For decades, brands have poured time, money, and materials into sampling, hoping the right product in the right hands would lead to a sale. But once that sample leaves the warehouse or showroom, what happens next? Most building materials brands don’t actually know.

The Sampling Visibility Problem in Building Materials

Whether it’s a hardwood plank, a tile swatch, or a fabric binder, samples are expensive to produce and critical to the sales process. Yet many brands lack a sample tracking system that provides real-world visibility. The result is a gap that impacts sales, customer experience, and operational efficiency.

Without the right technology, brands face challenges like:

No visibility into where samples end up

No idea how long samples remain out of the showroom

No insight into which samples convert to orders

No data to identify hoarded, lost, or inactive SKUs

This creates confusion and inefficiency for brands, showroom staff, and customers.

What It’s Costing Your Brand

When you lack sample tracking software, the costs are real and often hidden:

Lost samples lead to wasted production costs

Overproduced samples inflate budgets without a return

Popular samples that are missing or unavailable mean missed sales

Marketing and merchandising teams operate without clear feedback loops

Sampling is often one of the most expensive parts of a product's launch, yet it's rarely measured or optimized.

Why You Need a Sample Tracking System for Showrooms

This is where Orbit changes the game. Orbit is a smart, showroom-ready sample tracking system that helps building materials brands finally gain visibility. It gives brands and retailers the ability to track building product samples from the moment they leave the warehouse to the day they return—or convert to a sale.

Here’s what Orbit enables:

Attach smart labels to physical samples
Install Orbit’s plug-and-play showroom system—no Wi-Fi required
Automatically log every check-in and check-out
Track who took the sample, what they chose, and when
Access real-time dashboards and daily reporting on sample activity

Orbit turns physical samples into assets with real data and insight behind them.

Real-World Example: Sample Lifecycle Clarity

Imagine you launch a new flooring collection and send it to 300 retailers across the U.S. With Orbit in place:

You can see which SKUs are checked out most often

You know when your most popular sample is missing in key locations

You get alerts about underused or idle samples

Your product, marketing, and sales teams gain clarity on what’s actually resonating in the field

This is what sample lifecycle tracking has a competitive edge.

Aligning Sampling with Sustainability and Strategy

Brands in the building materials space are looking to improve sustainability, reduce waste, and operate with more data. Orbit supports these goals by helping you avoid overproduction, reduce shipping waste, and better align your physical assets with customer demand. By implementing sample inventory management, you’re not just gaining control—you’re making smarter decisions from day one.

See Where Your Samples Really Go

If you're still running your sampling program without visibility, it's time to modernize your approach. Orbit gives you real-time insight, customer-level tracking, and powerful showroom analytics—all without heavy setup or IT requirements.

Book a demo to see how Orbit is helping brands streamline sampling and improve performance across the board.

Where Do Building Material Samples Go? Why You Need a Sample Tracking System