Woolworths seeks thousands of shoppers to join online sampling community The Bunch

WOOLWORTHS is calling for thousands of Aussie shoppers to sample and review products as part of a new online testing club.

Woolworths is launching an online sampling community.

WOOLWORTHS is calling for thousands of Aussie shoppers to sign up to receive free groceries as part of new online testing club for the supermarket’s Own Brand products.

After a successful pilot late last year involving more than 4000 people, Woolworths is launching The Bunch, an online community where members provide “free and unfiltered” reviews of the products.

Some customers in the Woolworths pilot program have saved more than $100 in a few months, sampling products including soups, ice cream, crackers, tomatoes and lamb shanks.

Gemma Howells, senior Own Brand portfolio manager at Woolworths, said anyone was eligible to sign up — all they need is a Woolworths Rewards card. “We’re looking for members that represent the whole of our customer base across Australia,” she said.

The next round of recruitment for The Bunch will take place in the last week of June. Once members are successfully selected, they receive an email notifying them when new samples become available.

The sample is simply claimed and then automatically loaded onto the member’s Rewards card. The customer picks up the item during their next shop, and when they scan their card, the product is automatically deducted from the total.

Members will sample and rate Woolworths Own Brand products.

Some pilot testers have saved up to $100 in groceries so far.

Posting reviews of the products is voluntary, but the more active members are, the more free samples they will receive. “There’s technically a gamification system, with different Bunch levels,” Ms Howells said.

“The more you sample and review, the more people interact with you and like what you’re doing, the higher you go. At the highest level people will get a sample every other week, then on top of that are first-come, first-served samples.

“What we’ve seen is our most active users are getting an opportunity to sample each week. It could be anything. The whole point is variety.”

Woolworths declined to say how much the program will cost. The concept is similar to Aldi’s hugely popular Tester’s Club, which only invites 100 members each year.

The supermarket says feedback provided by reviewers will be taken on board during product development. “Setting up this community is a great way for customers to shape the future of Woolworths Own Brand ranges,” Ms Howells said.

“They can experience some of our new and existing range of products and provide us comprehensive feedback on how we’re doing. If they like it, we know that we are on the right track, however if they don’t, we can immediately capture, take on board the feedback and work with our product development teams to review the products.

“Instead of just receiving bite-size samples in store, we’re giving customers the opportunity to try full-sized portions for free in their own homes. In exchange, we want them to cook, experiment and test them with their family and friends, then decide what they think of them and share their honest ratings and reviews on The Bunch.”

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