Top 7 product sampling companies and solutions for 2025

The idea of sampling as a marketing strategy dates back to ancient times, but it truly became popular in the late 19th century after Coca-Cola began offering consumers a coupon for a free glass of Coke at local soda shops. Within 15 years, Coke was sold in every state in the US, and the power of sampling was forever ingrained in American marketing.

Over the decades, sampling has evolved, but the largest leap in sampling efficiency came with the introduction of targeted digital sampling campaigns. Instead of relying on small-scale, brand-to-hand methods, today’s marketers rely on advanced algorithms to help them find the right consumers for their sampling campaigns.

With so many product sampling tools on the market today — each one boasting the best technology, offerings, and customer service — it can be challenging to find one that helps capture your most engaged audience. In this guide, we’ll help you identify must-haves when choosing a sampling platform, and then we’ll break down the pros and cons of seven popular digital sampling solutions, based on our research and conversations with users of these platforms.

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Why traditional sampling methods are no longer effective

So, if traditional sampling has been around for centuries, why go digital? Well, there are several reasons to make the change:

• Conversions: The average sampling campaign increases CVR by about 20% to 30%, but most campaigns cast a wide net in the hopes that samples might land in the right hands. Unfortunately, this also means that many participants have no use for or interest in the product, which results in low conversions and lacklustre reviews.
• Freebie hunters: One of the reasons this broad-scale targeting fails is the popularity of sampling “clubs.” Some customers sign up with these websites simply to receive freebies — with no intent to purchase in the future. These audiences do nothing to further the success of your brand.
• Scalability: Traditional sampling methods also lack scalability. As the campaign grows, more money and materials are spent getting your products out to audiences, often with no noticeable increase in conversions. Additionally, many sampling solutions are priced for enterprises, which keeps them out of reach for smaller brands as they grow.
• Agility: With traditional campaigns, data is only available once the campaign is complete, meaning it is too late to adjust for the lack of conversions. Modern digital campaigns can give you real-time results, with the best platforms offering valuable insights for improved targeting, better brand awareness, and much higher ROI.

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Modern product sampling tools provide targeted solutions

Digital sampling offers an array of benefits you won’t see with traditional sampling. However, it comes down to finding the right product. A good digital sampling product will provide a few key characteristics:

Accurate targeting and data insights

Using digital methods to prequalify your participants helps your company find audiences that are actually interested in your product and ready to buy. Preliminary surveys and qualification tools help you find only the most engaged customers, ensuring maximum CVR and better ROI. The best platforms offer user-friendly dashboards for top-level or granular visibility into a variety of KPIs, including CVR, LTV, marketing opt-ins, and review rates. They should also reveal insights that empower the strongest decision-making during the campaign process.

Data-driven, personalised campaigns

The ideal sampling partner should also tailor campaigns to your brand’s needs and goals. The highly customisable nature of sampling campaigns allows for the highest rates for marketing engagement and product reviews. For example, skincare brand Ole Henriksen boosted their review rate by 14.2% with a CRM solus email campaign. By targeting millennial makeup enthusiasts with high levels of interest in the products, they achieved 90% purchase intent.

Seamless, efficient process with real-time results

Real-time data is crucial in making on-the-spot alterations to campaigns. Campaign analytics will measure the true success of your campaign, with advanced consumer tracking showing the CVR, marketing engagement, consumer feedback, and more. When Estée Lauder were disappointed in a campaign’s early opt-in rates, they reviewed their prequalification survey. After a quick change to an ambiguous question, they were back on track and quickly doubled their opt-in rate.

Strong customer support

Regardless of your prior experience with the data platform, sampling platforms should be user-friendly and intuitive. However, you also want a customer service team that prioritises their clients, both in response times and campaign customisations. They should consistently and effectively offer solutions to your unique challenges. For example, supplement brand Amberen leaned on their sampling partner’s expertise to tailor a product education campaign to their core audience: women experiencing symptoms but aren’t aware they’re in perimenopause. Their results? An 83% purchase intent rate, with 14% of participants purchasing a subscription before the end of the trial.

Product delivery and logistics

Your sampling platform should verify recipients’ addresses to ensure samples get into the right hands. The ideal sampling provider will also provide end-to-end support for product delivery and logistics. For instance, global beauty brand Revlon was able to scale sampling by 200% by taking sampling campaigns off their in-house team’s plates — for 20% less cost than other solutions.

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7 product sampling solutions you should know

Now that you know the ins and outs of finding an effective sampling partner, here’s a look at seven best-in-class options on the market right now.

1. Sampl

Sampl is a digital sampling provider known for powerful data and real-time insights. By following user journeys and efficiently prequalifying recipients, Sampl targets campaigns to only the most engaged audiences. Highly competitive pricing makes Sampl one of the most budget-friendly solutions on the market — for companies at all growth stages and across industries.

Notable Features:

• Advanced consumer insights and analytics
• SamplMatch for weeding out freebie hunters and customer-product matching
• NearStore links to retailers to show buyers where to buy products in-store
• End-to-end campaign management with a dedicated customer service team
• Post-sampling feedback collection for increased engagement
• Seamless integrations across top marketing and CRM platforms

Benefits:

• Provides a best-in-class customer experience with customised onboarding, dedicated support, and seamless integrations
• Promises a campaign launch time of 4 weeks or less
• Delivers immediate access to customer feedback and campaign data
• Enables real-time campaign updates for increased ROI
• Offers competitive pricing with lower overhead and a streamlined campaign process
• Review syndication to many retailers and partners

Drawbacks:

• Not suited to smaller sampling or review generation campaigns (below 2,000 samples)
• Works best with "sample-sized" products. Can be expensive for larger or full-sized products
• May not suit brands who want mass sampling and not interested in data or reviews

Clients:

Nivea, Jimmy Choo, Wella, Colgate, Royal Canin, Revlon

“The Sampl team is efficient and super organised. We’re delighted with the results — from the data & insights we collect to the reviews and the fact that thousands of new people are trying our products.” – Weleda

“Sampl are a pleasure to work with. Their partnership has allowed us to achieve our business goals by reaching the right audience with the right product in a personalised way.” – Clarins

The bottom line:

With a strong focus on customer success, Sampl fits into any size budget, even if you’re brand new to the world of digital sampling. The platform provides accurate, targeted sampling with strong data insights, an easy-to-manage analytics platform, and intuitive results with clear ROI. Bespoke campaign services and customer support make Sampl a top choice for a variety of industries.

When it comes to value, Sampl offers the most advanced features and fastest launch times for the price. This makes it the optimal sampling solution for companies at all stages, from small brands and startups to growing enterprises and established global retailers.

2. SoPost

SoPost is a sampling solution focused on data capture and marketing engagement.

Notable Features:

• Advanced targeting through integrations with media platforms
• Global fulfillment partnerships for wide reach
• Intelligent order processing

Benefits:

• Uses refined targeting capabilities to find leads
• Provides data-driven insights and metrics in PCAs
• Customises onboarding and adjusts campaigns to brands’ needs

Drawbacks:

• Limited live data reporting & analytics
• Complex UI and operations that might not be suited to smaller companies
• Data delivery primarily via email with limited actionable insights
• High costs associated with customisations
• Lacking comprehensive measurement of retail sales impact

Clients:

Benefit Cosmetics, Clinique, Bobbi Brown, L’Oréal, Cadbury

The bottom line:

SoPost offers personalised campaigns and customer support. However, the higher price tag and lower quality insights may be less attractive for brands looking for an affordable solution at scale.

3. Odore

Odore focuses on high marketing engagement and data-driven conversions in the beauty industry.

Notable Features:

• Seamless integrations with basic e-commerce tools
• Real-time results on digital campaigns
• Strong focus on social campaigns incentivising UGC with rewards

Benefits:

• Specialises in the beauty and cosmetic industry
• Offers advanced data collection and targeting
• Manages campaigns from setup to fulfillment
• Provides actionable insights
• Offers customised onboarding with ongoing support

Drawbacks:

• Steep learning curve for new users
• Limited customer service
• Limited integrations with other platforms

Clients:

YSL Beauty, Parfums de Marly, Armani Beauty

The bottom line:

Odore offers flexible campaigns for brands in the beauty and fragrance sectors but may not be ideal for brands outside of those industries.

4. Tryit

Tryit positions itself as a product discovery platform, connecting everyday consumers with emerging and established brands through curated sample boxes.

Notable Features:

• Curated sample boxes tailored to specific consumer demographics and interests
• Direct-to-consumer product testing, with recipients chosen for relevance to the brand’s target profile
• Encouragement of user-generated content through social media sharing and honest, grassroots reviews
• Access to aggregate consumer insights, helping brands optimise future campaigns and product lines

Benefits:

• Potential to share costs amongst multiple participating brands, lowering individual campaign expenses
• Access to highly engaged, product-curious consumers
• Increased authenticity through real-life product usage and feedback
• Straightforward campaign setup with flexible sampling options

Drawbacks:

• Brands are distributed alongside others, reducing exclusivity and individual brand spotlight
• Results may vary depending on recipients’ engagement and willingness to share feedback
• Limited control over the competitive context, as multiple products vie for consumer attention at once
• May have limited direct e-commerce integrations compared to more specialised platforms

Clients:

Cadbury, Heinz, Nestlé, Kellogg’s, Innocent, BrewDog

‍The bottom line:

Tryit provides a collective sampling experience designed to generate authentic consumer insights and peer-to-peer recommendations. While it offers cost-efficiencies and broad exposure, it may not provide the focused, single-brand focus that some businesses value.

5. Peekage

Peekage focuses on at-home product testing and offers incentives for customer feedback.

Notable Feature:

• Gamified approach to data collection offering rewards for reviews

Benefits:

• Generates higher levels of engagement
• Utilises targeted product-consumer matching methods to reach your ICP
• Provides advanced analytics to visualise campaign success

Drawbacks:

• Limited to small-scale campaigns to avoid diminished feedback quality
• Potentially inauthentic feedback due to freebie hunters

Clients:

Wise Snacks, Dave’s Bread, Gillette, Giovanni, Hungry Harvest

The bottom line:

Peekage is a good tool for generating feedback. However, the incentivised approach can risk the authenticity of the reviews generated.

6. Relish

Relish focuses on experiential sampling, offering in-person and community-based events.

Notable Feature:

• In-person/community-based sampling

Benefits:

• Builds engagement through local events
• Focuses on user experience at pop-up events
• Promotes brand character and establishing a narrative

Drawbacks:

• Limited insights & measurement
• Longer timeline and smaller scope

Clients:

ASOS, PrettyLittleThing, Hello Fresh

The bottom line:

Relish is good for building engagement within local communities but is best for companies that have time to wait for results and are looking for a narrow scope of audience feedback.

7. Flavor

Flavor specialises in food and beverage sampling.

Notable Features:

• Sustainability focus with expertise in the food industry

Benefits:

• Utilises engaging sampling strategies
• Offers access to a team of experts in food and beverage

Drawbacks:

• Limited real-time analytics
• Niche scope that excludes many industries

Clients:

General Mills, Kind, Hasbro

The bottom line:

Flavor Samping specialises in food and beverage-focused brands, offering engaging, sustainable campaigns that may not fit other industries.

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Comparison Overview

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Drive more effective, accurate sampling campaigns with Sampl

With Sampl, the world of digital sampling doesn’t have to be so complex. Our in-house team of experts are here to make your journey seamless and tailored to your exact needs.

SamplMatch

With SamplMatch, you’ll be confident that your samples reach the perfect audience. SamplMatch processes each request by filtering out duplicate requests, verifying data, analysing user engagement history, and sourcing where the user submitted their sample request. This fully personalised solution also allows you to enter your own data into the decision-making process, offering extensive opportunities for expanding your CRM.

Real-time, comprehensive results

Sampl’s user-friendly dashboard offers a real-time, bird’s-eye view of your campaigns, with all the KPIs needed to measure success. Powerful insights allow you to make quick alterations to in-progress campaigns for more engagement and a higher CVR.

Elite customer service

Our experienced team of sampling professionals are available to assist you throughout campaigns, from your very first call to post-campaign analysis. With a customer-centric approach, we make sampling easy (and fun!)