Study Shows In-Store Sampling Events Outperform Other Top In-Store Marketing Tactics
In a recent study looking to compare the return-on-investment (ROI) of four in-store marketing tactics, in-store sampling events showed the highest lift both in terms of units sold and actual dollar sales. The study was developed when Interactions, the global leader in product demonstrations and event marketing, was approached by a retailer partner and national brand CPG looking to evaluate how sampling programs compare to other promotional mediums.
Using its proprietary RetailLogic™ analytics platform, Interactions was able to analyze retailer-specific promotional information to compare the ROI of product sampling to three other mediums, including temporary price reductions (TPRs), ad circulars and end cap displays. To control for any cross-influence from other promotional mediums, each test was run on a separate week when there were no other active in-store marketing promotions. Multiple categories across the store were tested, and all showed a significantly greater lift for in-store sampling events as compared to other in-store marketing tactics. For example, for the introduction of a new product in the dairy category, in-store product sampling events generated 116 percent lift in terms of both units and dollar sales, whereas the next highest tactic (end cap displays) generated only 70 percent unit lift and 72 percent dollar lift. The difference is even greater when compared to ad circulars, which generated 63 percent unit lift and 42 percent dollar lift, and TPRs, which generated only 48 percent unit lift and 29 percent dollar lift.
In addition to demonstrating week-of lift for in-store sampling, the data also shows in-store sampling events generate continued lift for as much as 10 weeks post-event. Additional studies are being done to investigate this, as well as the effect of in-store sampling on new trials and brand conversion.