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Why Free Samples Are Great for Business

Oct 9th 2018 - J. Vigotsky Blog, 

Why Free Samples Are Great for Business

“Free Sample” might be the greatest two-word phrase in the English language. Whether you’re getting cheese, chocolate, or some kind of meat on a stick, it’s nearly impossible to say no to a free sample.  And believe or not, offering free samples is a great way to increase long-term profits—as detailed in this article from The Atlantic. Food courts, specialty shops, and Costcos have been benefitting from giving free samples for years, and there are several reasons why restaurant owners should consider adopting the practice.

Benefits of Free Samples

Customers might be enticed and continued to come back with the use of free samples. The top five reasons why your restaurant should offer free samples are as follows:

Brand Recognition Grows

Promoting your restaurant and its offerings by giving away free samples is a great idea. Customers that test the freebie are more likely to make a purchase down the line.

Create Favourable Opinions

When diners have a good experience, they are more inclined to recommend the restaurant to others and write glowing reviews. This is great advertising for your eatery and will hopefully bring in new customers.

Try Out New Recipes

You can find out how interested customers are in trying new menu items by giving them free samples of those things before you formally introduce them to the menu. By doing so, you can see which foods your customers will enjoy and which ones may need tweaking before they are added permanently to the menu.

Increase Customer Dedication

Customers who have had a good time at your restaurant are more likely to become regulars.

Offering free samples in your restaurant may be a terrific way to promote your business, get people talking about it, drive up sales, and try out new menu items while also keeping regulars happy. As a promotional strategy, it has the potential to boost revenue and establish your company as a market leader.

Educates Customers

It can be tough to bring customers up to speed regarding your restaurant’s newest cocktails and appetizers. And even if customers know about your new offerings, they might have a tendency to stick to known commodities. By giving guests free samples of something they haven’t tried yet, you’ll be helping them make informed decisions when ordering their food and drink.

More Sales

According to a Cornell study , increasing customer satisfaction results in more sales at winery tasting rooms. This same concept can easily be applied to bars and restaurants. The more satisfied your customers, the more likely they are to purchase more items. Whether those items are drinks, appetizers, entrees, or desserts, your restaurant will reap the benefits.

Offering a free sample to a consumer who is on the fence about making a purchase can be the "push" they need to make a decision. Customers are more likely to upgrade their meals or order more items when they are given free samples.

Diners Appreciate Variety

Alternating free sample offerings encourages customers to frequently visit your restaurant. Whether you decide to offer a different sample every two weeks or every month, the idea is to provide patrons with a good reason to keep coming back. And by providing a unique experience each time, you’ll be doing just that.

For best results, be sure to keep track of what food and drink samples result in the most purchases. Weigh this against the cost of offering the samples to decide what samples are the most profitable for your restaurant. This will help you plan future samples while ensuring that your restaurant maximizes profit.

Will it Benefit Our Restaurant Business?

The Pros

  • People are more likely to try new cuisines and flavors when they are given free samples. If they are unfamiliar with the taste, they may be hesitant to purchase a full-sized meal, but a free sample can help convince them that it is worth purchasing.
  • Free samples also serve as an incentive for clients to return. If they appreciate the taste of what they tried, the restaurant has most certainly won a loyal customer who will return for more!
  • Offering free samples increases sales since buyers may believe the food tastes so excellent that they should buy a larger piece rather than just trying a little! Furthermore, some restaurants provide restaurant discounts if clients order full-sized meals after tasting the complimentary samples.

The Cons

  • Free samples can be costly for restaurants, especially if a big portion of their cuisine is given away for free. This means that restaurants must set aside a "restaurant marketing budget" for offering these freebies and may have to charge more for their full-sized meals to make up the difference.
  • There is also a greater chance of consumers attending the restaurant solely to take advantage of the free samples and not purchasing anything else. This makes determining if providing free samples is worthwhile challenging because there is no guarantee that buyers would purchase anything after having sampled anything for free!
  • Offering too many free samples may cause customers to believe they are entitled to free food and to anticipate it every time they visit. If customers' expectations are not satisfied, this can put a strain on the restaurant's resources and lead to customer unhappiness.

Overall, delivering free samples at restaurants offers benefits and drawbacks that you should carefully examine before using this technique. While it can increase sales and attract new customers, it also involves financial risks for the restaurant as well as potential customer entitlement issues. It is ultimately up to the restaurant's proprietors to determine whether or not to provide free samples.