Sample first, buy later

Cups of tea, savoury niblets, ice cream, the odd tester of perfume or night cream, and now even a BlackBerry — in every freebie lies the promise of a larger sale in the future for the promoting company.

The concept of trysumerism, or trying before buying, is not new to the UAE’s retail landscape. For more than a decade, a walk down any hypermarket aisle would have seen consumers propositioned with samples at one or more pop-up stands.

Research In Motion (RIM), the makers of BlackBerry, is taking the trend further this Dubai Summer Surprises, with a roadshow across the country’s malls  to promote their BlackBerry OS7.1 upgrade.

Customers will be able to borrow a full-touch BlackBerry smartphone and SIM card for 30 minutes while shopping at the mall. The promotion is just one example of how tryvertising, a way of advertising through consumer trials, has taken off across the Emirates.

The larger trend, called  trysumerism, is similarly about promoting new products, experiences or concepts at little or no cost to the man on the street. “The desire to try before you buy remains interesting to consumers, because it allows them to make up their own minds about products, rather than just rely on marketing,” says Henry Mason, head of research and analysis at Trendwatching.com, an independent trend forecasting firm and one of the early commentators on trysumerism.

With tryvertising,  the analysis of the experience has become intrinsic to brand evolution and demand. Simply put, this means that not only are you asked to sample the cookie, but are assured you will get it for free if you promise to simply tell the company how it crumbles.

Connected experience
Professional services firm Deloitte’s 2012 report, Global Powers of Retailing, says data analytics will continue to be critical for retail in the years to come. The physical store, says the report, is “becoming a piece in a larger, more connected customer experience.” In other words, the store exists not only as a place for an economic transaction but also as a laboratory.

Social media, fuelled by opinion, is adding to the trend. Mason says, “Now consumers can and are actively discussing the products and services that they’re using on social networks, with more people than ever before.”

Whether it’s a brick-and-mortar store or an online one, the concept works across the board: a case in point is GlamBox Middle East, a beauty and cosmetic products sampling company. Based in Dubai, its business model is built on the premise of free sampling. “We like to think of our subscribers as a new type of consumer, who we identify by psychographics rather than using traditional demographics and target consumers with a curiosity to experiment with new products,” says Monika Debowski, Director of Operations, GlamBox ME.

Each month, the company sends a box of sample-sized beauty and fragrance products sourced by their team to a base of subscribers, who in turn try out the products based on their preferences. They can then buy full-sized products directly from the brand or from GlamBox ME’s online store. Launched in January 2012, the company already has a strong base of subscribers and has plans to expand its online business into the rest of the GCC.

While Monika says, “We aren’t aware of any other company with our business model in MENA,” so compelling is the strength of the model that the UAE will soon have another trysumer heavyweight. Al Khayyat Investments’ Sample Central is scheduled to open next month.

The UAE’s first ‘free’ retail store concept encourages pre-registered members (for an annual fee of Dh100) to visit their store, select products that appeal and take them home for free. In exchange, members must complete a detailed feedback survey online after using the product. Once done, members can schedule another trip to the store. While Sample Central did not part with any details ahead of their launch, its website (www.samplecentral.ae) confirms that pre-registrations are currently in progress.

Spreading trend
Trysumerism hit its peak in the West in 2007 with retailers having trialled and evolved the concept into a multi-sector retail success. The UAE, too, has seen ideas such as the pop-up store, but now retailers are using the concept to reach new demographics. “While trysumerism has been around for a while, what has changed is the way the trend is spreading across different consumer segments,” says Rami Taher, an independent business consultant in Dubai.

Two of Taher’s clients, a children’s games company and an international dance company, recently experimented with the concept, and have reported increased sales as a result.

Taher says that there have been a few traditional strongholds of tryvertising. “Most perfume brands offer a free sample of their new products for consumers to try in outlets. In addition to samples, many cosmetic brands have make-up artists available in stores who apply their products on consumers for free. Electronics stores used to display dummy models of their products, but now have functioning samples for customers to try out and experience beyond its aesthetics. It is also widely used in car dealerships, where the customer is encouraged to take a test drive before making a decision,” added Taher.

While food-and-experience-based purchases such as spas and safaris are obviously attracted to the concept, Taher’s clients represent a new segment. Rainbow Play UAE, for instance, which sells residential and commercial children’s play equipment, has display units installed at a number of locations for potential clients to take their kids to play before making any purchase decisions.

A concept across the board
Others, such as the gym chain Fitness First offer free trial classes to encourage sign-ups. “I expect more service-oriented businesses to follow the same model,” Taher says.

At its best, trysumerism assumes confidence in the product — the brand is pretty certain of generating a word-of-mouth or personal endorsement from the trysumer. While gutsy retailers with complete faith in their products could gain exposure and new target groups, others run the risk of having products perceived as below-par, a risk few conservative marketers are willing to take.

Either way, in an advanced retail destination such as the UAE, where premium is considered regular, trysumerism highlights the true arrival of the experience economy where consumers want the experience, not just the product or service.

As Mason says, “The consumer needs are still the same — the desire to find the best and most suitable product. Anything that enables the consumer to make better decisions will forever be relevant.”