A sampling program is a structured effort to put product into consumers' hands — deluxe minis, sachets, and full-size trials via platforms and retail — to drive trial, reviews, and word of mouth. In beauty, trial is decisive: texture, shade, and scent sell in ways an ad can't. Programs run through retailers, subscription boxes, review communities, and creator seeding, and are engineered to generate a wave of ratings and user-generated content. That review volume is a direct input to AI-era discovery — the density and sentiment of real user reviews shape which products engines surface and recommend.