Online Coupons and How You Can Use Them to Drive Sales
Over the last few years there has been a fast growing increase in the UK public's awareness of just how worthwhile collecting and using promotional coupons or vouchers can benefit them as consumers. Even the giants in the retail and supermarket world are involved in a large way, how many people reading this own a Tesco 'Rewards' card and look forward to receiving in the post the envelope that contains details of how many money off coupons they have been sent along with the discount on their next shopping trip they can take advantage of. In the UK alone it is estimated that discount coupons count for some �2.75b worth of savings each year and that figure is growing year on year. In fact that figure is actually quite small and here in the UK we are well behind the astute Americans, where using coupons is an everyday 'must' when shopping for virtually everything or anything from discount in a local grocery store, going out for a meal to large discount offers on a new executive motor car or motor home. Even celebrities join in and nobody frowns on it, in fact it is the norm for everybody to hand over either a single coupon when shopping or a whole hand full and even employers in many American companies offer promotional coupons as part of an employee's overall salary and benefits 'package'. If any reader has travelled to America, especially the East or West coast and Florida, they will know full well that coupon booklets can be picked up in almost any local shop or street kiosk. These are filled with discounts and offers predominantly from local restaurants or hotels and car hire companies but also from many local businesses and trades people, all of whom are after extra business. Here in the UK 'street wise and forward thinking' businesses are quickly realising that to gain more sales or inquiries to them they need to entice customers to them rather than for them to go to a competitor. But many are still clinging on to the thought that they must not give too much away as this will seriously damage their 'bottom line' too much. Well how silly and short sighted they are! It has long been a fact that retail and supermarket stores use things called 'lost leaders', these are products that they sell for below the figure they buy them in at or even give them away. For example, when you walk into a large supermarket, quite often you will see a 'great offer', this could be a new release DVD, that should usually sell for around �14.99 but for every customer spending a minimum of �30 they can buy that DVD for just �5. The mentality and thought process behind this apparently foolish offer, which definitely works, is that everyone has to go food shopping so if the store picks a popular choice of DVD, (especially if it is one for children), the customers own children will convince the parents to go shopping in that store so they can get the cheap DVD! This kind of offer can work for most businesses and any business that does not utilise this clever marketing 'tool' will soon lose customers to more proactive competitors. But not every business can or wants to give away the latest DVD! So what can a business offer? The fact is, it does not actually matter to a large degree, what is being given away or offered because the large percentage of the British public just love to feel they are getting something for FREE or more for their money in one place than they would get in another place. However, experience shows that the better the offer, the more inquiries or sales that business will receive. Restaurants are a perfect example; nowadays you see on offer anything from Free bottles of wine, 10% discount, 2 for 1 on main meals and so on and so on. BUT any business can offer some form of promotional offer and it does not need to be a monetary discount. The golden rules when deciding what to offer are: 1. Decide whether you want to offer either a financial discount or a giveaway product or service 2. Decide how long you want the offer to run - sometimes an offer that has a time period attached to it can concentrate the customer to act quicker, (however, sometimes you will miss customers because depending on what you are selling or offering, it may not be a convenient time for the customer to make the purchase). 3. Make whatever offer you decide on 'stand out'. Coupon offers are NOT to be confused with more traditional advertising methods where you want to put loads of information in your advert to promote your business. A coupon offer is either Product or Service aimed - period! 4. Decide how wide an audience you want to attract, i.e. only within you own town or countywide or national. 5. Try different offers to appeal to a wider audience, remember not everyone is looking for just a discount; some people like to get more for their money in a more materialistic way, i.e. giveaways! Well we hope you have found this article of interest and we look forward to posting more articles and gaining more followers. Thanks you for reading.Our busines Ethos is simple: "Every business wants or needs more customers" "Every consumer wants to make the most of their money" We marry these two requirements together for their mutual benefit! If you have an offer you would like promoted and your business is in Kent, visit: http://www.kentcoupons.co.uk But if your business is anywhere else in the UK, visit: http://www.findacoupon.co.uk and you are welcome to contact us. We can definitely get your offer out to tens of 000's of individuals and we will pleasantly surprise you because we get results but do not charge the Earth. Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Online-Coupons-and-How-You-Can-Use-Them-to-Drive-Sa...] Online Coupons and How You Can Use Them to Drive SalesComments [0]
