Today improving the retail experience is no longer an option. It is a matter of survival and when it comes to business, attracting shoppers is only half the challenge. Once we have their attention how we turn their interest into purchase.  In traditional trade the retailers typically interact directly with their customers, actively assisting them with their selection and purchases.  However the challenge is in a modern retail format where there isn’t much interaction and shoppers make their own purchase decisions.
 
Brands that actually engage shoppers, experientially or emotionally, tend to turn shoppers into buyers. Engagement can take many forms, from creating a powerful brand experience with shoppers outside the store, having brand ambassadors interacting with them in-store, to demos and sampling, to cause related brand associations that resonate with shoppers when it’s time to buy.

Understanding the purchase decision begins with identifying the difference between the shopper and the consumer. Each one of us is a consumer, however, we are not all the same type of shopper. In some categories we are shopping for ourselves and in some we are fulfilling the needs of others.  Our involvement and engagement in a category as shopper may or may not match the consumer type. The consumer is carried with the shopper into the store in the form of expectation.

Good marketers are experts at explaining to consumers the many benefits and advantages of a new product or brand. But convincing the shopper to purchase isn’t always as simple as broadcasting a commercial as the shopper may or may not be a consumer.  Hence at time helping shoppers make a purchase decision of a product means letting them try it before they buy it. Sometimes, a brand has to lead by a sample.  Product sampling is the most targeted, cost effective to put your brand in the hands of the shopper. 

For example, “SOFIT” the soya milk from Godrej did a sampling activity at key modern trade outlets they asked the shoppers who were near the aisle of dairy, to check their BMI. All the shoppers who showed interest in the knowing their BMI were given a tetra pack of the milk stating the product is a healthier variant to the regular milk hence creating a space in their shopping basket.

Businesses wishing to promote a new product are often faced with a competitive marketplace. This is where product samples come in handy. Offering product samples to shoppers is beneficial, as it increases exposure, gives them a taste of what's to come and allows them to feel confident with their purchase.  The unfamiliarity of new products may make shoppers weary of reliability, impact on lifestyle or effectiveness. By providing product samples, you eliminate the fear factor and allow them to test the product risk-free. Sample sizes are often small enough that if the shopper likes the product, he is inclined to purchase the full-sized version of the product and to share the product with friends and family members. We should try to bring him into the shoes of consumer and assisting him in making a choice.

To quote an example, the Ice tea market is still very niche in the country. Hence when Lipton came up with the Ice tea variant, they took sampling route to create the product awareness.  The product promotion was done at the modern trade outlets near the aisle of beverages and the shoppers were given the glasses of pre made Lipton ice tea to acquire the taste of the new product.

Using innovative packaging, a brand can provide shoppers with a positive product experience, motivating them to purchase while encouraging brand loyalty. The brand should focus on sample quality and packaging that resembles the full-size product. Creating a sampling program with clearly defined objectives is the first step. Shoppers receive as many as 3,000 advertising messages a day; a sampling program can help a brand stand out in the crowd, particularly on the mass market level. Sampling exposes users of a competitive brand, as well as new consumers, to the product. These two groups can diversify a brand’s consumer base while encouraging brand loyalty, particularly if the consumer had a positive sampling experience. If a consumer tries the sample and subsequently purchases the brand as a result, there’s no reason to believe the consumer wouldn’t buy the product again since the experience would be the same.

Over time, brands may need to be repositioned in the market. For example, a sampling program for an aging brand may be designed targeting younger users to overcome an unfavorable impression of being a brand for older women only. Consumers may see price as a barrier with prestige brands. Sampling is a path to surmounting that barrier. According to market SKUs, if consumers visit stores where trial samples are available, they are far more likely to spend higher on just the right personal care product.

Sampling also works well when introducing a system experience to consumers, such as combinations of a skin care line or two complementary hair care products. Additionally, a brand can tailor a sampling program to help shoppers trade-up to a premium product within a line and increase loyalty.

By understating the shopper segments, moments of truths and migration patterns, retailers and brands can do a better job of converting shoppers to buyers.

Blurb 1:

Brands that actually engage shoppers, experientially or emotionally, tend to turn shoppers into buyers. Engagement can take many forms, from creating a powerful brand experience with shoppers outside the store, having brand ambassadors interacting with them in-store, to demos and sampling, to cause related brand associations that resonate with shoppers when it’s time to buy.

Blurb 2:

“Businesses wishing to promote a new product are often faced with a competitive marketplace. This is where product samples come in handy. Offering product samples to shoppers is beneficial, as it increases exposure, gives them a taste of what's to come and allows them to feel confident with their purchase.  The unfamiliarity of new products may make shoppers weary of reliability, impact on lifestyle or effectiveness. By providing product samples, you eliminate the fear factor and allow them to test the product risk-free. Sample sizes are often small enough that if the shopper likes the product, he is inclined to purchase the full-sized version of the product and to share the product with friends and family members. We should try to bring him into the shoes of consumer and assisting him in making a choice.”