Free Samples Return To Grocery Stores Nationwide

Here’s another marker that life is approaching a post-pandemic “new normal”: the reintroduction of free samples in grocery stores nationwide.

To the relief of brands, who have long relied on sampling to win customers, many retailers announced plans this month to allow brands back in-store for product demonstrations. At the onset of the pandemic retailers prioritized consumer safety by putting a hold on all sampling programs in order to minimize human-to-human contact. With vaccination rates on the rise and new case rates falling, the grazing aspect of grocery shopping is gradually making a comeback.

Retailer’s Stance On Sampling

This week, Whole Foods became the latest retailer to let vendors know the terms of a revived in-store sampling program. It will allow educational demonstrations and pre-packaged, self-serve samples in select stores nationwide, a model similar to the reopening trend among some of the country’s largest grocers. Walmart and Sam’s Club also announced the return of their sampling programs with similar restrictions.

Costco jumpstarted retail’s return to demonstrations last September when the big-box store began allowing pre-packaged dry good samples to be offered alongside educational product demonstrations. Costco announced in May they will be implementing a multi-phase approach in select stores nationwide to restore free sampling to a level reminiscent of pre-pandemic times. Those phases will unfold throughout the month of June and will be implemented alongside new safety precautions.

According to Melissa LaCarrubba, co-founder of product demonstration firm Starter Up Demos Team, it is the medium-sized, regional store chains that have been the most resistant to bringing back sampling. She said throughout the pandemic, many small, independent grocers in the New York City area allowed active sampling as long as the demonstrator wore sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE), prepared the samples in a safe manner and responsibly distributed them to customers.

What Impact Does This Have On Brands?

Offering a free sample to a consumer removes the risk of having to make a purchase in order to try a new product – and helps bridge the gap when a product or brand is introducing unfamiliar ingredients or flavors. Having the ability to ask questions about the product further increases the likelihood that customers will purchase the item. For the past year, this line of communication between brands and consumers was severed, and brands had to reach consumers through alternative means.

“We did turn, like many others, to digital and ramped up our own digital marketing activity with our database of loyal fans and consumers,” said Poorvi Patodia, Founder & CEO of Biena Snacks. “We relied on that more heavily to communicate with them in terms of what is going on with the brand and new products or launches and changes, but there’s nothing that can just fully replicate that in-store experience.”

Patodia said that Biena tested out a few different programs throughout the past year in an attempt to make up for the restrictions on in-store sampling; however, these programs involved “shipping snacks all over the country” which became costly and was not effective in introducing the product to new consumers.

“At the end of the day for an emerging brand like ours, building a category from scratch with snacks that are very innovative and different than what people might have experienced in the past, we do see sampling as one of these marketing vehicles that is very valuable to us,” added Patodia. “The largest reason being is that we get to traverse the entire marketing funnel from discovery all the way to purchase all in one place.”

How Has Sampling Changed?

Traditionally, due to the cost of production, the retail sampling process entails brand representatives handing out small tastes to consumers in cups. But during the pandemic, when shoppers were unable to remove their masks for a quick sip or bite, and stores tried to limit the number of people inside at any given time, many brands turned to out-of-store sampling strategies that involved handing out full products that shoppers could take home and consume at their leisure.

While many companies are likely to return to old methods, others have found value in the full bottle or bag sample. Yanni Hufnagel, CEO of enhanced water brand Lemon Perfect, said his brand benefitted from the billboard effect of consumers walking around with the product in their hand.

“We like to think that it’s an accessory that you’d like to hold in your hands, almost like a fashion accessory,” Hufnagel said. “Given the packaging design, the iconic nature of our packaging, we want people to walk around with a bottle. So we will always generally prefer to just give out full bottles versus poured samples.”

Hufnagel acknowledged that full bottle samples may not be a tenable strategy for most companies due to the high costs, but he said Lemon Perfect is well capitalized and can afford to continue giving away products for the foreseeable future.

LaCarrubba explained that especially for brands with limited resources, the new restrictions to sampling will continue to pose barriers. For many startups the restricted format for sampling programs makes it difficult for brands without those resources to stage a demonstration that really engages the customer and has an impact. She said this immediately puts smaller startups at a disadvantage when trying to enter the market.

“Our clients don’t just want someone to talk about their brand,” said LaCarrubba. “Demos with sampling are super beneficial for the client and for the stores. It’s the best way to move a product, especially if it’s something that is just going to sit there if people don’t know what it is. They just make so much sense for everybody involved.”

Will Sampling Come Back Across All Channels and Categories?

Most likely, but product demonstrators and brands agree that it will look different for each retailer and brand. Products that need to be heated or fully cooked will make the slowest comeback, according to LaCarrubba, since most retailers are only allowing “minimal-prep” demonstrations.

The exception to this rule is Costco, which has begun distributing hot samples to customers in single-serve white thermal bags. The intention is that customers will wait until they exit the store to try the sample, however. LaCarruba believes this defeats the purpose of sampling as it has the most impact when a customer can try and buy all in one occasion.

“There’s something about tasting a product that you just can’t get with anything else,” said LaCarrubba. “You have to be able to taste that product and put that product in the customer’s hand for them to really develop a relationship with it.”

According to Patodia, Biena is going to hold off on reentering sampling programs for the time being. For now, the brand is keeping the lines of communication open with retailers and said it will likely begin offering in-store samples again by late summer or early fall to target the back-to-school traffic.