Jet.com tries its hand at online sampling

Walmart’s e-commerce arm is shaking up its customer engagement efforts.



Jet.com is adopting product sampling to forge stronger relationships with its online shoppers. Through a partnership with BrandShare, the online retailer will deliver 300,000 premium product samples and exclusive offers each month inside e-commerce packages. BrandShare is a long-time partner of Jet’s parent company, Walmart.



The collaboration will give Jet access to samples from such recognizable brands as Johnson & Johnson, L’Oreal, Unilever, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Coty, Beiersdorf, Pfizer, Campbell’s, General Mills, Starbucks and Nestle. The samples are pinpointed to specific customer interests, according to BrandShare.



By getting new products into online shoppers’ hands, Jet could take advantage of more new product sales going forward. For example, 73% of consumers said a new product sample would persuade them to purchase the item, according to data from Sampling Effectiveness Advisors.



Since working with the supplier, Walmart has expanded its sampling program to 4 million sample packages a month, BrandShare added.