Product Sampling Has Changed

The World of sampling has changed drastically over 2020, with personal interaction being hugely affected by the lock down measures and social distancing guidelines. This has led to traditional methods of product sampling becoming redundant. With consumers concerned about interaction with people outside of their households and brands wanting to keep their customers and prospective customers safe, traditional methods like Street and In-Store distribution are all, but gone.

Brands who have already tested product sampling in the pre-Covid World, will know the value that is gained from getting your product into a consumer's hand to try, enjoy and therefore start buying.

So where does our "NEW NORM" leave product sampling?

Fortunately for brands interested in getting a sample of their product into a consumers hands, there is huge opportunity in a media channel that has seen volumes drastically increase during the pandemic. The eCommerce sector for D2C brands has seen an unprecedented increase in demand with consumers, who's buying habits would have normally been through buying instore, taking to the internet, buying the products they want and having them delivered to their homes.

Some reports are suggesting that the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the eCommerce sector by 10 years.

This has created a huge opportunity to target consumers in the very environment where 90% of them make their buying decisions from. THE HOME. By piggy backing a brand's parcel mailing to their customer, product sampling brands can target not just the right demographic from a social grading, gender and age perspective, but also through life stage (e.g. parents with children) and buying habits (online savvy or mail order buyers).

It also allows the advertising brand to limit wastage in producing too many samples for an event or street distribution, lowers the overhead as there are no staffing costs involved and when combined with an insert carrying a coded or barcoded offer for the consumer to redeem online or in-store, allows them to be fully attributable.

More and more consumers buying habits have been and are being changed during the pandemic, which means this sector of product sampling is growing and is the most viable option to safely get consumers to sample your product.

The level of engagement in Home Sampling is high due to the implied endorsement from the brand carrying the sample, especially from subscription brands where consumers are purchasing on a regular basis and who they have a high affiliation with.

Product samples are proven to increase brand saliency as the consumer has tried your product and providing they enjoyed it will mean that your product/brand is thought of or noticed by consumers when they make a purchase decision.

Connections by The Specialist Works work with a number of eCommerce brands who are happy to accept product samples into their customer parcels on a weekly and monthly basis. Media rates vary from ￡0.10p to ￡0.35p per item and you take into consideration the level of audience targeting, the value of getting your product into the environment where consumers buy from and the state of mind in which they are receiving their parcel that price tag comes with a lot of additional value.

Connections by The Specialist Works are proud to introduce a new product sampling opportunity to our portfolio and to welcome Gousto into the family. Managed by Connection s, Gousto are now accepting product samples into the boxes of their highly engaged customer and also endorsing the sampling brands under the "Gousto Loves" initiative.

Weekly opportunities are available to test now and with a wealth of market knowledge in how to make offline media as attributable and responsive as possible our team will happily advise and help you to make your product sampling campaign as effective as possible.

Please get in touch today if you would like talk about accepting samples into your parcels or to find out more about "Gousto Loves" or any other Home Sampling opportunities.

Huw Whitethread - Client Director - [email protected]