Consumer trials

A consumer trial means giving a product or service to a chosen group of people from the public before it goes on general release. The business watches how the group reacts, and uses what it learns to improve the product or its branding before everyone else can buy it.

For example, a small business that makes phone cases from recycled plastic might give free cases to members of a local youth drama group for a month. The group use them on their own phones every day and report back on how the case feels to hold, how well it protects the phone, the choice of colours and the recyclable packaging.

Advantages

• Encouraging early adopters: the people chosen are often keen to try new things, so they get excited about the product and may recommend it to friends before it is even on sale.
• Honest feedback and opinions: trialists use the real product in real situations, so their comments are based on actual experience rather than guesses.
• Improving the product before release: the business can change the colour, the packaging or the branding while changes are still cheap, instead of fixing a product that has already failed with the public.

Disadvantages

• Competitors becoming prematurely aware: trialists may post photos online or talk about the product, so rival businesses learn about a new idea before launch and can react first.
• The cost of giving away free products: every sample costs money to make, pack and hand out, and the business earns nothing from them.
• Feedback being difficult to analyse: comments such as “the case feels a bit slippery” are opinions, and a small trial group may not reflect what the wider market will think.

A consumer trial gives selected consumers early experience of a product, which is not the same as test marketing, where a product or campaign is tried in a limited area or group of stores.