TOP FIVE TYPES OF EXPERIENTIAL SAMPLING AT TESCO
If you are a creative and commercially savvy marketing expert, you might also feel pangs of disappointment when you see a lonely member of store staff timidly trying to offer out samples to dis-interested shoppers.
‘Mable with a Table’ is the very lowest form of supermarket sampling. Thankfully, with expert experiential production and location planning guidance from LINK your brand can activate far more impactful and effective sampling options across Tesco.
In store sampling is incredibly limited in terms of branding, catering, audience reach and sales uplift Vs sampling in front of store. Read the below examples to learn what’s possible with expert support from LINK:
5. POP UP SAMPLING SHACKS
Pop Up Sampling Shacks are bespoke built units, designed and styled to suit your brand. Internally they can be fitted out with whichever catering units suit your needs. Fridges, ovens, fryers, hobs, etc. It’s all possible with a pop up sampling shack. The static nature of them requires affordable event sites across Tescos located in busy retail parks and shopping malls.
When Ginger Beer brand Old Jamaica wanted to uplift their sales at Tesco they decided to do it in Jamaican beach style! LINK designed, built and toured their reggae inspired sampling area across 60 Tesco stores. Not only did it make shoppers feel IRIE, but it generated average sales of 248 units per store, with peak sales as high as 483 SOLD in just one store, in one single day!
4. FUNKY FOOD TRUCKS
While HFSS regulations have kicked in to reduce the promotion of specific types of products inside store, they do not cover what happens OUTSIDE the store! Premium event sites can be booked in the biggest, busiest Tescos connected to malls and retail parks. Also, trucks can be located outside of Tescos on high streets, suburban retail areas and stations too.
Luxury Ice Cream brand Nuii made use of this with a cute sampling van touring supermarkets to educate shoppers on why their ice creams are tastier than the others! Customers could view the ethically sourced origins of the ingredients on interactive screens and try a delicious taster. Record sales numbers were achieved across a range of Tesco Extras, Tesco Superstores and Tesco Express stores across the UK.
3. MOBILE SIP SAMPLING DRINKS BAR
While non-alcoholic spirits is a growing sector, most shoppers don’t belive that the taste of a ‘clean’ G&T is going to deliver against a traditional alternative. That’s a perfect storm situation for sampling; as pre-conceived negative perceptions are quickly washed away with the impact of a delicious CleanCo G&T!
To create the vibe of a premium cocktail bar LINK created a portable drinks bar complete with a marble countertop, brass fittings and a glass rail. The portable nature of the cart meant it could be located at a mix of supersized Tesco Extras and also on the streets, directly in front of busy high streets stores too.
The results of the campaign were staggering, with average sales uplifts of over 2,500% across Tesco. The Tesco sampling tour tour even earned a marketing industry award for one of the Most effective Retail Sales Experiences of that entire year!
2. GAZEBO EVENT TENT
Gazebos are the unsung heroes of many a promotional campaign. They are low cost, highly versatile and can accommodate a wide range of promotional activity. With pre-booked event sites, they can be used for hot catering, sampling, social media and fun game play too.
Kepak, owner of burger brand Rustlers used THREE separate gazebo event areas, each simultaneously touring 60 Tesco stores (180 Tescos in total!). Customers initially unsure about a burger that’s reheated in a microwave were quickly won over with the taste of the thick, flame grilled patties of British & Irish beef. So much so, the team sold an average of 315 burgers per store, per day! It was so popular at times that sales peaked at a world record breaking 559 units, in just one store, in one day! The campaign was awarded GOLD for the Most Effective Retail Sales Experience Award of that year!
…Don’t under-estimate the power of a well placed promotional gazebo!
1. HOT CATERING CARTS
Hot catering carts can be located in front of store entrances; and offer ALL shoppers hot tasters before they start their shopper journey. The range of uses includes oven baking, frying, grilling and boiling. Hot cooking areas are hidden behind heat safety shields, and fronts used as additional branding space for your key messages. Plus chilled and frozen food can be brought alongside it too, with the use of chilled vans or refrigerated deliveries.
Pilgrim’s Choice Cheese used a hot catering cart to serve up thousands of hot cheese toasties around Tescos. Delighted customers who went in to purchased a block of cheese would receive another for free. The BOGOF reward was gifted by the team when shoppers returned to the stand on their way out, showing they’d bought one inside. The sales were almost as hot as the melted cheese toasties, reaching an average of 110 big blocks of cheese SOLD per sampling day, peaking at 221 in just one single store! Cheeze, those are big numbers for cheese!
MAKE CONTACT!
Speak to one of the Experiential Experts at LINK to find out how you can create an effective campaign for your brand.
As you can see, there is so much more that can be done with sampling at Tesco than the sad and ineffective ‘Mable with a Table’. Whether it’s serving freshly prepped tasters from an attractively styled catering unit or using your event area to make a massive visual impact; LINK will provide you with effective options that will convince thousands of shoppers to cross the line and buy your product for the first of many times.