Commercializing the package flow: Cross-sampling physical products through e-commerce warehouses

This paper proposes a novel business model: cross-sampling through e-commerce warehouses that e-commerce platforms with direct control over physical packages can adopt. It allows physical free samples provided by one brand to be distributed with the packages of another unrelated brand. We demonstrate how the cross-sampling model can integrate offline control and online information to commercialize the package flow. In close collaboration with Alibaba, we implemented cross-sampling through a large-scale field experiment, in which more than 55,000 free samples were distributed. We show that cross-sampling can be carried at scale with negligible cost and is highly effective in driving online sales or for personalization. In this way, we demonstrate the potential of a new business model that leverages the offline logistics infrastructure as a profit center.