Demonstrations & Samplings: The Hands-On Sales Approach that Sells

Demonstrations will wow them — your customers, that is. Yes, demonstrations have been proven to be a cost-effective, consumer-friendly merchandising strategy that not only helps educate customers but also builds sales and customer loyalty

According to recent research, 28 percent of consumers report that a food product demonstration causes them to purchase that brand rather than their usual brand, while 19 percent of consumers will purchase a household product or cleaner after seeing it demonstrated sales.
Consumers Speak

Overwhelming evidence of positive attitudes about and subsequent purchase of products among consumers who received samples and participated in demonstrations is presented in a recent research report — Inside Look at Consumers' Reaction to Samples and Demonstrations — by the Product Sampling & Demonstration Council of the Promotion Marketing Association. Conducted in February 2002 through a partnership between the Product Sampling & Demonstration Council, BrandMarketing Magazine, and NFO WorldGroup, the findings were based on nearly 3,400 surveys completed by male and female heads of households aged 18 years and older.

Seventy-one percent of the respondents said they purchased a product after receiving a sample and 69 percent said that samples and demonstrations influence their product purchase decisions more than an advertisement for the product on TV or radio. Eighty-nine percent of consumers stated that they "feel better" about purchasing a product after using or trying a sample of it, and 85 percent indicated that a coupon received with a free sample makes it easier to buy the product.