Giving away samples is an easy way to get a product out there and maybe even hook a customer in. I know and have witnessed my friends, family, and strangers purchase products they have sampled. Samples are such a simple, genius way to market a product; they do all the work for you. No need to convince us that your product is good, let us taste it or try it on.
Some of my sample stories:
At grocery stores such as Trader Joe’s, Stew Leonard’s and Whole Foods, I have often bought items that I was able to try in the store. I wouldn’t normally buy mango salsa, frozen lasagna, or a broccoli and cheese quiche had I not been able to try a sample and gotten hooked.
When I pass by the Farmer’s Market, I immediately purchase fruits I normally wouldn’t pick up in a grocery store because the sample of a slice of pear or peach is so incredible.
Sephora.com gives away three free samples with every order, and they are usually so great that I have to buy the products in their full size.
With all of the products I have sampled, and how successful I know they can be as a marketing tool, I was shocked at what happened to my friend the other day. She was walking passed IceBerry and stopped in because she had never had it before. She asked to try the green tea frozen yogurt and they said “we don’t do samples.” So she left, angered by spending 4 dollars and change with the possibility of simply throwing it away because she didn’t like it.
Why would they not do samples? I understand if an ice cream place has 50 flavors and you don’t want the customers trying 5 flavors each, but why not one? And IceBerry only has 5 flavors to begin with so it’s not like a customer can endlessly ask to sample flavors.
What do you think about samples? Have you bought anything because you sampled it?
