Product demonstrations in retail have been identified as one of the most effective marketing strategies for launching products and directly increasing sales as well as helping brands to connect with existing and new customers.
From boosting brand awareness and increasing customer interaction to building a community and reaching new perspectives on different platforms, here we highlight some of those benefits of product demonstrations for brands.
Showcase product insights
By hosting a product demonstration, you’ll have the ability to educate your audience about the key attributes and features of your products in an immersive environment. Product demonstrations will assist you with bringing your products to life and highlight all their best functionalities within an engaging shopping environment.
Our most recent survey found that almost 60 per cent of those surveyed stated they would not spend more than £250 on an item without seeing it and understanding how it works first-hand.
For brands, it makes complete sense to direct their marketing budget towards the product experience approach to guarantee greater success at point of sale, as consumers today demand more from their shopping experience.
Boost Brand Awareness
The beauty of a product demonstration is that you are able to engage, inform and inspire your consumers and help them on their purchase journey. In-store product demonstrations offer a complete face-to-face and interactive setting, so your brand is able to create memorable moments and choose what product is right for each individual customer’s need.
Product demonstrations are seeing rapid growth in the digital world as brands and retailers are now focussing on virtual practices such as video-first technologies which offer a direct window into a store and allow a personal shopping experience from the comfort of your own home.
Product demonstrations have the advantage of giving tangible proof of how your product works to help consumers in their purchase decision. In addition, they can boost the appeal of your products to a wider audience and build a sense of familiarity with your brand.
From our survey, 84 per cent of shoppers would feel more inclined to buy from a brand again after a brand experience, because they feel safe in the knowledge that the next time they are in the market for a related product, they would have the chance to try it first.
Reach New Perspectives
With product demonstrations are able to develop new interests around your product at the centre of a community. Whether you conduct a product demonstration in-store or online, you will be able to convey the best features of your product and this helps to create a conversation and generate word-of-mouth about your brand. By finding the best experiential staffing, you’ll have the right people behind your product demonstration for increasing brand devotion.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, brands and retailers have had to adapt and evolve their strategies and many are focusing on virtual product demonstrations to reach new audiences at different touch points.
With the likelihood of regional lockdowns across the UK over the coming months, it is more important than ever for brands to build their digital presence and engage with an online audience. For example, video-first platforms and online masterclasses are now being offered to promote products and services which act as an extension of a physical bricks-and-mortar store.
If you’re looking to attract new perspectives or obtain more quality traffic to your brand, retail experiences like product demonstrations are the easiest way to guide consumers about how your product meet’s their needs and fits into their lifestyle.
Increased Interaction
Product demonstrations are designed to help you engage and inspire your consumers with a more in-depth understanding of your products. They give the product experts the ability to assist consumers on a much personal level when making a purchase decision. For example, they can allow potential customers to experience a product to help bring them confidence in the quality of the product they are buying.
Brands and retailers need to be set for the digital transformation to interact with consumers on different platforms. COVID-19 might have changed some consumers’ shopping habits but in-store and online shouldn’t be in competition given how different customer behaviours are on each platform. Customers are doing their research online and coming in-store with the intention to buy, not browse.
Have you got a product demonstration idea in mind?
In a post-COVID retail environment, the future customer will demand more convenience from online, more experience from in-store and a greater confidence that their chosen brands can really deliver the goods.
Retail experiences offer an authentic and results-driven approach when it comes to improving your brand marketing and sales performance across a range of channels.
