Executive Summary

UPC scanner-based data provider debuting In-Store Lab, a test marketing service that provides "real world reaction" to new or enhanced products. The program involves introducing a new product or other marketing variable into select stores and tracking scanned sales for up to eight weeks. Sorensen Associates fields shopper intercept interviews to explain why consumers made their purchasing decisions. Chicago-based IRI says the program, which began in January, provides a fast read on consumer reactions to new products and in-store merchandising programs. IRI is using the service in Schnucks supermarkets in St. Louis and Stop-N-Go convenience stores in Houston