Supermarket giant ASDA is working with the leading UK sampling agency, Relish Agency, to trial a brand sampling initiative targeting online customers.

The decision was made after parent company WALMART in the US saw up to 115% increase in food sales alone through a similar sampling strategy.

It’s all part of ASDA’s mission to become Britain’s best value retailer as it seeks and find ways to engage with its rapidly growing online customer base.

“Covid-19 has made the ‘online shop’ the norm for more and more households, which is creating a fundamental issue for ASDA as they look to find ways to introduce new products and increase basket spend,” says Relish Agency Director, Natalie Betts.

“The issue lies in the convenience of online shopping and consumers’ propensity to go with what they know. 85% of grocery orders are habitual as baskets can be filled automatically with just a few clicks.”

So Relish Agency have created a novel way to put back the element of discovery for Asda’s online shoppers in a 3-month push to prove sales uplift through sampling. Special ASDA ‘goodie bags’ containing carefully selected groceries, along with product information and a customer survey, will be finding their way into the homes of thousands of customers inside ASDA’s grocery deliveries.

Compared to typical loose sampling, ASDA’s endorsement of the products selected has been proven to significantly increase not just sales, but also the perception of the brands and customer engagement with the retailer.

The initial pilot test ends in November. For more information, please contact the Relish Agency – team@relishagency.com