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Original poster

Food samples in supermarket

83 replies

Canshopwillshop · 10/02/2020 17:42

My local supermarket has a sushi counter and the guy who runs it regularly has a stand giving out samples. My DS loves it and the odd time he’s with me he usually asks if it’s ok to take one. I buy the boxes regularly and the sushi guy recognises me.

Tonight we were there after I’d picked DS up from school and DS asked for a sample and the guy was really off with us exclaiming that we should just buy some from the counter. I didn’t want any tonight as it’s usually something we have at weekends but I didn’t think it was a problem for DS to take a sample? Then I thought that maybe the samples are only meant for people who have never tried it before. I don’t think DS will ask again for a sample after tonight but I’m just interested to know if people think we were being cheeky and unreasonable?

OP posts:
Morporkia · 11/02/2020 11:31

I used to BE the sample lady in a a naice supermarket and the samples are NOT just for new customers. They are for anyone who wants to try them. The only rule we had was that unaccompanied minors had parental consent to try (and obvs anything with alcohol had to be over 25 or with ID) So the guy you dealt with is having a shit day and decided that your kid was going to be the object of his power trip. I Would make a complaint to the shop 💐

Movinghouseatlast · 11/02/2020 11:31

It isn't 'free sushi' it is to sample, to encourage people to buy it. Your son doesnt need to sample it as he knows what it tastes like and so do you. So just buy it

fizzyheart · 11/02/2020 11:55

Ahh I think it's one of life's simple pleasures having a good sample at a supermarket. I often travel to the states and this is particularly popular in the whole foods supermarket.
There are often lots of different samples to try and you are encouraged to try.
I find people giving out samples in the U.K. are always stingy and a bit off ish. It's really bizarre, especially in a chain supermarket. What does it matter to them if you have a try?

ComtesseDeSpair · 11/02/2020 12:06

Think somebody else already mentioned it but can confirm - my brother is a store manager for one of the major supermarkets and they are indeed “mystery shopped”, graded and given a dressing down for things like staff giving samples of non-kid-specific food to children, allowing more than one sample per customer, letting customers who are clearly already acquainted with the product have a sample etc. It’s like some weird parallel universe: to the average customer it’s just a tasty morsel on a stick but behind the scenes there are a whole heap of complex rules, targets and quotas.

Can only guess that’s why supermarket sample man was shirty - he’s been pulled up by his manager recently.

whyamidoingthis · 11/02/2020 12:18

staff giving samples of non-kid-specific food to children

What on earth is non-kid specific food? I'm vegetarian, my kids aren't. They all love sushi. If I buy it, it will be for them so they definitely should be the ones tasting it.

letting customers who are clearly already acquainted with the product have a sample etc.

This is a really stupid policy as giving someone familiar with the product a taste is likely to trigger a purchase that may not have happened otherwise.

Likefootball · 11/02/2020 12:22

Don't see why they did n't want to give a sample to someone who obviously enjoys it,afterall you are spending in store.

Mumdiva99 · 11/02/2020 12:23

He was being unreasonable. Samples are there for anyone to taste. You can't discriminate.

We love a trip to Costco to for this reason. (but would never ask for more than one from each person) - Sometimes I buy, sometimes I buy next time, sometimes I don't.

JosefKeller · 11/02/2020 12:24

What on earth is non-kid specific food?

Grin I can't wait to find out either!

arethereanyleftatall · 11/02/2020 12:32

Wow. Yabu. My gast is flabbered that so many people on this thread think it's fine to take a sample when you have no intention of buying it. Samples are there for people to try new things, not just as a freebie! Bloody hell. Especially sushi, round my way, it's £1 a piece, which is a mouthful size.

JRUIN · 11/02/2020 12:38

The clue is in the word 'sample.' Your DS has 'sampled' it many times now, he knows he likes it so it is now up to you to buy it for him (or not) if he wants it.

JosefKeller · 11/02/2020 12:50

so what, he wants to "sample" again, if it's on offer, of course it's absolutely fine to "sample" again.

And the whole point is not to sample because you were planning on buying something.

arethereanyleftatall · 11/02/2020 13:09

@JosefKeller
Admittedly I have no knowledge of the marketing thoughts behind these samples, but I would have thought it was to encourage those who've never tried it, to try it for free. (Although I think Costco might be slightly different as that appears to be more of a customer perk, I might be wrong).
If they wanted anyone to just help themselves, as a customer perk, wouldn't there be a sign saying that, a bit like the Tesco free fruit for kids?
Do you have insider knowledge that these are free perks?

BlackCatSleeping · 11/02/2020 13:14

No, the Costco samples aren't just a perk. There's a lot of marketing evidence that free samples really boost sales of products. Not just to new customers either.

Elouera · 11/02/2020 13:20

@dumbledoresAhhhmy-'The samples aren't coming out of his wages'

No, the samples may not be coming from his wages, BUT, he might be getting a commission or other perk from all sales made due to samples! The point of samples is to increase purchases and these are monitored closely to see if sales of that product do indeed go up or not. Not for everyones children to have an after school snack!

JosefKeller · 11/02/2020 13:20

Do you have insider knowledge that these are free perks?

FREE? I spend around £200 a week at my local supermarket, if my kids (or me) want to sample a few products OFFERED by the supermarket, I have absolutely no guilt whatsoever.

If we happen to like what we try, I will probably buy it at some point or another.

If someone gives you a leaflet about something, do you take it or do you only refuse it because you want to save that company money? It's exactly the same.

If someone decides to free sample are exclusively for new customers, which they have absolutely no way to check anyway, then I would buy from someone else...

eggandonion · 11/02/2020 13:27

When our local supermarket does samples, there is usually a money off voucher and items to buy. A few aisles away you find the items and vouchers which samplers have politely agreed to buy. I can't remember when I last bought something I sampled.
I'm looking forward to the samples of hot cross buns which will be coming soon.

Original poster
Canshopwillshop · 11/02/2020 14:31

@arethereanyleftatall - blimey love calm down! I wasn’t shop lifting! If you are so flabbergasted about someone taking a free sample from a major supermarket you must live a very sheltered life 😂

OP posts:
arethereanyleftatall · 11/02/2020 14:35

My apologies op. I mistook where you wrote 'I'm just interested to know if people think we were being cheeky and unreasonable' in your op to mean that you were interested to know if people thought you were being cheeky and unreasonable.

Original poster
Canshopwillshop · 11/02/2020 15:01

@arethereanyleftatall - apology accepted.
Yes interested to know what people thought but didn’t think it was enough of an issue to be completely flabbergasted over.

OP posts:
Obviouspretzel · 11/02/2020 15:13

This thread is ridiculous. The samples are there for you to sample. I couldn't give a fuck if I have tried it before or not. The supermarket have decided that they want to offer samples. I'll have a sample, thanks.

There are no rules stated or implied. When the cheese counter put out some cut up chunks of cheddar, are they expecting that the only people to try it won't have tried cheddar before? No. They're probably thinking that some will be trying it for the first time, some will have had it before but might be enticed to buy some having tasted it today, and some will not buy any but might taste some and their perception of the supermarket will be slightly more positive. And if none of these things happen, it's cost them about 2 quid anyway.

Ohtherewearethen · 11/02/2020 19:10

Good grief, it appears we now need a Guardian of the Sample Officiant with a clipboard and hi-vis jacket to mark down all the customers who have ever take a sample previously and to throw themselves over the tray of fingernail-sized portions of they ever dare to go near the sample tray again.
In my local supermarket they often have bread cut up as samples. I don't have the stats to hand but I'd imagine most people shopping there have tried bread before. There is no one guarding the bread and interrogating potential sample snatchers as to their intentions and making them sign a document that proves they are serious about purchasing and will only take the sample if they can show they have the means and intention to buy.
Building a good relationship with regular customers is vital in seeing a business like that succeed. The OP says that there is a limit as to how many new customers visit the market each week so he's not going to pay a mortgage on a few one off purchases of sushi. He has now, however, guaranteed one less weekly purchase which is rather short-sighted of him. If your business relies on samples surely you include the costs of the samples into your business plan and should be able to afford to write them off.
I don't tend to take samples of things I'm probably not going to buy and yes, some people are greedy, but we can't have people interviewing prospective samplers and refusing them a sample if they don't meet the criteria.

StrawberrySquash · 11/02/2020 20:06

You might not intend to buy, but decide to on trying the sample. That is the whole point of samples!

JesusInTheCabbageVan · 11/02/2020 20:15

Non-kid-specific food =

Cocaine
Absinthe
Ghost chillies
Battery acid
Wasps

HeronLanyon · 11/02/2020 20:21

Thought I’d sample this thread - for the second time today.

I’m glad I did this time (thanks guardian of the sample for allowing this despite the fact I’ve sampled before and even posted earlier) because Ohtherewearerthen has made me laugh out loud.

I may come back later to sample again !

Notthetoothfairy · 11/02/2020 20:25

I would have complained at the time and possibly afterwards to the supermarket. They would have lost my custom pretty quickly (unless they apologised and majorly backtracked).