Free gifts with purchase

Qualifying for a freebie

During our shopping trial, skincare and make-up companies Clarins, Estee Lauder, Lancome and Shiseido all ran gift-with-purchase promotions, offering shoppers a complimentary 5- or 7-piece gift of skincare and make-up items if their purchase met specific criteria.

For all 4 deals we looked at, shoppers needed to purchase 2 or more items from the beauty brand. Clarins and Lancome specified at least one item needed to be a skincare product. For Estee Lauder, one had to be skincare or foundation.

Why skincare? Skincare items can be double, quadruple or even 8 times the price of a make-up item. The “one to be skincare” rule means customers are likely to exceed their intended spend, unless they’re already planning to buy 2 qualifying items.

University of Auckland consumer behaviour lecturer Dr Denise Conroy says it’s likely beauty companies are also playing the long game with future sales in mind. Shoppers may take home their gift with purchase and like the eye cream or the shade of lipstick so much they’re happy to pay full price for it next time.

And if the free item isn’t quite for you? “People might on-gift them as well, thinking it’s not right for me, but might be right for my friend, my mother or my daughter,” Dr Conroy says.

Beauty gift packs also tend to feature pricey anti-ageing face creams, eye gels, and face and body treatment oils over more general crowd-pleasers such as mascaras. This strategy allows a company to maximise its financial return if a customer buys a full-priced item based on the gift. “Skincare items are the most profitable products,” Dr Conroy says.

Lure of the gift

Gift-with-purchase promotions rely on the – sometimes irrational – attraction giveaways can have for shoppers. Beauty product freebies, in particular, can be so appealing salespeople need to do very little to make their sales while the promotion runs, Dr Conroy says.

When a product is promoted as free, we may overlook or unconsciously minimise the negatives in the deal. In the case of beauty giveaways, shoppers may focus on the so-called free gift, discounting the fact they may have spent 2 or 3 times what they meant to.

By not having a straight deal to weigh up, such as “spend $150 and get a gift”, it’s also harder for shoppers to work out exact costs and make an informed choice before they commit to the purchase.

For retailers, gift-with-purchase promotions are not only a way of boosting current but also future sales by creating a feeling of reciprocity. We have a tendency to want to pay someone back when we receive something, no matter who it’s from. Even a small bonus can leave us feeling positive.

Beauty companies play on this, touting the generosity of their multi-piece giveaways. In its advertising posters, Lancome valued its August freebie at “over $200”, while Shiseido promoted its “luxury gift” as worth “over $208”.

One way we may, consciously or unconsciously, repay such favours is by talking up the brand to our friends and family. Giveaways are one of the most reliable ways for a company to boost word of mouth referrals, according to Journal of Marketing Research experiments based on 2000 volunteers.

There’s another benefit of free gifts for the beauty companies – fewer complaints and returns. Research published in Psychology & Marketing, based on surveys of hundreds of shoppers, found people didn’t want to risk losing their gift and were therefore less likely to return the paid-for item.

If you’re taking up a gift-with-purchase offer, we recommend reading a copy of the terms before you buy. In most cases, the promotional posters and brochures should detail these, so you can check while you’re browsing.

Clarins

Retailer: Farmers

Criteria: Purchase of 2 or more Clarins products, one being skincare (excludes gift sets, value packs and clearance items)

Contents of gift:

• Extra-Firming Day Cream 15ml
• Gentle Foaming Cleanser with shea butter 50ml
• Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector 5ml
• Joli Rouge Lipstick 1.5g
• Moisture-Rich Body Lotion 100ml
• Tonic Body Treatment Oil 30ml
• Toning Lotion 100ml
• cosmetic bag
  

Value (based on full-sized prices): $193

Full-sized items? None

Shopping experience: Sales assistant answered mystery shopper’s questions on lower-cost skincare items to qualify for promotion, including self-tanning products.

Estee Lauder

Retailer: Farmers

Criteria: Purchase of 2 of more Estee Lauder products, one being skincare or foundation

Contents of gift:

• Advanced Night Micro Cleansing Foam 30ml
• Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Complex II serum 7ml
• Advanced Night Repair Eye Synchronized Complex II cream 5ml
• Modern Muse Le Rouge 4ml
• Revitalizing Supreme+ Global Anti-Aging Cell Power Crème 15ml
• full-size Pure Color Envy Sculpting Lipstick 3.5g
• Pure Color Envy Sculpting Gloss 4.6ml
• cosmetic bag
• stickers

Value (based on full-sized prices): $253

Full-sized items? Yes. Pure Color Envy Sculpting Lipstick is 3.5g in gift, but full-priced version ($63) is 3.1g

Shopping experience: Sales assistant answered mystery shopper’s questions on lower-cost items to qualify for promotion, including make-up remover.

Shiseido

Retailer: David Jones

Criteria: Purchase of 2 or more Shiseido products (excludes tools, empty cases, promotional packs, Concentrate Range and Moisture Mist)

Contents of gift:

• Future Solution LX Replenishing Treatment Oil 15ml
• Future Solution LX Total Radiance Loose Powder 2g
• Future Solution LX Universal Defense SPF50+ 15ml
• Perfect Cleansing Oil 180ml
• Ultimune Power Infusing Concentrate 10ml
• cosmetic bag
  

Value (based on full-sized prices): $204

Full-sized items? Yes. Perfect Cleansing Oil is 180ml in gift and full-priced item ($71)

Shopping experience: Sales assistant told one mystery shopper at least one skincare item must be purchased to qualify, which is contrary to Shiseido’s terms and conditions (see criteria). When another mystery shopper visited, the correct rules were provided.