MFour Debuts ProductCheck for In-Store Product Insights

In the US, mobile research specialist MFour has launched a tool called ProductCheck, to provide validated in-store insights into product placement, packaging and preferences.

MFour uses GPS technology to collect information at what it calls the 'point of emotion'; and has developed the Surveys On The Go app, providing access to an all-mobile panel, and the MFourDIY survey tool. Last year, it launched the Path2-Purchase Platform, through which users can field real-time location-based surveys and capture motivations and emotions at 'any point' in the purchasing cycle.

Its new ProductCheck tool has been developed to capture consumers' opinions and feelings about products and displays at the exact moment they are standing in store aisles looking at them. By locating and then surveying validated, first-party mobile consumers, MFour says that brands and researchers get 'immediate, trustworthy data' on whether packaging stands out and attracts, and whether the product's shelf appeal is sufficient to influence intent to purchase. Additionally, the tool can help clients gain intelligence on how shoppers perceive competing products and brands, enabling them to understand how well the product can be noticed when surrounded by other products in the same category.

ProductCheck focuses on 'natural shoppers' (not recruits), who have gone to the store naturally, without prompting. In-store surveys fielded through MFour's Surveys On The Go app screen for 'natural category intenders', who are then prompted to go to that category's aisle and continue answering the in-store survey. Respondents can be invited to take photos and videos of products on-shelf, captured in the firm's survey app, to provide a visualization and understanding of 'in-store reality'.

CEO Chris St. Hilaire (pictured) comments: 'ProductCheck helps brands position themselves for greater market share by combining observed location data with event-triggered surveys that measure products' on-shelf visibility and appeal. Now researchers can color store-visitation data with survey opinions, and validate survey opinions with mobile visitation data.'

Web site: www.mfour.com .