The first ‘free’ supermarket in Copenhagen is scheduled to open on Nordre Fasanvej in Frederiksberg on Saturday. The concept, known as ‘tryvertising’, has been around for a while. Customers register on a website and then go to the shop to pick up whatever products interest them, try them out and then write a review.
Consumers wield a lot of power via social media and the internet these days, and manufacturers know that a positive review can help break a product and get it into traditional stores.
Customers create an online profile for the Freemarket, order the products they want and then pick them up at the store. They are then given a deadline by which their reviews of the products must be finished.
Review or pay
Missing the deadlines risks a shopper’s profile being closed and being forced to pay a penalty to have it reopened. The website where potential customers create a profile is expected to come online on Thursday or Friday this week.
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The Freemarket charges shoppers 19 kroner per month to “cover the cost of the physical operation”. That allows customers to try up to ten products per month and entitles them to gift certificates and special discounts at stores across the country. Until the Freemarket website goes online, potential customers can check out the concept at www.freemarket.nu.