Posted : 09/01/2003

Posted : 09/01/2003

Sampling For Higher Profits
Offering Lotion Samples Increases Sales Dramatically

by Scott Eric Barrett

Salons spend a ton of cash every year filling their lobbies with the best lotions money can buy. Fancy glass shelves and oak display cabinets feature tanning extenders, bronzers, sunscreens, spa productseverything a tanners skin might need. Selling skincare items still is the best way for a salon to turn a profit. Salon operators know what works because its their livelihood to know. Its up to salon employees to educate tanners. Filling a salon with motivated, well-trained employees is important, but intelligent consumers dont make their purchases based solely on a salespersons advice.

Thats why offering sample packettes or containers is the best way to move quality products. Customers need to be able to see, feel, smell and touch the products before they buy them. By providing samples, customers will be able to see the results for themselves.

Not all customers are ready to make the plunge and purchase a bottle of lotion, especially when the bottle retails for $40 or more, says Rick Keuber, owner of Suntan City in Louisville, Ky.

We actually encourage the use of a sample before purchasing a product. Customers have individual preferences when it comes to fragrance or feel of a lotion. Some manufacturers offer product counter pads, which are great tools that have helped us discover what type of lotion a customer is looking for. I think most salons sell what the employee prefers, not actually what the customer is looking to purchase.

Samples are the perfect way for customers to decide if a certain lotion is what they are looking for before purchasing a bottle.

Clients are used to only paying a few dollars for a bottle of department-store tanning lotion, says Tiffany Whitaker, owner of Shore Tanning in Forked River, N.J. Most are reluctant to pay five times more until it is physically proven to them that it works better when they purchase a sample of it.

Bill Cardwell, owner of Caribbean Tanning Salon in Logansport, Ind., believes samples are an important sales tool because they are an impulse purchase item. Michael Blore, owner of California Sun Center, with 11 locations throughout Northern California, says that while most customers currently may have a lotion they prefer using, a sample gives the salon owner the advantage of introducing an additional product.

It is important to me to offer sampling because clients may want to try something new without purchasing the full bottle just in case they dont like it, says Kathy Bost, owner of BellaDonna Tan in Kansas City, Mo. Its also important to offer samples because clients often forget to bring their lotion every day they tan.

Most professional manufacturers cooperate with salons in the sampling gameespecially for grand openings and other special occasionsbecause its an easy way to create a buzz for their products. Some manufacturers charge salons for samples and some dont.

Most quality salons have no problem purchasing items that they wish to try, Cardwell says. Manufacturers would be better served to offer a sample pack of their lotions in a sample size at a greatly reduced price. This would give the salon the ability to try their lotions without investing a lot of money.

Cardwell charges his customers a fee for the prepackaged samples based on the manufacturers suggested retail price.

This covers the cost of carrying the samples as well as the loss due to theft that samples create, he says. It also creates a perceived value of the lotion; if it was always free it wouldnt be as desired. We give away samples of some new lotions when we start carrying them to help create excitement for the new lotion.

It is different strokes for different folks when it comes to samples. Whitaker sells $2 to $7 packettes. Blore offers customers the cost of the sample back if a full bottle is purchased within the week. It has worked very well for us, he says. I think it is bad business to pass out free samples.

Free takes away from the value and very few people will actually get to use the sample.

The key issue among salon operators today is what type of samples to offer: packettes or cups with lids. Packettes look much more attractive and feature a list of ingredients and eye-appealing graphics. Cups may not look as professional, but tanners like the idea of being able to seal the container after an application.

Packettes vs. cups is a never-ending debate among salon owners, Keuber says. We chose packettes because of their simplicity and professional appearance. As a multi-unit operator, it is a lot easier for us to control our inventory when using packettes.

Bost provides both packettes and cups so she can offer her customers a sample of virtually every product in the salon.

In cases where the manufacturer doesnt offer its product in a packette, we will put it in cups, she says. We also have private labeling and purchase those in 64-ounce pump bottles to put in cups. I only offer cups/packettes on products that I have the full-size bottle. I also attend trade shows and the staff tries the new products and we decide which ones we will sell. Any other packettes are given to clients to try so that we can get their feedback.

Lotion samples also have the ability to bring new customers into a salon. A lot of marketing programs involve live radio remotes or off-site promotions. Passing out lotion samples with the salons address stamped on the packette or cup could yield several hundred new customers every year.

Educating the consumer on the importance and benefits of using lotion always will be an uphill battle because, unfortunately, there still are consumers who refuse to at least sample a lotion, especially when they are spending $50 or more on a tanning package. The key point to solving this problem is to continually educate staff and customers on the many benefits of using lotions.

When clients refuse to even think about purchasing lotion, we explain its importance in the tanning process and, if all else fails, I ask if they wouldnt mind using a free sample and telling me what they think about it, Bost says. Few customers refuse that offer.

A lot of new salon operators want to jump right into the world of ancillary profits with body wraps, nutritional supplements, nail services, etc., because they think add-on stuff is the only way to turn a profit. The tanning industry has seen countless successful expansion endeavors over the last decade, pairing tanning with the likes of video rental, beauty services and laundries just to name a few, but nothing generates as much income as good, old-fashioned lotion sales. With proper marketing, and a full understanding of their benefits, salon operators can capture year-round profits with lotions and skincare offerings if they implement smart marketing methods.

Its not marketing flufflotions do help tanners achieve their best tans. All the operator has to do is convince customers to give lotions a try. Offering lotion samples makes the sale much more appealing and should be taken every bit as seriously as quality lamps and clean suites.