Experience big brands for a few tens of yuan, convenient to carry on business trips... Offline, at the beauty counter in the mall, various small samples are neatly arranged, and the salesperson warmly invites customers to try them out; Online, e-commerce, live streaming platforms, from beauty and skincare to food and catering, from daily necessities to digital home appliances, "samples", "trial sets", and "experience sets" of various products can be seen everywhere. Why has "sample" consumption emerged, and what are the hidden concerns in the current market? How to further promote its standardized and orderly development? The reporter conducted an interview. Try first and then buy "sample", which is popular for water emulsion, essence, face cream, lipstick, eye shadow, perfume, etc. From the origin of "sample", it initially "made its mark" in the beauty industry. Professor Song Sigen from the School of Economics and Management at Shanghai University of Applied Sciences introduced that the beauty "sample" market has developed rapidly in recent years and is highly sought after by consumers, which has led to the imitation of multiple industries such as tea drinks, snacks, and laundry, gradually forming diverse "sample" consumption formats. Nowadays, the presence of "samples" is no longer limited to physical products. Free trial listening for knowledge payment, free experience in the service industry, and free trial viewing of digital products can all be seen as extensions of "samples". This "small and beautiful" consumption pattern has quietly changed the traditional way of shopping. Behind the rise of "small samples" is a profound transformation of the consumer market, as well as a two-way fit between supply and demand. For consumers, "small samples" have many advantages, such as practicality, cost-effectiveness, and low risk. In Song Sigen's opinion, "through trial, one can quickly understand whether the product is suitable for oneself". You can try on clothes when buying, and try on food when buying. "Sample" is the "try on outfit" and "try on outfit" of a product. Some consumers have limited budgets and can try out high-end brands for just a few tens of yuan, satisfying their desire to try new things and gaining a better understanding of the products. The cost of trial and error is lower, and the decision-making threshold for purchasing is also lowered accordingly, "Song Sigen pointed out. Who wants to carry a bunch of bottles and jars when going out to play? ”A consumer told reporters that the "sample" is easy to carry, can be carried in a pocket or in a suitcase without taking up space, and is very suitable for travel and business trips. For merchants and brand owners, "samples" can attract more potential consumers, save high promotion costs, and drive the sales of formal wear and enhance brand awareness with the good experience of "samples"; From an industry perspective, new formats such as offline "sample" collection stores and online "sample" events have emerged... The emergence and development of "sample" reflect the shift in consumer attitudes among the general public. ”Song Sigen said that compared to before, people now pursue a consumption style that prioritizes quality, tries before buying, and is convenient to use. It is difficult to distinguish between true and false "sample" consumption, which hides hidden concerns. Although seemingly win-win "sample" consumption brings convenience to consumers, there are many consumption traps, difficulties in safeguarding rights, and other chaos, making "try first, buy later" lose its flavor and even touching the bottom line of consumer safety and fairness. Firstly, due to the complex channels of "sample" products, consumers often find it difficult to distinguish between genuine and fake. Taking beauty as an example, Song Sigen introduced that the main channels for obtaining "samples" of beauty are as follows: official brand channels such as counters and flagship stores receive samples as gifts after purchasing formal attire; Brand counters or internal personnel reselling; Related sales personnel, consumers, or purchasing agents' 'reverse delivery' supply; Formal packaging. There is another type, which is counterfeiting or mixing genuine and fake products, that is, mixing genuine samples with counterfeit imitations, making it difficult for consumers to distinguish based solely on appearance. Once you buy counterfeit goods, not only will it fail to achieve the expected effect, but it may also cause harm to your body. The reporter noticed that some consumers showed their experience of buying some big brand "sample" and "rollover" on social media: the color difference of lipstick "sample" was serious, and allergic reaction occurred after applying face cream "sample"... During the purchase process, there were also many "pits" of "sample" consumption. It is not uncommon for businesses to engage in practices such as "bundled sales" and "once sold, no return or exchange", which restrict consumers' right to choose. Regarding this, retired professor Wu Jingming from the School of Civil and Commercial Economics and Law at China University of Political Science and Law pointed out that if an operator implements bundled sales, it constitutes a forced transaction and is an illegal act; If a statement is made that the product will not be returned or exchanged, it must clearly inform consumers of any defects in the "sample" before sale. Otherwise, the operator still needs to bear the "three guarantees" responsibility for the "sample" in accordance with the law. If the "sample" itself has defects, it should be prohibited from sale, and violators shall bear tort liability. The difficulty of safeguarding rights is also a dilemma that consumers often face. Once quality issues arise, it is easy for brands, distributors, and platforms to shift blame to each other; Due to the low unit price of "samples", many consumers are unwilling to spend a lot of time and energy on "trivial matters of ten or tens of yuan", often choosing to give up their rights protection. A consumer told reporters that one important reason for the difficulty in protecting their rights is to provide evidence. Few people can discover all the problems and keep evidence when receiving goods. We lack professional testing methods and authoritative identification channels. Industry insiders revealed that it is difficult for consumers to verify the authenticity of "samples" purchased from non brand channels through counter inspections and other methods. Stores all claim that their "samples" are "genuine", "authentic", and "authorized". Even when faced with doubts, merchants often respond with slightly different versions and batches from different countries. No matter how small or cheap the 'sample' is, it cannot become an 'exception' for quality supervision and liability exemption. It cannot be 'discounted' in protecting consumer rights, and losses should not be borne solely by consumers. ”Wu Jingming reminds that as long as the "sample" causes damage to consumer rights and interests, operators, including platform operators, trademark owners, trademark users, and other operators, can be held legally responsible in accordance with laws and regulations such as the Civil Code, the Consumer Rights Protection Law, and the E-commerce Law. When 'sample' consumption extends to the food industry, the risks become even more hidden. Nowadays, many businesses lower their standards under the guise of "tasting" and "experiencing", and even post disclaimers, transferring the risk to consumers. Wu Jingming pointed out that food "samples" must meet the same standards as the products being sold or about to be sold in terms of shelf life, freshness period, storage and transportation methods, hygiene standards, and labeling. The root cause of the problem with "sample" consumption is largely due to some merchants not treating "sample" and formal attire equally in terms of legal status and quality standards. According to relevant Chinese laws and regulations, 'samples',' trial packages', and 'non saleable products' must be identical in terms of quality, performance, use, and expiration date to the officially sold goods, and be considered as products for formal sales, "said Wu Jingming. In the practice of standardizing the "sample" consumer market through multi-party cooperation, reporters also found a situation where some merchants deliberately make the quality of "samples" better than formal wear, in order to induce consumers to purchase. This behavior of treating "samples" as arbitrary "marketing tools" seriously misleads consumer decision-making. If the quality of products sold in a formal manner is lower than that of 'samples', it constitutes false advertising. Consumers who purchase and use such products constitute fraud, and operators should bear legal responsibility. ”Introduction by Wu Jingming. In recent years, in order to regulate market order, China has successively introduced and implemented regulations such as the "Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Cosmetics" and the "Measures for the Administration of Cosmetics Labels", which have included the supervision of cosmetic "samples". Market supervision departments in various regions have also issued fines to relevant enterprises for unauthorized packaging of "samples", which lack ingredient lists, production batch numbers, and import cosmetic registration numbers. As regulatory authorities at all levels, market supervision departments should pay more attention to 'samples' and establish a sound traceability system. In daily inspections or special rectification, if any product promotion involving 'samples' is found, the' samples' should be immediately extracted and sealed, and formal samples should be randomly inspected to test and compare the main ingredients, shelf life, and other relevant indicators of the two. ”Wu Jingming said that once differences are discovered, they can be punished according to relevant laws and regulations such as the Advertising Law, and made public at the same time. We need to strengthen cooperation and coordination with public security, customs and other departments to create a deterrent effect and increase the cost of illegal activities. Through multi-party collaboration, "small samples" can achieve "traceable sources, reliable quality, and guaranteed rights and interests". Standardizing the "sample" market requires not only strengthening regulatory enforcement, but also the joint participation of platforms, merchants, consumers, and others. Experts and scholars interviewed stated that e-commerce, live streaming platforms, and offline "sample" collection stores should strictly verify the brand authorization, quality inspection reports, and other qualification documents of "samples" to prevent the flow of non source and unqualified goods into the market; Brand owners should strengthen channel control, standardize the circulation of "samples", and strictly prohibit the illegal resale of "non saleable products" for profit; Consumers should prioritize purchasing from brand flagship stores and authorized stores, carefully check key information such as labels, shelf life, and production batch numbers, properly retain orders, courier vouchers, chat records, and other evidence, and promptly provide feedback, complaints, or reports when encountering problems. When it comes to future trends, Song Sigen believes that with the popularization and application of AI technology, production costs will be reduced, presentation methods will be virtualized, and product delivery will be convenient. "Small samples" will accelerate their expansion into areas such as knowledge payment, diversified service scenarios, and digital products. The development of "small samples" in these areas may even surpass that of physical products. No matter how 'small sample' consumption extends and expands, or what new scenarios it leads to, the premise of its development remains unchanged. ”Song Sigen stated that only by moving forward in standardization and growing in transparency can this emerging consumption model achieve stability and better serve consumers. (New Society)