Sales attract customers like honey attracts bees. It’s no secret that people love discounts and are more likely to shop huge when a deal is offered. However, the balance doesn’t only tip in the favor of buyers. In fact, businesses can also gain more by going for a couponing campaign. It started back in 1887 when a cola giant offered the first-ever coupon. Since then, the company can be called the father of couponing. Learning from its strategy is what allowed other companies to understand the vast merits offered by the technique.
When the first ever coupon was introduced, it was a BOGO offer that didn’t only mean that customers could get more for less. With an increasing amount of customers wanting to make the most of the deal, retailers required more cola. This fueled the company’s business and furthered its success. Moreover, as more people visited Cola selling stores, the local pharmacies’ owners enjoyed the benefits too.
Since then, the use of couponing in marketing has only climbed up. In the digital realm today, more people want online discounts that encourage savings.
Wondering how offering coupons can skyrocket sales?
Increases brand awareness
Coupons create buzz. They make more people know about a brand. More people are likely to visit a site or a store that is offering a discount. The marketing campaign is something people don’t just get involved in themselves; they also talk about it and get more people involved. It’s how a business can create its presence in a competitive environment subtly. A survey showed that 22% of buyers were likely to share the news of local deals and discounts with others and 91% of the purchasers who made use of a company’s coupon visited again.
Raises customer count and loyalty
When your business offers a coupon or a code, customers are more likely to visit. Not only would this improve the customer count but also customer loyalty. Most businesses set sale marks by offering monthly, quarterly, biannual or annual sales. As customers learn to expect discounts, they tend to visit more often. In doing so, they often make more undiscounted purchases as well as they see what you have in stock. As brand awareness is created, more buyers visit. The strategy works indirectly to improve sales and is a smart move specifically in times of the business’s financial decline.
Takes the costs down
Coupons are similar to print ads. As mentioned above, they stir brand awareness in a positive direction and also lure in more customers. By doing so, they work as advertisements and reduce advertising costs. Moreover, they can also help save more. For instance, when an online company offers a discount on payment through bank cash transfers, it reduces the costs incurred on transactions made through other sources such as credit or debit cards. This saved money equates to higher revenue and can be reinvested for triggering further sales.
Helps free up room
No customer wants to see the same items sitting on shelves every time he revisits. Similarly, no brand would want to showcase older items. However, tossing old products in the storeroom is often not an option as that would mean they won’t sell at all which has an obvious negative impact of the financial scale of a business. By offering a clearance sale or a coupon on items that are taking their time to leave with buyers, a business can free up room. This freed up space can be used to bring the latest products to customers. Therefore, enticing offers help sell out excess inventory which ups sales by making space for trending products.
Assists in keeping up with the competition
Coupons help smaller brands compete in a world where bigger brands rule. The strategy attracts a chunk of the customers of bigger businesses. Take, for instance, a new label that is trying to raise its head in the competition. A couponing campaign would bring in customers and improve sales as buyers are offered similar products at better prices. In another situation, an established brand can keep up with other brands of the same niche by offering discounts to maintain its customers rather than lose them to a company offering better prices and discounts.
Enables a company to plan better
A couponing campaign allows a company to collect customer data. By studying the characteristics of the buyers that are attracted, the company is able to plan better future marketing campaigns. It gives a business a clearer idea about its target audience. This improves sales as a business does a better job at marketing which is one of the pillars that it relies on. Therefore, the next deals and products offered can be better suited to meet the requirements of this particular segment of customers to take up sales.
To sum up, coupons and promo codes are a quick way of bettering the performance of a business in the sales department. Specifically, internet marketing. They bring more customers in, help compete better, and thus, raise sales.