The Spanish entrepreneur Robert Bonada in 2014 founded Samplia, a startup that allows the complete digitization of the cycle of so-called "free samples". These are distributed in shopping centers, through a sophisticated automatic machine which, thanks to an app, available for iOS and Android, immediately informs registered users about the arrival of new gifts. Since its founding, the company has grown both in its native Spain, where software downloads are abundantly over one million, and in other countries: Portugal, Mexico, Guatemala, Panama, Argentina, Romania etc.

Today it counts a network of 80 machines, located in as many shopping centers, a network that conveyed, in 2019, about 3 million products of the best brands: Kellogg's, Lipton, Heineken, Coca-Cola, Illy, PepsiCo, Calvin Klein, Mentos, L'Oréal, Giovanni Rana, Nestlé and many others. Thanks to an exclusive agreement with the Milanese agency specializing in eSampling Tum Italia, Samplia Italia was born, which has already installed two pilot machines: at the Gran Giussano shopping center (Monza Brianza) and at the Carosello di Carugate (metropolitan Milan). Then, in mid-November, the Sarca center in Sesto San Giovanni (Mi).

According to the research conducted by Samplia, the advantages for shopping centers are significant: the presence of a car, near the food locomotive, or in the tunnel, brings an additional 245,000 visitors a year. Mauro Cremis, co-founder of the company in Italy, said: “Our customers can sample without problems, regardless of the type of product. Not only packaged and long-lasting food, but also fresh and very fresh at a controlled temperature, since the machine guarantees the maintenance of the cold chain (from zero to four degrees). And there is also space for 'over size' samples, such as those of detergents, and, of course, for the whole non-food constellation, starting with beauty and personal care".

The company's goals are ambitious: to install at least 15 other machines in as many shopping centers in northern and central Italy and to reach, by the end of 2022, half a million downloads of the app, for a pool of at least 12 million contacts per month.