Page 536 - Foundations of Marketing

Personal Selling and Sales Promotion | Chapter 17 503

Point-of-Purchase Materials and Demonstrations
Point-of-purchase (POP) materials include outdoor signs, window displays, counter pieces,
display racks, and self-service cartons. Innovations in POP displays include sniff-teasers,
which give off a product’s aroma in the store as consumers walk within a radius of four feet,
and computerized interactive displays. These items, often supplied by producers, attract atten-
tion, inform customers, and encourage retailers to carry particular products. Retailers have point-of-purchase (POP)
also begun experimenting with new forms of POP technology. In an attempt to encourage materials Signs, window
an open-sell environment, Clinique incorporates different point-of-purchase displays into its displays, display racks, and
similar devices used to attract
retail stores, including an Experience Bar complete with iPads and push-button dispensers;
customers
signs that encourage customers to open drawers to sort through products; and product recom-
demonstrations Sales pro-
mendation printouts. Clinique’s point-of-purchase materials are meant to encourage custom-
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ers to shop without worrying about being interrupted by a salesperson. A retailer is likely motion methods a manufacturer
uses temporarily to encour-
to use point-of-purchase materials if they are attractive, informative, well-constructed, and in
age trial use and purchase of
harmony with the store’s image. a product or to show how a
Demonstrations are excellent attention-getters. Manufacturers offer them temporarily to product works
encourage trial use and purchase of a product or to show how a product works. Because labor free samples Samples of a
costs can be extremely high, demonstrations are not used widely. They can be highly effective product given out to encourage
for promoting certain types of products, such as appliances, cosmetics, and cleaning supplies. trial and purchase
Even automobiles can be demonstrated, not only by a salesperson but also by the prospective premiums Items offered free
buyer during a test drive. Cosmetics marketers, such as Estée Lauder and Clinique, sometimes or at a minimal cost as a bonus
offer potential customers “makeovers” to demonstrate product benefits and proper application. for purchasing a product

Free Samples and Premiums

Marketers use free samples to stimulate trial of a product,
increase sales volume in the early stages of a product’s life
cycle, and obtain desirable distribution. Trader Joe’s gives
out free samples of its coffee hoping to entice buyers to
make a purchase. Sampling is the most expensive sales
promotion method because production and distribution—
at local events, by mail or door-to-door delivery, online, in
stores, and on packages—entail high costs. However, it can
also be one of the most effective sales promotion methods:
an Arbitron survey found that more than half of consumers
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who sampled a product plan to purchase it in the future.
Other studies reveal that sampling can lead to repeat pur-
chases as well as purchases of other products under the
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same brand name. Despite high costs, use of sampling
is increasing. In a given year, almost three-fourths of con-
sumer products companies may use sampling. Starbucks
often provides free samples of its new drinks to try to stimu-
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late interest in the new products. World’s Best Cat Litter
provides a free sample of its product for a limited time
period by inviting consumers to go online and download
a rebate for their purchase. The advertisement emphasizes
that its cat litter is superior to the competition and provides
the free sample so that consumers can experience its effec-
tiveness. The product is 100 percent natural and a website is Courtesy of World’s Best Cat Litter
provided for downloading the rebate.
Premiums are items offered free or at a minimal cost
as a bonus for purchasing a product. Like the prize in the
Cracker Jack box, premiums are used to attract competi- Free Samples
tors’ customers, introduce different sizes of established Companies, such as World’s Best Cat Litter, offer free samples to
products, add variety to other promotional efforts, and encourage product trial and adoption.

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