, the regular chocolate aisle can lose its visitors for several weeks. Testing two or three scenarios in 3D (island at the entrance, end cap, extra space in the regular aisle) lets you choose with full knowledge. And when you need to measure how real shoppers react, the same scenarios can be put to a panel in a 3D shopper study.
Test 2: check POS and fixtures, in 3D then on site
The second test covers POS and fixtures: you place them on the 3D shelf, with the real products and real dimensions, to spot errors before production. A temporary display that doesn't fit the shelving unit or hides the products gets no second chance.
Seasonal products are modeled in 3D from a photo and their dimensions, including SKUs that are not yet in stores. Displays and decorations designed by your agencies are imported in standard 3D formats (GLB, glTF, FBX). You then check:
- the height and depth of the display against the retailer's fixtures;
- how readable the message is from a distance, and what the POS hides of the products;
- the space left for facings in the 3D planogram during the peak.
That leaves the gap between the model and the real store. This is where InStore Activation comes in: the module or decoration created on the platform is projected in augmented reality into the real store, from a smartphone, via a QR code. The field sales rep checks the footprint on site, before a single POS item is produced.
The year-end peak starts earlier and earlier. According to INSEE, the French national statistics office, November weighed as much as December in distance selling for the first time in 2018 (11% of annual sales), driven by Black Friday. For Christmas displays, this shortens the time between approval and installation even further: one more reason to test early.
Test 3: approve the same rendering with the retailer
The third test is a shared one: brand and retailer approve the same 3D rendering of the display together, instead of negotiating over plans that each side imagines differently. The stakes are real: according to NielsenIQ, 21.9% of FMCG revenue in France was made on promotion in 2025, the highest level in 20 years. The best locations during seasonal peaks are hotly contested.
Presenting a complete display (fixture, POS, products, location) in a realistic store environment changes the conversation with the buyer: they see the result instead of imagining it. On the collaborative platform, everyone comments directly on the rendering, and adjustments are made before the POS is ordered. On the trade marketing side, the approved rendering then becomes a selling tool for other retailers.
Test 4: turn the approved rendering into a field instruction
The last test checks that stores will be able to reproduce the layout: the approved 3D rendering, adapted to each format, becomes the installation instruction. A hypermarket and a supermarket have neither the same seasonal aisle nor the same end caps; a single PDF instruction leaves each store to interpret it.
For the Neo launch, NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® used the 3D renderings to train brand ambassadors and guide installation according to store type. Teams knew where and how to set up the stand before they arrived. Visual merchandising plans play the same role for department managers: they show the expected result, not just a list of SKUs.
Let's be clear about the limits: 3D doesn't predict the weather, volumes or how a new product will be received, and it doesn't check execution. Field audits are still necessary. What upstream testing changes is the number of errors that make it to the store.
Example: preparing a Christmas aisle in 3D, step by step
Here is an example of how a chocolate brand can prepare its Christmas display in a hypermarket using these four tests.
What preparing in 3D changes, test by test:
| Step | Without a 3D test | With a 3D test |
|---|---|---|
| Shopper journey | Top-down plan, traffic flow imagined | Store walked at shopper eye level, 2 or 3 scenarios compared |
| POS and fixtures | Dimensions discovered at installation | Checked on the 3D shelf, then in augmented reality on site |
| Approval | Separate spec sheets, everyone imagines the result | One shared rendering, commented on by brand and retailer |
| Execution | PDF instruction interpreted by each store | Approved rendering adapted by format, used as the brief |
| Next peak | Starting again from a blank page | The corrected display is reused |
According to Retail VR, a project designed on the platform is 5 times faster to roll out than with traditional methods, and decision-making is 10 times faster. During a seasonal peak, that time saved becomes room to maneuver before installation. To go further, see also our article on year-end window displays in luxury and the one on eco-designed POS.
Frequently asked questions
Why test a seasonal peak in 3D before the in-store rollout?
Because a seasonal peak plays out over a few weeks, with temporary displays: an error discovered in store has no time to be corrected. 3D lets you walk the layout at shopper eye level, check the dimensions of POS and fixtures, and have brand and retailer approve the same rendering before anything is produced.
How do you test the shopper journey before setting up a seasonal peak?
You rebuild the store in 3D and move through it like a shopper. You compare two or three layout scenarios for the seasonal aisle, and check what can be seen from the entrance, the traffic flow around islands and whether shoppers still visit the regular aisle. To measure how real shoppers react, the scenarios can be tested in a 3D shopper study.
How can you check a seasonal POS display before producing it?
The POS is placed on the 3D shelf, with products modeled at their real dimensions, to check its height, its depth and what it hides. With InStore Activation, the module is then projected in augmented reality into the real store from a smartphone, to check its footprint on site before production.
Do seasonal products need to exist to be tested in 3D?
No. On the Retail VR platform, a product is modeled in 3D from a photo and its dimensions. Gift boxes and limited editions can therefore be tested on the shelf before they reach stores, so the layout and the negotiation can be prepared in parallel with production.
Does 3D replace in-store tests?
No. 3D reduces the number of errors that reach the store, but it doesn't measure actual sales or check execution. Field audits and sales data are still needed to assess the seasonal peak, then to correct the display saved in 3D before the next one.
Next step
Your next seasonal peak is probably already in preparation. Now is the right time to test it in 3D, before plans and POS are locked in.
Want to test the shopper journey and POS of your next seasonal peak before the in-store rollout?
Request a demo →
.webp)
.webp)
.webp)
