Our Blog

Expert views and the latest scoops, from the world of customer experience.

Planning Costco’s 2020 festive demos

Planning Costco’s 2020 festive demos

20th October 2020
Every year, without fail, we see incredible results from product demos at Christmas time. It’s a time of year when consumer spending is high, and when brands are looking for exciting ways to cut through the marketing noise. Getting their...
Returning to Costco demos - Our Watford trial

Returning to Costco demos: Our Watford trial

18th August 2020
For Costco members and vendors alike, product demos are a huge part of the shopping experience. And they’ve certainly been missed during recent months.  However, we’ve got some good news. Demos have started to return – albeit with some significant...
Safe sampling in the Nordics - How we’re bringing demos back in Costco, Reykjavik

Safe sampling in the Nordics: How we’re bringing demos back in Costco, Reykjavik

21st July 2020
In the UK, live product demonstrations and food sampling have been on hold since lockdown began at the end of March. Now, as lockdown eases, retailers like Costco are all set to start offering samples and demos once again. So,...
Meeting WDS’ unique training needs

Meeting WDS’ unique training needs

15th July 2020
Established in 1993, Warehouse Demo Services (WDS) provides every single one of Costco’s UK and Iceland product demonstrations and sampling campaigns – over 75,000 per year, across 30 different locations. With the majority of their campaigns centred around food and...
Back to business - Food businesses after lockdown

Back to business – Food businesses after lockdown

6th July 2020
March 2020 will forever be known as the month when everything changed. Coronavirus had revealed itself as a devastating foe that tore through the UK like a monsoon, devastating businesses and tearing thousands of our loved ones away from us...
Why food handlers need Food Safety Level 2 right now

Why food handlers need Food Safety Level 2 right now

6th July 2020
The world we are all slowly returning to is not the same as the one we left. Since March, the COVID-19 pandemic has shaped everything from the way we work and communicate with one another to the way we look...
Fizz Training Academy - Online training vs classroom training

Fizz Training Academy – Online training vs classroom training

29th June 2020
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, online training was increasingly in popularity with 77% of US companies using online training programmes in 2017. Closer to home, meanwhile, Sadiq Khan recently pledged £9 million to the online training sector as a means...
How have Costco vendors navigated lockdown

How have Costco vendors navigated lockdown?

23rd June 2020
With COVID-19 lockdown in place since the end of March, Costco vendors have not only been unable to run their usual in-store demos but have had the vast majority of their marketing and business activities disrupted. It’s been a tough...
Missing our May awards day - here’s why we do it

Missing our May awards day – here’s why we do it

10th June 2020
Every year, we host the WDS Annual Achievement Awards: an occasion that celebrates our incredible teams in both the UK and Iceland. Sadly, as a result of COVID-19, this year’s awards – which would have been our sixth annual awards...
Costco demo

The power of demos: Our 2020 favourites

2nd June 2020
Our brilliant staff have stepped up to help Costco to the best of their ability during this challenging crisis, as online orders soar while in-store demos are unfortunately rendered impossible. We can genuinely say our brand ambassadors love their work....
Costco support

How WDS is supporting Costco throughout COVID-19

21st May 2020
At WDS, the core focus of our business is on in-store product demonstrations, working with Costco since the early 1990s when they opened their very first UK warehouse. But with the onslaught of COVID-19 and subsequent UK lockdown, this work...
Jean Lowe, Deputy Demo Service Manager for WDS at Costco in Haydock

What are our brand ambassadors missing most about in-store demos?

7th May 2020
The social distancing measures introduced to combat the spread of Covid-19 have rendered in-store demos impossible. These demos are usually carried out by our brilliant brand ambassadors, who have stepped up to support Costco during this crisis alongside other members...