Free samples - supermarkets
Discussion
I'd considering extending a trial retail period by making some free samples available in a supermarket, in order to generate some real world market research results (rather than current results from online sales).
Has anyone any experience in doing this at all? It's non-food consumable which won't be impacting any other product so the store won't lose out.
Any thoughts, (preferably based on prior experience!) please?
Has anyone any experience in doing this at all? It's non-food consumable which won't be impacting any other product so the store won't lose out.
Any thoughts, (preferably based on prior experience!) please?
What do you intend to do with the feedback and why do you want it?
In my experience feedback is very difficult to act on as consumers want something that isn’t realistic, additionally what people say and what they do are far apart.
For instance, many, given a free sample will enthuse about it and say they’d buy it.
They won’t.
In my experience feedback is very difficult to act on as consumers want something that isn’t realistic, additionally what people say and what they do are far apart.
For instance, many, given a free sample will enthuse about it and say they’d buy it.
They won’t.
My Mrs works in retail Sainsburys(merchandising at store level),
its not going to be easy to get the samples in, expect to have to pay, premium retail space like gondola ends is expensive, brands often pay to have their brands displayed in a premium location , the sellers have the power here. Big companies will always be thinking "whats in it for me" so there has to be interested. Smaller independents would be a much easier route
its not going to be easy to get the samples in, expect to have to pay, premium retail space like gondola ends is expensive, brands often pay to have their brands displayed in a premium location , the sellers have the power here. Big companies will always be thinking "whats in it for me" so there has to be interested. Smaller independents would be a much easier route
Thankyou4calling said:
What do you intend to do with the feedback and why do you want it?
I've already proven that people are searching online for the product I offer and that they go on to purchase it.I'd like to prove that people will pick the item up in store without looking for the product first - ie, they see the product and realise there's a solution to a problem, so they try it.
Then hopefully I can aggregate all of the stats to prove there is a demand in the real world as well as online, and give a convincing case for a buyer to take the product.
matjk said:
My Mrs works in retail Sainsburys(merchandising at store level),
its not going to be easy to get the samples in, expect to have to pay, premium retail space like gondola ends is expensive, brands often pay to have their brands displayed in a premium location , the sellers have the power here. Big companies will always be thinking "whats in it for me" so there has to be interested. Smaller independents would be a much easier route
Thanks, I had seen some references to having to pay to put free samples in store, but this is the first, first hand experience I've been made aware of.its not going to be easy to get the samples in, expect to have to pay, premium retail space like gondola ends is expensive, brands often pay to have their brands displayed in a premium location , the sellers have the power here. Big companies will always be thinking "whats in it for me" so there has to be interested. Smaller independents would be a much easier route
One other thing, I do quite a few trade shows and one thing i have learned is if you give something away no matter what, people will take , no mater how useless, embarrassing, or totally unsuited to that person they will grab it in handfuls.
You could be giving away Dildo cleaning wipes, or skid mark liners for your pants and people will have em, Start asking for money, (like 5p supermarket bags) and sales go from 100% to 0% overnight. To get any market research you have to charge or its not a market research, just an exercise in giving stuff away, and you will be wasting money.
Most giveaways are to introduce people to the brand and hope they like what they experience and become a customer down the line.
You could be giving away Dildo cleaning wipes, or skid mark liners for your pants and people will have em, Start asking for money, (like 5p supermarket bags) and sales go from 100% to 0% overnight. To get any market research you have to charge or its not a market research, just an exercise in giving stuff away, and you will be wasting money.
Most giveaways are to introduce people to the brand and hope they like what they experience and become a customer down the line.
matjk said:
One other thing, I do quite a few trade shows and one thing i have learned is if you give something away no matter what, people will take , no mater how useless, embarrassing, or totally unsuited to that person they will grab it in handfuls.
That's a good point, I'd rather not have the majority of samples picked up just for the sake of it. I'll give some thought to a targeted outlet, or maybe some sort of insertion/tie in/mail out etc. Thanks.If you want to get a trial listing and see what the take-up is like in the real world and you've got some stock you're prepared to give away, the best route would be to talk to a decent independent retailer about giving some stock to them FOC for them to sell on at RSP and see what the rate of sale is like.
Whereabouts are you based? Thanks to my line of work I know just about every retail business in the country so I should be able to put you in touch with someone at the right sort of place.
Whereabouts are you based? Thanks to my line of work I know just about every retail business in the country so I should be able to put you in touch with someone at the right sort of place.
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