Free samples - supermarkets

Free samples - supermarkets

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ReverendCounter

Original Poster:

6,087 posts

175 months

Monday 15th January 2018
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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?

Thankyou4calling

10,596 posts

172 months

Tuesday 16th January 2018
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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.

matjk

1,101 posts

139 months

Tuesday 16th January 2018
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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

Yipper

5,964 posts

89 months

Tuesday 16th January 2018
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Use a medium-sized independent corner shop and you should be able to do it cheaply.

ReverendCounter

Original Poster:

6,087 posts

175 months

Tuesday 16th January 2018
quotequote all
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.

ReverendCounter

Original Poster:

6,087 posts

175 months

Tuesday 16th January 2018
quotequote all
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.

ReverendCounter

Original Poster:

6,087 posts

175 months

Tuesday 16th January 2018
quotequote all
matjk, Yipper - thanks for the suggestion regarding smaller indie supermarkets/retailers. I think a decent spec newsagent would be useful as well - good shout, ta!

matjk

1,101 posts

139 months

Tuesday 16th January 2018
quotequote all
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.

ReverendCounter

Original Poster:

6,087 posts

175 months

Wednesday 17th January 2018
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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.

DRFC1879

3,437 posts

156 months

Thursday 18th January 2018
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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.

ReverendCounter

Original Poster:

6,087 posts

175 months

Thursday 18th January 2018
quotequote all
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