PC performance testing for retailers

PC performance data for retailers

We help retailers increase sales, reduce returns and improve customer satisfaction. With our retail solutions, you can help your customers confidently choose the best products for their needs.

We offer a complete set of services to help you communicate the strengths of your product range to your customers. Reduce returns by helping your customers understand the performance and capabilities of different PCs, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. With our data and insights complementing your own sales material, you can help price-conscious consumers maximise their buying budget.

Whether you're looking to optimize sales through your online store or improve conversion of face-to-face sales on the shop floor, our retail solutions offer an easy and accessible path to improved sales performance.

Tell us about your challenges and your goals. We'll create a proposal that is tailored to your needs.

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  • Increase sales, reduce returns, and improve customer satisfaction.
  • Make it easy for your customers to confidently choose and buy a new PC, tablet, or smartphone.
  • Help your sales staff recommend and sell devices based on customer needs.
  • An easy way to show practical performance differences that all customers can understand.
  • Backed by UL Solutions, a brand that is internationally recognized and respected.

PC benchmarking and testing


Testing PCs in UL Solutions' benchmarking lab

We've been developing industry standard benchmarks since 1997. UL Solutions brings more than 120 years of experience in product testing, certification, and verification services. Let us put our expertise to work for you.

We perform accurate assessments of PCs, notebooks, tablets, and smartphones. Our benchmarks are used by millions of consumers around the world, and they enjoy strong levels of brand awareness, acceptance, and trust.

We can test performance for a variety of uses such as home, office, gaming, and VR. We test the battery life of laptops, tablets, and smartphones. We can also advise you on creating bespoke tests to differentiate your product categories.

We have dedicated labs where we can thoroughly test and assess your products under controlled conditions. We can also help you set up and run your own testing facilities with processes that deliver accurate test results every time.

Game performance testing


Estimating game frame rates with 3DMark

Nowhere is PC performance as important as it is with gaming. New games constantly raise the bar for visually rich, immersive experiences.

PC manufacturers produce a wide range of gaming products for every budget. We conduct game performance testing on a broad selection of hardware that covers the range of popular CPUs and GPUs found in modern gaming PCs.

We have tested over 50 of the most popular games in our dedicated labs. We're currently testing each new game at 1080p medium, 1080p ultra, 1440p ultra, 4K UHD medium, and 4K UHD ultra resolution and settings.

You can use this performance data to show your customers the frame rates they can expect with each PC gaming system.

Categorization


PC categories powered by 3DMark and PCMark 10 make it easier to choose a PC

We understand that people feel overwhelmed when buying a PC or mobile device. Some worry that they are spending more than they should. Others that they are not going to get the performance they need.

Gamers fear that a new PC won't be able to play the latest games or deliver the experiences they want. Even expert consumers struggle when faced with complex technical specifications, confusing naming schemes, and manufacturer jargon.

Product categories can help your customers find the models that best meet their needs and budget. They allow you to improve in-store presentation by grouping products with similar performance into easy to understand categories.

We can support your existing categories with independent testing data, or we can work with you to define categories that are tied to customer needs rather than technical specifications.

Real use cases


Woman recording a video blog for YouTube

Our benchmarks and performance tests are designed around common activities and use real-world apps whenever possible. We can test, measure and estimate performance for a wide variety of scenarios, from everyday web use to serious gaming.

Our performance data combined with categorization gives your customers a more accessible way to choose a PC. Instead of trying to compare complicated specifications, they can choose a PC based on the activities that are most important to them.

  • Web, social media and video chat
  • Home office productivity
  • Photo and video editing for creators
  • Gaming from casual to hardcore
  • Virtual reality games and experiences

Marketing support

Our benchmarks reduce a product's complex specification sheet to a single number. The higher the score, the better the performance. It's that simple.

Benchmark scores provide consumers with an easy way to judge a product's value for money and a transparent way for your sales assistants to recommend upgrades and alternatives.

We'll help you present and explain benchmark scores so that even your non-technical customers can enjoy the benefits.

Your customers can also download our free benchmarking software to test an existing device or PC at home before coming into a store. This is another powerful way to show the value of an upgrade or replacement.

Find out more

We're already working with more than 15 major consumer electronics retailers in a variety of different ways. Tell us about your challenges and your goals. We'll create a proposal that is tailored to your unique needs.

Contact us

Existing customers

Read more about how we test game performance, access our API implementation documentation and find other support materials.

Retail customer portal

Elkjøp case study


Elkjøp logo

Challenge

Elkjøp, part of the Dixons Carphone group, is one of the largest consumer electronics retailers in the Nordic region with 400 stores in six countries.

Trading as Elgiganten in Sweden and Denmark, Gigantti in Finland, and Elko in Iceland, Elkjøp sells a wide range of consumer electronics and household appliances through its online stores and retail locations.

Elkjøp knows that choosing a new computer is difficult. Many people struggle to relate PC specifications to real-world performance.

Elkjøp felt that many customers were buying cheaper laptops and notebooks without understanding how the low performance of these systems would affect their everyday use and enjoyment. Sales staff sometimes find it hard to explain the meaningful differences between systems, which can leave less knowledgeable customers feeling confused and uncertain.

Elkjøp also wanted to be able to describe PCs in terms of their capabilities rather than their specifications. Elkjøp wished to develop a set of categories to describe different types of PC use, such as productivity, social media, or gaming, but found it difficult to define the categories and determine which one was most appropriate for each system.

Solution

We worked with Elkjøp to create and define a set of computer categories with clear and helpful names. These categories - Basic, Home, Produce, and Create - describe the capabilities of each system rather than its specifications.

Every PC, notebook, and laptop sold by Elkjøp is thoroughly tested in our dedicated lab in Finland. We run a range of benchmarks to produce complete data on all aspects of performance from everyday web browsing and personal productivity, to how well a system handles the latest games and virtual reality experiences.

We use the PCMark 10 benchmark score to determine which category each PC belongs to. For gaming PCs, we also run 3DMark to measure graphics performance and VRMark to assess VR performance. Within a category, comparing PCs is as easy as comparing numbers. The higher the score, the better the performance.

Elkjøp uses the categories and benchmark scores on its website, on point-of-sale material, and in its advertising and promotions.

The solution was launched in July 2017 in time for Elkjøp's important back-to-school sales promotion.


Elkjøp uses benchmarks to categorize PCs into clear categories that describe capabilities