You walk into the grocery store, and before you can get too far, you see a beautiful display of premium ground coffee. Right next to it is the perfect vanilla creamer and a row of freshly baked biscotti. It paints a clear picture of what your morning could look like, and before you know it, all three are in your basket, even though you came in only for paper towels.
That’s cross-merchandising at work. From breakfast bundles to seasonal pairings, there are countless examples of cross merchandising that turn routine trips into multi-item purchases. When done right, it pulls shoppers into a narrative they didn’t know they were part of. The problem is that most of these setups are bets. What if the pairing doesn’t land? What if it slows down the flow of traffic or distracts from higher-margin items nearby?
Cross-merchandising is powerful, but it’s not foolproof. Testing those combinations before you commit to valuable floor space is the difference between a display that drives sales and one that just takes up room. In this post, we’ll explore how to sharpen your strategy using 3D simulations and why guessing less leads to selling more.
The Importance of Product Placement
Bad placement doesn’t always look bad, and that’s part of the problem. To a store manager or a merchandiser, the logic might seem solid: two products that sell well, paired together. But from the shopper’s point of view, the connection can feel random or disruptive.
Maybe they’re looking for ketchup but have to weave through lawn chairs to get to it. Maybe they miss the protein bars entirely because it’s been shifted to a point-of-sale (POS) display with no clear signage.
Product placement shapes the entire retail experience, and when it’s misaligned, it does more than slow people down. It leads to confusion, missed opportunities, and abandoned impulse purchases.
That’s why more retailers are leaning into cross-merchandising displays: not because it looks nice (though it might), but because when it’s aligned with real shopping behavior, it encourages additional purchases and moves product with purpose.
Cross-Merchandising in the Real World
Cross-merchandising works best when it feels intuitive to the customer, but “intuitive” looks different depending on what you’re selling, who you’re selling it to, and when you’re selling it.
Sometimes the strategy is simple: Group complementary products that simply belong together, like spaghetti and sauce or toothbrushes and toothpaste. These are the cross-merchandise products shoppers expect to find side by side, and they’ll keep buying them that way, all year long.
Other times, it’s seasonal. A store might spotlight pancake mix next to pumpkin puree in October or bundle sunscreen with floppy hats in the summer. To achieve their goal of selling more, they tap into a moment and catch the shopper in a mindset where the combo feels relevant.
Then there are strategies that go even deeper. Pairing based on persona means thinking like your customer. This means focusing not just on what they’re buying but also why. For instance, if you know your store gets a wave of parents shopping right after school pickup, you’re not just catering to “parents”, but also to caregivers looking to make the evening smoother. In that case, bundling baby wipes with diapers is expected, but pairing them with calming herbal teas, storybooks, or easy dinner prep kits taps into their mindset and daily challenges.
Likewise, if you regularly get post-gym shoppers, it’s not just about health—it’s about recovery and convenience. Pairing protein bars with hydration drinks or grab-and-go meal options speaks to their goals and lifestyle.
All these tactics fall under the umbrella of effective cross-merchandising. When executed thoughtfully, they go beyond selling single products—creating opportunities for cross-selling and prompting shoppers to add additional items to their basket throughout the store or at checkout.
That said, a display that works in a suburban grocery chain might flop in a downtown convenience store. And what worked last quarter might fall flat this one. The key is to test. Because no matter how clever your combination seems, there’s always the question ”Will it actually move more product?”
That’s where simulation comes into play.
The Cost of Not Testing Cross-Merchandising
Cross-merchandising can be one of the most effective ways to drive sales and meet real customer needs. But when it’s based on assumption rather than testing, the costs can add up quickly.
Here’s where things tend to go wrong:
Missed Sales from Disconnected Displays
You’ve stocked hot dog buns for the weekend crowd but the mustard and ketchup are two aisles away. That disjointed setup may not seem like a deal-breaker, but it can break shoppers’ momentum and disrupt their thought processes. Customers are more likely to grab what they see in front of them. If they don’t see those complementary items at the right time, they often don’t grab them at all.
This is where many impulse buys happen…or don’t. Miss the combination, and you might miss the chance to increase basket size. Testing these decisions ahead of time—especially with 3D simulations—can reveal whether those related products actually perform better together.
Frustration That Undermines Customer Loyalty
Shoppers rely on stores to be consistent. They learn where things are and expect to find certain items grouped logically. Move one piece of the puzzle and you risk breaking that trust.
Imagine a regular customer who always grabs dairy-free creamer next to their favorite cold brew. If that creamer suddenly gets moved across the store without clear signage or context, the customer has to work harder to complete their routine. Maybe they substitute with another brand. Maybe they give up entirely. In ecommerce, friction like this leads to cart abandonment. In physical stores, it erodes customer satisfaction and chips away at brand loyalty.
This is where visual merchandising matters. It’s not only about design but also about reinforcing shopper expectations through smart layouts, signage, and logical product flow.
Misread Shopper Behavior
Sometimes the products are fine and the display looks great, but the strategy still fails because it doesn’t match how shoppers actually think.
That’s exactly what happened in a recent InContext case study. A manufacturer was launching a new product as part of an established brand line and planned to display it alongside the existing lineup. On the surface, it made sense: same brand, same theme. But testing in a virtual store simulation told a different story. Customers didn’t see the new item as part of that category. They expected to find it in a different section, alongside similar product types from different categories.
If the brand hadn’t tested the idea first, they could have buried the launch and confused loyal buyers. Instead, simulation gave them real sales data to pivot, ensuring a better rollout and a sharper retail strategy.
How Does Product Testing Mitigate Risk?
To understand how product testing reduces risk, you first need to look at the types of testing available and how each one can impact your retail business and marketing strategies.
Traditional Product Placement Testing
Traditional product testing often takes place right on the floor. Retailers rearrange products in-store and observe how shoppers react. Do sales go up? Do customers notice the change? Does the new product display actually lead to better engagement?
This kind of real-time feedback is valuable, but it comes at a cost. In-store testing is time-consuming, expensive, and often difficult to scale. It can take weeks to gather enough data, and those weeks could be losing sales if the strategy misses the mark. Testing new layouts live also risks disrupting the customer experience or leading to poor first impressions of new products.
To move faster and test smarter, more retailers are turning to simulation tools that offer insights without the expense or disruption of trial and error.
3D Simulations in Retail
3D simulations are transforming how retailers test product placement. Using digital twin environments—virtual replicas of a retail store—teams can model real store layouts, adjust shelving, and experiment with cross-merchandising strategies without touching a single fixture in the real world.
Simulations allow you to test how different products perform across product categories, how shoppers interact with new layouts, and how certain configurations affect impulse buys and additional purchases. Want to know if placing protein bars near kombucha improves conversion? Or whether moving dish soap closer to baby bottles makes sense? Simulations let you test it, measure it, and refine it all in a virtual space.
What’s more, this approach supports faster, more confident decisions. Teams can vet multiple ideas in a matter of hours instead of weeks and back those ideas with data that closely reflects real-world behavior.
Benefits of 3D Simulations in Cross-Merchandising
When retailers use 3D simulations to test cross-merchandising displays, they reduce risk and gain real advantages in cost, scale, and shopper insights:
- Cost-effectiveness
Simulations eliminate the need for physical prototypes or in-store mockups. Testing new product displays virtually saves labor and time. - Scalability and Flexibility
Want to test a new layout across 500 stores? No problem. Simulations are easily replicated and adjusted, allowing retailers to test and roll out ideas quickly across regions or store formats. - Realistic, Dynamic Environments
These platforms replicate real shopping conditions, down to lighting, traffic patterns, and shelf height. That means better insight into how a product display will actually perform in context and how it contributes to the overall shopping experience. - Reliable Correlation to Real-World Outcomes
Simulation data has a proven track record of aligning with in-store behavior. When you test cross-merchandise products or trial a new POS layout in simulation, the results give you a strong signal on what to expect in reality. That kind of alignment is crucial when you’re trying to increase sales, launch products, or align your strategy with real customer needs.
Minimizing Risk with InContext
3D simulations have become one of the most valuable tools in retail for identifying hidden risks before they become real problems. At InContext, we help retailers create digital replicas of their stores so they can test product placement, cross-selling strategies, and layout changes without disrupting operations.
Whether you’re rearranging aisles, launching seasonal pairings, or introducing new products to unfamiliar categories, simulations give you the power to plan with confidence. You can uncover weak spots, test shopper reactions, and optimize for clarity, flow, and revenue, all while ensuring the store layout supports both the brand and the buyer.
These simulations also help identify friction points early: confusing displays, missed complementary items, layouts that fail to guide the customer toward impulse purchases. By catching those issues before rollout, retailers can make smart, proactive changes that improve efficiency, boost sales, and elevate the customer experience across the board.
If you’re ready to take the guesswork out of cross-merchandising, reach out to InContext today.
We’ll help you optimize your layouts, improve performance, and create an in-store experience that works—for every product, every display, and every customer.
