Getting onto shelves is not easy.
Retailers are spoiled for choice, shoppers are short on time, and space is tighter than ever. That’s why before a product can win with shoppers, it has to win with buyers.
This is where retail collaboration & prototyping becomes powerful. Not just demonstrating what a packaging looks like but proving what it does for both the brand and the retailer.
Take Nestle’s Simply Cook a meal-kit brand born online, ready to make its leap into retail. Together with the Sainsbury’s buying team, we co-created a disruptive new route to market.
For the shopper: Simply Cook was placed in the fresh aisle, right where the “What’s for dinner?” question gets asked. Packs sat beside the key ingredients needed to finish the meal, turning a casual browse into a meal mission. We also reimagined the pack itself: a 5th panel for clearer comms, an opening that revealed delicious photography, and a tear-open design that transformed into a propped-up recipe card.
Easy to shop, easy to cook, easy to enjoy.
For the retailer: Higher than normal rates of sale and increased basket spend. By inspiring shoppers to buy a mission, not just a product, Simply Cook helped grow the whole store, not just its own brand.
Crucially, all of this was prototyped and tested before launch. Retail sell-in models allowed buyers to see, understand, and refine the concept in action reducing risk, increasing confidence, and speeding up decision-making.
Availability isn’t just about being on a shelf it’s about creating ideas that retailers want to list and shoppers can’t miss.