Generating Produce Sales From Product Sampling

Presenting the Packaged Product When Sampling

In order to maximise produce sales when undertaking product sampling, new customers need to be shown exactly what to buy, when they are in store. Sometimes, the promotional product sample that they receive might be taken out of its on shelf packaging and be served in a small unbranded cup or bowl. Our shared goal is not to increase category sales in general, but to drive sales just for your specific brand. To do that, we ensure that throughout the sampling activity, there is a range of visual product images on display, so people know what product packaging they need to find when presented with the range of options while browsing in store.

Creating Buying Opportunities From Sampling

If your promotional product sampling activity doesn’t lead to substantial increased produce sales, it has not worked. Unless you are in the rare position of being the clear category leader, brand building is nothing without sales! It is possible to position your stock readily available to buy in the majority of product sampling locations, as the best time to ask customers to make a purchase is when they have just enjoyed your free promotinoal product sample. In front of a supermarket, you can position stock in the foyer or at most events you can sell directly from the sampling stand itself. All sales made should be closely accounted for and can be used to reduce the overal sampling campaign running costs.

Considering Proximity to Purchase Opportunity

Displaying sales stock either immediately on, or close to the product sampling location is a critical factor when it comes to driving immediate sales uplifts. You might lose up to 75% of potential sales by allowing customers to walk away and try to find the product for themselves somewhere in store. If keeping the stock on location isn’t possible (which is often the case), the use of print material, vouchers and sales incentives becomes essential to ensure you keep the sample recipients tied in, until you convert them to become your new loyal customers.

Incorporating Customer Incentives in Sampling

Convincing the sample recipients to make their first product purchase is the essential first step on the journey to driving long term market share, through to them becoming your newly aquatinted audience of loyal customers. Although discounting might affect your bottom line for the short term, it delivers both long term growth, and a helpful tracking mechanism to help you prove the ROI the product sampling activity has delivered for you campaign.

Adding Customer Data Capture to Sampling

The offering of the first promotional product sample should be the first hand shake in a long term relationship with your new potential customer. There are a wide range of mechanisms to capture customer data on experiential product sampling activity locations, or via online competitions which allow you to communicate with your new base of sample recipients long after the initial taster has been handed out.

Remembering to Ask Sample Recipients to Buy

If you don’t ask them, most potential sample recipients won’t make a purchase of their own accord. Your product sampling activity should be based around a show and sell principal, not just show and tell. Intelligent sampling campaign planning will equip your teams of front line brand ambassadors with a pre-determined script which leads customers to make a purchase, simply by remembering asking them to buy once they have enjoyed your product sample.

Generate Both Short & Long Term Sales From Sampling

It's a tried and tested fact that promotional product sampling campaigns will deliver product sales. If they don’t, you need to switch your agency (or sampling strategy) fast! You should expect a huge spike of immediate sales, from the substantial audience of newly introduced customers who have been touched by the sampling activity positively and decided to make an immediate impulse purchase following their trial and enjoyment of the product sample. This is then followed by a sustained growth increase curve, as those new customers who bought during the sampling activity, who liked the sampled product come back and make repeat purchases, on a long term basis.