A test-and-learn roadmap for in-store media

What would you need to see to spend more? That question is the starting point of a test and learn approach. Instead of committing a full budget on assumptions, a brand runs a series of small, well-designed tests, records what each one shows and uses the results to decide what to do next. Over a year, the tests add up to a body of evidence about what works for that brand in that channel.

It's slower than launching everything at once. It's also much less likely to waste money on ideas that don't hold up.

Where does a test-and-learn roadmap start?

With questions. List the things you don't know that matter to your spending decisions. Does in-store media help a new item gain trial? Does a price offer on screen outperform a brand message? Do some markets respond differently from others?

Turn each question into a hypothesis. "Running counter-screen ads for our new flavor in stores that carry it will increase its weekly units per store compared with similar stores that don't run the ads." A hypothesis states the change, the measure and the comparison.

Then rank them. Start with the questions whose answers would change the most money. A test that confirms something you'd do anyway is less valuable than one that could redirect the plan.

How do you design a clean test?

Change one thing. If a test changes the creative, the offer and the stores at once, you won't know which change mattered.

Use a comparison group. The logic of A/B testing applies: run the change in one group of stores and not in a similar group, over the same period. Match the groups on store size, location type and recent sales of the product.

Agree on the measure before the test starts. Pick the primary outcome, how long the test will run and what size of difference would be meaningful. Writing this down prevents the temptation to reinterpret results afterward.

NRS Digital Media campaigns can be activated by geography down to the zip code, by SKU, by retail channel or by audience index, which gives planners several ways to define test and control groups. Ask the NRS Digital Media team how a test design would work for your campaign.

What does a roadmap look like over a year?

A simple sequence works for many brands:

1. First quarter: a basic test of whether in-store media moves the primary measure for one product in one set of markets.
2. Second quarter: a creative test, comparing two messages in matched store groups.
3. Third quarter: a timing or geography test, such as comparing markets or seasons.
4. Fourth quarter: a scale test, expanding what worked to more stores while keeping a comparison group.

Each test builds on the last. If the first test shows no effect, the second might test a different approach rather than a different creative. The roadmap should adapt to what's learned.

How should results be recorded?

In a simple log, one entry per test. What was tested, where, when, the measure, the result with its range, and what was decided. Include tests that showed nothing. Those are as useful as the ones that worked.

Share the log. Brand, sales and agency teams all benefit from knowing what's been tried. It prevents repeating the same test and builds shared understanding.

Store-level sales data, such as the scan data analyzed by NRS Insights, is one kind of source that can support these comparisons. Over time, the log becomes the brand's own evidence base for planning. For an overview of the network, see the NRS Digital Media site.