A TASTE OF SUCCESS

STEPHANIE FAGNANI

Whether showcased as part of a theme-focused event or simply presented at tables throughout the store, retailers find that offering customers product samples as they shop is still one of the best ways to increase sales and spur at-home trial.

And, a strategically situated sampling station can make all the difference, retailers told SN.

West Point Market, Akron, Ohio, always makes sure to have hearty displays of the featured product as close to the sampling table as possible, for both active and passive offerings, according to Nina Gionti, West Point's director of specialty foods.

"We have plenty of products displayed because you've got to have the product there to sell it," she said.

At D&W Food Centers, Grand Rapids, Mich., sampling is also conducted as close to the product's actual in-store display as possible.

"In a fresh environment, you may be sampling 10 feet away from the product, but you try to get it in as close proximity as possible," said Ron Cox, vice president of marketing.

"In dry or frozen, you can get it right next to the product," he added.

A&P stores also provide quantities of the product for the consumer to pick up right at the demo location, Susan Hamilton, director of customer marketing for A&P's Atlantic Region, told SN.

But, for the most part, "we like to select the aisle where the product is located or a nearby high-traffic area for the demos," Hamilton said.

Indeed, as location and other strategic advantages are kept top of mind, sampling is expected to continue to be a very profitable method of raising consumer interest in products, particularly those that are new or are a retailer's own brand, industry sources said.

According to the annual Communications Industry Forecast 2001 report published last month by New York-based media investment bank Veronis Suhler, consumer promotion spending -- including product sampling, POP displays, in-store marketing, premiums, promotional licensing and coupons -- is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 4% from 2000 to 2005, reaching $44.4 billion in 2005.

Product sampling, according to the CIF 2001, will post the strongest compound annual growth at 8.2%, with spending on sampling reaching $1.8 billion in 2005.

Veronis Suhler attributes the healthy growth to the belief that manufacturers are allocating more of their promotional budgets to product sampling.

Meanwhile, retailers continue to embrace sampling as a means to educate consumers on items they would normally never purchase, thereby increasing store traffic and sales.

"We have three main objectives with our in-store demo program: to present to our customers the very best quality, variety and service of our full line of fresh foods; to promote the quality and value of grocery products in our stores; and to provide our customers with the first opportunity to sample brand new products in the marketplace," Hamilton said.

On average, she estimates that A&P reaches 300 consumers per store per demo day through sampling.

Others agree that presenting consumers with items that are unique to them is important. "We're trying to put a product in their mouths that they haven't had before," Cox said. "In the case of specialty foods, we're trying to educate the consumer as well, so there may not be a purchase that day, but it will be something that consumer will think about the next time they're in the store," he added.

And, with the continuous merging of consumer packaged goods companies, there certainly hasn't been a shortage of new products entering the marketplace.

Consolidation has been kind to consumer packaged goods manufacturers, enabling companies to create good portfolio lines, C. Manly Molpus, president and chief executive officer of the Washington-based Grocery Manufacturers of America, told SN.

However, he said, it can't end there.

"There comes a time when the rubber hits the road and top-line growth will come from a steady stream of innovative new products that meet the needs of consumers," said Molpus.

Vendors need to keep pace with the rapidly changing industry by launching new products quicker while rationalizing stockkeeping units based on consumer needs, he said.

"Failure rates for products is high, but the products that have made it have been outstanding successes as well," Molpus said. "The requirements for successful product development today require that the company culture be one that supports innovation and risk," he added.

Consumer trial at point-of-purchase can ensure consumer satisfaction with a purchase, as well as provide retailers with a way to connect with the communities they serve.

Sampling is pretty much a continuous event at West Point Market, according to Gionti.

"Sampling is key to our business. We've been very aggressive with sampling this year. We have a promotion once a month. They usually run from Saturday to Saturday," she said.

Some of West Point's sampling events have included a "Best of the West" theme, which featured a pig roast in front of the store. This month the store will feature a Spanish-themed promotion, and a British promotion runs every October, generally the second week of the month, complete with bag pipers.

"This year we're going to focus on Walker's [cocktail size] Oat Cakes. I think they could be hot," Gionti said.

An aggressive-passive sampling program, where stations are "managed but not manned," punctuates D&W's approach, Cox told SN.

"We absolutely believe in sampling. We have moved away from the mainstream products and are focusing on the D&W label," Cox said, adding that the President's Choice label was introduced to D&W stores in January. At that time, the store did "major samplings then, both active and passive," he said.

In the fall and winter months, D&W runs a tailgate-themed sampling promotion, and in November and December the store offers patrons a taste of the holidays.

"We like to show people different types of solutions that they can quickly put together. We show them that to entertain doesn't have to be difficult," Cox said.

Likewise, increasing sales through sampling doesn't have to be difficult.

"If they try it, they always buy it," Gionti said. "Taste rules."