Updated: October 6 2025
What is Concept Testing?
Concept testing is a research process where market-ready representations of your product (called concepts) are evaluated by a target audience before launch. The goal is to identify which concepts resonate, reduce risk, and optimize creative direction based on real consumer feedback.
Your number one priority when designing a concept board is to ensure it’s truly representative of what consumers will experience. If it’s not on the front of the pack or something you would actually say in a paid social ad, don’t include it. To generate results that are predictive of in-market performance, you need to test what you genuinely plan to execute in market.
Patrick Lambert
SVP of Customer Success and Commercial Intelligence at Dig Insights
Why Do You Need a Concept Testing Platform?
Here’s why it’s a must-have for CPG brands:
1. You’ll get a better grasp of your customers’ needs
Even the most experienced teams can misread what consumers actually want. Concept testing gives you direct feedback from shoppers, highlighting what they love, what they don’t, and what they wish your product did differently. You may uncover unexpected insights that help you fine-tune your concept and build stronger brand loyalty.
2. You’ll future-proof your success
Launching a new product without testing it is risky. A concept testing platform lets you vet your idea early, so you can launch with confidence and avoid costly missteps.
3. You’ll find a winning idea faster
You don’t have to guess which concept will work. A testing platform helps you compare multiple ideas side by side, prioritize features, and uncover what will drive purchase intent, all before launch. That means fewer failed experiments, and more hits on the shelf.
All in all: A modern concept testing platform makes innovation faster, smarter, and far more predictable.
7 Best Concept Testing Platforms for CPG Brands in 2025
1. Upsiide
Best for: Predicting in-market success through behavioral, high-speed concept testing
Why CPG brands choose it: Upsiide is a concept testing platform built by insights experts at Dig Insights, designed to help brands in CPG bring successful innovations to market fast. Upsiide makes it easy to screen up to 50 ideas in a single study and identify the ones with the most commercial potential.
Unlike traditional surveys, Upsiide’s swipe-based, mobile-native interface mimics how people shop in real life—so you get data that actually reflects how consumers make choices at shelf.
Standout features:
- Purpose-built for CPG: Templates for testing flavors, packs, claims, comms, and more—optimized for food and beverage use cases
- Market Simulator: Patented feature that models share of choice, cannibalization, and incrementality
- AI Idea Generator: Built-in AI assistant helps you brainstorm concepts based on consumer trends, historical success, or white space
- Clear data visualizations: Quadrant charts, segmentation overlays, and diagnostics that make strategy discussions faster and clearer
Ideal for:
- Innovation teams at CPG brands testing new products, variants, or packaging
- Portfolio managers seeking to optimize market share and identify white space
- Insights professionals needing repeatable, scalable research to fuel fast decision-making
2. Suzy
Best for: Fast feedback on concepts with qualitative depth
Why CPG brands choose it: Suzy offers both quant and qual tools, including live interviews with consumers, making it a solid option when you need speed plus deeper context.
Standout features:
- Targeted consumer panels
- Concept validation templates
- “Suzy Live” for qualitative exploration
Ideal for: Iterative testing and refining early-stage ideas with target audiences
3. Zappi
Best for: Large-scale CPG testing and performance benchmarking
Why CPG brands choose it: Zappi is widely adopted by enterprise CPG brands looking to automate large-scale testing. With years of historical CPG data, it helps contextualize your results in broader industry benchmarks.
Standout features:
- CPG-specific norms and benchmarks
- Automated pre-launch testing at scale
- Integration with innovation workflows
Ideal for: Brands with mature innovation pipelines that need consistent, normed insights
4. quantilope
Best for: Advanced analytics and research automation
Why CPG brands choose it: quantilope combines advanced research methodologies like Conjoint and MaxDiff with automation and AI features that streamline the entire testing process.
Standout features:
- AI co-pilot “quinn” for insight generation
- Automated advanced methods
- Real-time data dashboards
Ideal for: Teams with complex testing needs looking for statistical rigor and automation
5. NielsenIQ BASES
Best for: Predicting in-market sales performance
Why CPG brands choose it: BASES is known for its robust sales forecasting models and has powered thousands of successful product launches across the globe.
Standout features:
- In-market sales simulation
- Extensive historical launch data
- Deep consulting expertise
Ideal for: Brands that need high-confidence forecasts for go/no-go decisions
6. Toluna Start
Best for: End-to-end testing with a global reach
Why CPG brands choose it: Toluna Start supports everything from idea screening to packaging and pricing tests. It’s fast, global, and built for scale.
Standout features:
- Real-time access to 40+ million global consumers
- Custom and templated research
- Integrated qual + quant tools
Ideal for: Multinational CPG brands that need scalable testing across markets
7. Momentive (formerly SurveyMonkey)
Best for: Affordable DIY concept testing
Why CPG brands choose it: While not as specialized as other platforms, Momentive is great for smaller brands or agencies that need a quick, cost-effective way to test concepts without heavy lift.
Standout features:
- Concept testing templates
- Easy-to-use interface
- Fast turnaround
Ideal for: Startups, challenger brands, and agencies running lean research projects
Benefits of Concept Testing for CPG Brands
For CPG companies, concept testing is especially valuable because of the category’s fast pace and competitive pressure. Benefits include:
- Faster go-to-market decisions: Reduce the time spent debating internally and act on what your customers actually want.
- Smarter resource allocation: Focus R&D and marketing budgets on high-potential concepts.
- Risk reduction: Catch weak ideas early, before they drain time and money.
- Consumer-centric innovation: Ensure new products solve real needs and reflect consumer preferences.
- Data-backed confidence: Make bolder moves with quantitative support behind every concept.
Now that you know what to look for, here are the top concept testing platforms CPG brands are using in 2025.
Future-Proof Your Innovation Strategy
As CPG innovation becomes faster and more iterative, concept testing must keep pace. These platforms allow your team to fail fast, learn faster, and launch with confidence.
Whether you’re a legacy brand optimizing your innovation pipeline or a fast-moving startup looking for product-market fit, the right concept testing partner will give you the clarity to make smarter decisions, faster.