COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Sampling -- if it's done right -- sells products by appealing to customers' increasing tendency to buy on impulse.
That's what consultant Howard Solganik told attendees at a conference of the Ohio Grocers' Association held here late last month.
Solganik, president of Dayton, Ohio-based Solganik & Associates, works extensively with supermarket deli and food-service directors. In a presentation on deli merchandising, he stressed that retailers should make sure sampling fulfills its role as a sales tool.
"The biggest problem we see is delis just putting out product with no information about it, like just a trayful of cheese cubes with toothpicks sticking out of them," Solganik said.
He went on to offer guidelines for two modes of sampling: passive sampling, in which customers help themselves, and active sampling, in which store associates or product representatives offer product information as they offer customers a taste.
"We have to remember that the whole purpose of sampling is to cause sales," Solganik said. "If you're using passive sampling, signs should identify the product, its price, and other information about it, such as how it can be used. Otherwise, you're just giving food away without getting any kind of return for it."
He said the product should be presented attractively, on an uncluttered domed tray. Solganik stressed that, in his view, weaving active sampling into the deli associates' routine duties is the most cost-effective way to introduce customers to a product and to trigger their buying impulses.
"Associates should be offering customers samples every day, but we also need to make it easy for them to do that. For example, the appropriate materials should be available, like little cups and spoons. And a trash can should be nearby so customers can throw away the used utensils. It shouldn't be a big deal," he explained.
Deli associates should be instructed that they're expected to sell food, Solganik said. Indeed, he emphasized the need to look for associates who are natural salespeople.
"We've been so task-oriented in the supermarket business that we've neglected to reward people for selling. We need to identify good salespeople and treasure them," he said.
Solganik said retailers should also make it easy for customers to buy the sampled products.
"The samples, for example, should be adjacent to a display of the product, whether that's in the service or self-service case," Solganik advised.
He advocated relying on in-house resources for a sampling program over hiring an outfit from outside the company to demonstrate a product.
