I know I said no more posts on weekends but this guest post by Andrew Malak just couldn’t wait until Monday. Do you use coupons with your business? Read on.
Consumers love getting their hands on coupons because they love saving money. Businesses give coupons to generate interest in their products and services as well as to help get people through their doors. While coupons can help businesses increase sales, they do come with risks, and in some cases, coupons can be really bad for business.
1. Customers come to expect them.
If your business gives out coupons on a regular basis, your customers will come to expect that they will receive one. For this reason, customers may only frequent your business when they have a coupon to help them save money. They may be in dire need of your product or service, but if they don’t have a coupon, they may feel like they’re being ripped off, so they will either wait to make a purchase when a coupon becomes available, or they will find what they need somewhere else for a cheaper price.
2. Customers won’t buy more than they have to.
Businesses tend to give out coupons in hopes that customers will tend to buy more than they normally would because of the discount. In reality, customers don’t do this. Instead, they still only buy what they need, but are simply getting it at a cheaper price.
Many businesses are experiencing this problem when they participate in Groupons. These businesses hoped that offering a discount would get people in the door, and while it did, most people didn’t end up spending more than what their Groupon was worth.
3. Customers may get annoyed.
If a business that normally doesn’t offer coupons starts to offer them, it may create an increase in business temporarily. While this is good for the business, it may not be good for your customers. If your customers enjoyed the low traffic your business had to offer as well as your friendly customer service, they may come to experience a different atmosphere when you are inundated with other customers. If your staff isn’t trained to handle a rush of people, it may cause their otherwise happy and helpful demeanors to turn into a stressed out and irritated ones, making your regular customers become uncomfortable.
4. Customers may think it cheapens your products or services.
If your business never gave out coupons before, and you recently started to dole them out, your regular customers may start to have second thoughts about the products and services you offer. Some people tend to think that coupons cheapen the items that they’re about to purchase, and if your regulars start to notice that you’re pushing the use of coupons, it may make them feel that your superior product is not so superior anymore.
If your business uses coupons and you have seen a tremendous increase in sales and a dedicated group of returning customers, than coupons are doing wonders for your business. But in the back of your mind, you may be wondering what your sales would be if you hadn’t decreased the value by offering coupons.
While they may help get interest in your business, and while they may bring a few new customers in the door, a coupon is not the best marketing tactic to rely on, and they may actually hurt your business in the long run.
Andrew Malak is a business student at the University of Texas who has a passion for writing. To make sure all his writing and school work is neat and mistake-free he proofs it with a grammar checker. He knows that he should pay more attention to the grammar rules but some of them can be quite tricky.
