Grocers, brands lean hard into the benefits of free samples

With the potency of targeted online ads fading, more grocery retailers are back to pulling out free samples for shoppers, according to reporting from Bloomberg News.

In August, Walmart rolled out a new retail media strategy that also leans into weekend-only demo stations where brands can show off their products in person. The retailer has been conducting the product demos in over 120 stores over the past four months and plans on expanding the stations to 1,000 stores by February 2024.

In May, retailer-owned cooperative Wakefern Food Corp. said it would put free sample vending machines in 95 ShopRite and The Fresh Grocer stores, Bloomberg reports.

Digital privacy laws passed by states and users’ ability to block brands from scoping their online path has diluted the effectiveness of targeted online ads, according to the Bloomberg study.

The recent research used a study by SimplicityDX to show retailers lost an average of $29 on each purchase from a new customer in 2022, which is three times more than eight years ago.

Also, according to a PYMNTS study, free samples reduce the number of returns from shoppers because it allows interaction with the product before making a purchase to better understand whether they like it and think it’s a fit.

Another benefit from offering samples, reports PYMNTS, is market insights, which allow brands to gather real-time feedback on how products are performing.