Department stores, food halls and convenience
In Store Product Sampling At The Point Of Purchase
Ask a product sampling agency where a trial converts fastest and the answer is the aisle. With in store product sampling, the shopper tries the product only paces from where it is stocked. Trying and deciding fall into one visit, and that is why in store sampling turns trial into sales at a level no ad slot comes close to.
Our teams run tastings, demos and trials across department stores, upmarket food halls, travel retail, health and beauty, homeware and convenience, with past campaigns in John Lewis, Selfridges, Harvey Nichols and WHSmith Travel. The setting is tightly controlled: the retailer decides placement, hours and what staff can or cannot do, so the brief must fit those limits.
Give us the stores and dates, plus hours and headcount per branch, and a rollout across thirty stores becomes one booking. Grocery runs on its own terms and pricing, so sampling in supermarkets is covered separately.
A detailed quote, most often ready inside hours, lays out on-costs, hours and day rates for each branch in the rollout. Nothing is tucked away.
Appointed as soon as the costs are approved, supported by a campaign project manager and help available 24/7 while stores are live.
Experience, location and skills decide who operations place on the counter. Staff come out of whichever of our 40 hubs sits closest.
The briefing form you complete becomes a personalised guide to key messages, USPs and audience, read side by side with the retailer’s house rules.
Every person has passed Right to Work and ID checks, and Employer and Public Liability insurance stands behind every campaign. Paperwork for risk assessments, food hygiene and DBS is supplied when needed.
Tax, HR, National Insurance and PAYE for counter staff are handled within our business.
When a branch joins the rollout late, staff can usually be placed at short notice. Longer notice remains the better option.
Reporting is tailored, charged on top, and agreed up front so it is written into the quote ahead of confirmation. It can run through your systems, or we set up tailored forms and share whatever comes back.
The Team at Executional are always great to work with and it has been a pleasure working with everyone. The team are always very quick to help and consistently demonstrate strong flexibility especially when adapting to any last-minute requests.
Space NK, verified client review
What we supply
Five Jobs On A Retail Floor
The retailer’s choice of spot, and what may be given out, shapes everything staff do in store. That leaves five roles.
Tasting Table Staff
A manned table or counter where product is cut up and offered. Retailers agree to this format most readily, as it stays neat and self-contained.
- Handing out portions while explaining the product
- Following store rules on presentation and hygiene
- Directing shoppers to the shelf where it is stocked
Suits: bakery, chilled, fine food, spirits, confectionery
Demo Counter Staff
For products that need demonstrating, not tasting. Staff show it in action, put it in the shopper’s hands and cover what the box leaves unsaid.
- Demonstrating the product over and over across opening hours
- Answering the doubts that hold a purchase back
- Tidying the display after each run-through
Suits: tech, tools, small appliances, beauty, homeware
Fixture And Aisle Samplers
Without a table, staff stay in the product’s own aisle and offer trials to people already browsing that category.
- Speaking to shoppers at the shelf, not the entrance
- Holding stock by hand instead of taking up floor space
- Switching between fixtures if store rules permit
Suits: range extensions, new listings, challenger brands
Multi-Store Rollout Crews
Identical activity across a chain within a day or a week, run from a shared brief to a common standard in each branch.
- Each branch staffed via its closest hub
- A single booking covering every branch
- Late-added branches covered at short notice
Suits: launch weekends, seasonal pushes, national listings
Store Liaison Leads
For bigger rollouts, store managers are dealt with by a campaign lead, sometimes an event manager, who also handles daily changes and acts as your sole contact.
- Agreeing spot and timings with every branch
- Making sure the brief reads the same in each store
- Dealing with changes so they stay off your desk
Where we have worked
Retailers We Have Sampled Inside
Every name is a retailer we have worked in, none from a wish list.
Groceries come with separate rules and a separate conversation, so sampling in supermarkets has a page to itself, while our main service page sets out product sampling overall.
Recent work
Campaigns Run Inside The Store
Four campaigns run on shop floors around the UK.
Chocolate Tastings Roadshow
Tasting tables staffed in John Lewis food halls up and down the chain.
Luxury Confectionery Tastings
A high-end tasting spot on a flagship department store floor.
WHSmith Travel Stores
Trials in transit shops, where people have a few minutes, not a whole afternoon.
Luxury Chocolate Tastings
A continuing programme inside a luxury department store.
Get a quote
Tell Us The Stores And The Dates
Share the branches, dates, hours and staffing needed in each. A line-by-line price usually lands within hours, with no hidden fees.
