“Thousands of samples went out, and nobody can say what it did for sales.”
Every sample gets a next step you can count: a coupon, a QR code to buy online, or a contact given with consent.
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BTL & Activation · Brand activations · Product sampling
Productsampling
Since 201565+ in-house teamKolkata office, 5 team bases
A sample that is never counted is just a giveaway. Find out who came back to buy.
A strategist calls you in one working day.
/ 01 Product sampling agency
A free sampleshould bring a paying buyer.
Sampling pays only when someone buys after trying. PromotEdge plans and runs in-store, door-to-door, office and event sampling across India, then counts who came back for a full pack.
Too often thousands of samples go out, the photos look busy, and nobody knows whether one extra pack sold.
Choose sampling when the product is the pitch: one taste, wash or use wins the buyer. If it needs explaining, a demonstration or a mall stall works better, as part of brand activations.
It suits FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods), beauty and skincare, wellness brands and startups with a first product. Premium brands often need it most, since people try before they pay more.
We hold to one rule: what can't be measured can't be achieved. Before the first sample leaves the warehouse, decide who gets it, what they do next and how you will know. Want us to check your plan? Ask for a free sampling plan.
- 2015working with Indian brands since
- 65+in-house team: strategy, creative, media and tech
- 4pillars under one roof: strategy, advertising, digital, on-ground activation (BTL)
- 6cities: head office in Kolkata, teams in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Guwahati and Bhubaneswar
/ 02 Formats and what you receive
Six ways to sample,each with its own measure.
| Format | Works best for | What you get back |
|---|---|---|
| In-store | Food, drinks and personal care at large stores | Samples given, packs sold in the shift, store sales before and after |
| Door-to-door | Home care and staples, in chosen areas | Homes reached, contacts with consent, coupon redemptions in nearby shops |
| Office and campus | Snacks, drinks, apps and grooming | Samples per site, sign-ups or code use |
| Gym, clinic and event | Nutrition and wellness | Samples given with consent, follow-up offers redeemed |
| With online orders | Trial packs added by a delivery partner or your store | Repeat orders from people who got a sample, where the partner shares data |
| Sample packs and coupons | Minis, sachets and trial kits, designed with pack design | Print-ready designs, a coupon system, a stock plan by city |
Every format ends with one report: samples given, redemptions, and cost per new buyer where the data allows.
/ 03 What usually gets in the way
What usually gets in the way,and the way through.
“Samples went to anyone who walked past.”
We pick points and times by who is there, not by crowd size. A quiet store in the right area often beats a busy one.
“The numbers did not add up, because stock went missing.”
Stock is issued and reconciled every shift, each sample is logged, and supervisors make surprise checks.
“Shoppers liked it, but the shelf was empty.”
We check stock with the store or distributor each morning, and sample only where buyers can pick up a pack. See trade and channel marketing.
“Food samples arrived warm and tired.”
We plan cold boxes, small batches and a time limit with your quality team before day one.
Tell us who should try your product, and we will sketch a pilot of three to five points you can measure. Get a free growth plan
/ 04 How a sampling run works
From targetto repeat purchase.
A first run in one city usually needs three to four weeks of preparation. We confirm the timeline in the quote. Crews and kits are delivered within the PromotEdge group. Our servicing team is based in cities across India.
- 01
Set the target and the next step
Who gets a sample, and what they do after: buy in-store, order online, or share a number.
- 02
Choose points and days
Stores, areas, offices or events, picked by who is there and where stock is. Permissions in writing.
- 03
Prepare samples and kit
Sample packs, cold boxes, stands, coupons or QR codes, and a stock sheet per point.
- 04
Train the crew
Samplers learn the product, a short script, who should not get a sample, and how to record consent.
- 05
Run, count and check daily
Shift-wise stock count, an evening report, surprise checks. A weak point is changed next day.
- 06
Track who came back
Redemptions, store sales and online orders read after two and four weeks, so you see repeat purchase, not reach.
Tell us what’s not working. We’ll send you an honest one-page growth plan, free.
Go deeperMore on this
Deeper reading if you want the research behind the plan.
How we deliver it, and why
A made-up sum
Say you give 20,000 samples and 2% of those people buy a full pack within a month. That is 400 new buyers. Divide the run's cost by 400. Whether that is good depends on what a buyer is worth to you in a year. We do this sum with you before the run.
How your business model changes the plan
A dealer-led brand samples near stocked shops. A D2C (direct to customers online) brand slips trial packs into orders. A B2B (business-to-business) maker sends a trial pack to a plant's buyer.
- Start with a small pilot. A well-measured small run teaches more than a big blind one. Three to five points, compared.
- Give every sample a next step. Without one, reach is all you can count. Coupon, QR or consented contact.
- Reconcile stock every shift. Missing samples hide a weak point. A stock sheet per point.
- Read results at two and four weeks. Repeat buying shows after the first trip, not on the day. Cost per new buyer where data allows.
AI in product sampling: today and next
Today: reading the numbers
Gemini in Google Sheets can build tables and formulas, analyse data and draw charts. Google says it may suggest inaccurate information, so we check every figure against the stock sheet.
Source: Google Docs Editors Help, Gemini in Google Sheets, read 10 October 2026
Next
Our view: counting and reporting will get faster. A crew member handing over a sample, and a person checking stock, will still decide the result. Want us to see where AI saves time on your run? Ask us.
Our beliefWe can't do magic alone. The more involved you are, the faster you see results.
Selling to businesses, not shoppers? A trial pack for a plant's buyer works the same way. Talk to us
/ 05 Cost
What affects the cost of product sampling.
No price list. These things move the number.
We do not publish a price list. We quote each run against a written plan, with sample stock shown separately.
What affects the cost
- Number of points, days and cities
- Format: store counter, door-to-door teams or event zones
- Crew size and shift length
- Sample packs: yours, or minis, sachets and trial kits
- Cold storage, transport, and any venue fees
How we quote
- You tell us who should try the product, what they do next and how many samples you can spare
- We write the plan: points, days, crew, stock handling and what we will count
- We send the quote within 2 working days, with crew, kit and stock on separate lines
What you get in the quote
- Points or routes, with the format for each
- Crew, training and supervisors
- Daily stock reconciliation and report, and the repeat-purchase read
Compare quotes on cost per sample actually given and logged, not cost per day. A cheap day with half the samples unaccounted for is the dearest option.
/ 06 What happens next
What happensafter you ask.
For projects we think we can help, this is how it goes.
- 01
A strategist calls you
In one working day: a 30-minute call with one of our strategists about your business and what is not working.
- 02
You get a 1-page plan
A short, honest plan: what to fix first and what we would do. It is free.
- 03
A quote, if you want one
If you want to go ahead, we send a quote within 2 working days.
We confirm the timeline in the quote. Contracts start at 3 months, with 30 days' notice to stop.
Brands and people are named only as public examples. They are not PromotEdge clients or endorsers unless stated.
Keep exploring
Related pages.
The expertise that fits your business, and the places we work.
What people say
In their own words
What clients told us after working with PromotEdge.
“I really want to thank Sayantan and his team from PromotEdge because what I find good in them is that, the team. When the team is wonderful, the outcome will definitely be wonderful. …”
Abhijit BhattacharyaFormer Captain Indian VolleyBall Team; and Founder of Brahmaputra Volleyball League“Hi, my name is Hitesh Malhotra. I'm working in FIVB. We are working with PromoteEdge (with Team Sayantan). I would like to give you a brief detail. …”
Hitesh MalhotraSports Development at Fédération Internationale de Volleyball - FIVB“The PromotEdge Agency stay with us all these 3 days, since when we arrived..more, more than 3 days. Since in the airport, they stayed together with us (FIVB team). …”
GibaBrazilian Former Volleyball Player
No pressure. No sales pitch.
Tell us who should try your product.We'll show you the plan.
Straight answers.
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It depends on the format, the number of points and days, the crew and the sample packs. Door-to-door teams cost differently from a store counter, and perishable samples add cold storage. Stock and venue fees are on their own lines.
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It puts your product in front of likely buyers and shows who bought. That means points, sample packs, trained samplers and stock checks. Choose by how they count: ask how each sample is logged, how consent is recorded and when you see repeat purchases.
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Start with a pilot: enough points to compare, often three to five, over two weekends. Measure redemption and repeat purchase, then scale the points that brought buyers. A big first run teaches you less than a small, well-measured one, so begin small.
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Through a next step we can count. Each sample carries a coupon or QR code. We compare store sales before and after at sampled points, and against similar stores we left out. You get the numbers after two and four weeks, with cost per new buyer.
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Yes. As general guidance, the Infant Milk Substitutes, Feeding Bottles and Infant Foods Act, 1992 bars giving out samples of those products. Medicines, alcohol and tobacco have strict limits too. Your legal team should confirm what applies. This is not legal advice.
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Yes. Our servicing team is based in cities across India (see our Kolkata brand activations), and we meet you in your city at least once every three months. When a run needs it, we place our team at your store or event.