By Sarah Hamaker
Convenience stores offer an ideal format for sampling. The consumer can taste a new product, and instead of feeling pressured to invest in a larger or regular-sized product, they can easily indulge in the smaller sizes that convenience stores sell.
Sampling also allows the retailer to get immediate feedback. “It’s an opportunity for the retailer to sell the story and the varied uses of the product, which, if unique to the store, will drive loyalty,” said James Sinclair, principal of OnSite Consulting.
“Our studies have shown that the younger generation — the Millennials and the Generation Xers — put more credibility in sampling,” said John McHugh, manager of corporate communications for Kwik Trip, based in La Crosse, Wisconsin. “Since that age group is a big part of our customer base, food sampling is pretty important for us.”
Sampling works because “you’re offering a product that maybe the average consumer wouldn’t pick up,” said Eric Bray, who handles national sales for Goya Foods. Goya does food sampling in convenience stores “as often as possible because sampling is a big part of our marketing plan.”
A successful sampling program requires a clear sampling area, a knowledgeable staff, plenty of stock on hand to sell and perhaps coupons or other incentives for the sampled product.
Product selection. Picking the right item to sample can make the demonstration a success. “We usually reserve product sampling until after the initial product launch to see if sales are meeting objectives,” said Steve Carvel, national sales manager of Buddy’s Kitchen, producer of custom frozen and fresh food.
For example, a sandwich that had done very well for one convenience chain debuted at another chain to lower volume sales than either Buddy’s Kitchen or that retailer had expected, Carvel said. “We decided to do a demo program and that helped boost sales of that sandwich,” he said.
Where. With a convenience store’s smaller footprint, finding the right place for sampling can be a challenge. Ideally, the best place for sampling is near the front doors. “The sampler needs to be visible to customers entering the store,” said McHugh, who said that most Kwik Trip locations have food demos several times a week.
If that doesn’t work with the store’s layout, locate the sampling station near the shelved product so customers know.
Where to find the product. Giant Eagle samples beverages and food selections from its menus at the pump and inside the store. The chain developed a backpack coffee dispenser for pump sampling. In addition, an employee also takes trays of bite-sized food and coupons out to customers pumping gas to generate inside foodservice sales.
Personnel. Kwik Trip employs dedicated food product demonstrators (FPDs) for its sampling program. The chain trains its FPDs by providing product information sheets prior to the demos and making sure they know the product’s location in the store.
“We’ve found that you can’t just put anybody out there with samples,” said McHugh. “They need to be outgoing, comfortable approaching people and knowledgeable about the product.”
Freshness. Keeping the product fresh and appetizing encourages sampling. “We don’t like a lot of samples out there at any given time because we want to maintain the quality and freshness of the product,” said McHugh.
Also, it’s important to make sure there’s enough of sampled product on hand. “We have a good understanding of takeaway per demo, so we’ll tell the retailer to have X amount of cases on hand during the sampling,” said Bray of Goya Foods.
The numbers. Retailers can expect suppliers to shoulder some of the financial outlay of running a sampling program. Buddy’s Kitchen gives an allowance per sandwich to the retailer to offset sampling costs, often working with suppliers to help defray expenses. Goya Foods supplies the retailer with the sampled product, asking only that the store order enough stock to cover any product sales.
Coupons or other discounts can drive further sales of the sampled product. “Couponing helps to incentivize the customer, either for immediate or next time in the store purchases,” said Carvel.
A well-executed sampling program drives sales and excitement. “Sampling on a consistent basis ensures that you have a number of messaging opportunities from which to build new sales and loyalty,” said Sinclair.
Sarah Hamaker is a freelance writer based in Fairfax, Virginia, who enjoys sampling food in stores. She’s also a NACS Magazine and NACS Daily contributing writer.