Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is a summary of a current article from the monthly e-zine, CPGmatters.
CPG marketers want efficient promotions, while consumers welcome free stuff. The two may have common ground in the relatively new world of online sampling.
With this promotion, bargain-hunting consumers request samples from websites that may be sponsored by manufacturers, retailers or companies providing the online program and fulfillment. What is lost in immediacy is gained from the efficiency of people getting the products they ask for, not what they chance upon in the store.
Among the major manufacturers that have dabbled in this promotion are: Johnson & Johnson, Kimberly Clark, Con Agra, Hallmark and Nestle. Retailers include: Wal-Mart, Kroger (all banners), Costco, Sam's, Walgreens, CVS, Supervalu, Schnucks and Pathmark.
Trading partners and other experts agree that online sampling will never supplant its in-store cousin. There are certain products - perishables, notably - that will never lend themselves to ordering online on a broad scale.
On the other hand, certain products - many in the health and beauty care categories - work very well with online requests for samples. For example, Prilosec OTC will go into the hands - and stomachs - of those who really need the product, and the explanatory information will be delivered by links to comprehensive data sources, rather than a flier handed out in-store.
Feminine hygiene products are frequently among the online sample offers, as are incontinence products. Baby formula, and other baby services, is another highly targeted product area that can be delivered best to families with new babies either online, and then direct to the home, or in a healthcare setting.
Meanwhile, in the online world, sampling offers can be better tailored to the specific needs of the vendors and their consumers. For example, the StartSampling.com website offers a free subscription to Remedy Life Magazine, diabetic product needs and offers, and a free back-to-school planning calendar with $20 of coupon savings from Nestle.
Online sampling is not quite a revolution, "but it is certainly another arrow in the quiver for manufacturers," said James Tenser, principal, VSN Strategies, Tucson, Ariz. "If it lets them start relationships with consumers, this is another entry point for consumer marketing."
It's a trade-off of immediacy of product for immediacy of in-depth information, according to Mr. Tenser. "Clearly it is not going to be a virtual equivalent of the lady in the hairnet with the little microwave standing in the aisles of the supermarket giving out samples. It's not the stuff, but the information about the stuff that matters the most," he said.
"I see this as coexisting rather nicely with in-store sampling, but it is going to serve a different function, and maybe for different products," he added.
Discussion Questions: What do you think of the benefits as well as the limits of online sampling? How does it compare to and complement in-store sampling?