Loyalty Program

How Can Retailers Attract Customers Through Rewards?

A returning customer is payment enough. The retail space is evolving and with new competitors entering the market each day,  it is becoming increasingly important for retailers to innovate. One of the easiest ways for retailers to say thank you to customers is to create a rewards program.

But retailers can make rewards programs go beyond saying thank you. Establishing a reward program can be one of the best marketing strategies that a brand can adopt.

In a study by Nielsen, it was pointed out that customers were more likely to come back to a brand with a rewards program so that they can get to the reward faster. Whether the brand is giving out points, discounts or giveaways is for it to decide.

A good rewards program constitutes of a few key elements; in-depth research about the customer is the start point to success.

The next basic requirement is to define the basis of rewards; what does a customer need to do to earn the reward? The next step is to keep a track of the behavior and keep a tab on how receptive people are to the program.

Ways By Retailers Attract Customers Through Rewards?

1. The first and most obvious mistake that brands make is to think of rewards as a short term event. However, the easiest way to keep your customers interest in the brand is by updating, reinventing and rethinking how you are rewarding.

Modern customers are aware and are often on the lookout for a better deal. Knowing  that a customer rewards program isn’t timeless is essential.

2. Brands need to go beyond ’selling’. Personal communication is going to keep customers coming back. When creating a rewards program, brands must not hesitate in being generous with the most loyal customers. Putting in the effort to ensure that customers know that their well-being is being considered.

3. Make rewards actually rewarding. Ensuring that the rewards program in a way helps customers get to an object they desire.

Whether it is a cash discount at the end of the year or a specific object that they can win over a period of time. Understand that customers are investing time and money and need to be acknowledged.

4. Retailers can start by rewarding repeat business. If the brand has a card or points, then rewards need to given out in a timely fashion without any hassle.

5. Another way for retailers to attract customers through rewards is to not even to create a direct reward, but a great reason for them to engage with the company.

Many electronic companies offer free delivery, setting up, some even go on to help customers dispose of their products in a  responsible manner.  Especially when it comes to electronics. For example, batteries and outdated equipment that have a potential to create issues if not disposed of properly.

A rewards program is meaningful only if the customer sees value. At the end of the day, retailers must aim to deliver a reward that feels like a reward.  One that the customer values and remembers. The rewards need to be enticing enough for the customer to be curious about the brand and the rewards themselves.

Create a program with RewardPort and give your brand the edge it deserves.

ICICI Securities Limited – Success Story

How to get rid of your excess inventory from retail shelves?

Available statistic shows that about 20 to 40% of most business’ capital is tied up in inventory. This portends that any business that mismanages its inventory levels even to a small degree can have a huge challenge on their hands. It can affect their capacity to operate effectively and it can place a huge burden on the Company’s finances.

The more inventory any business holds the higher the likelihood of running into costly issues such as tampering, theft, damage and stock excesses, obsolescence and so much more. Also, excess inventory on retail shelves can keep you at the mercy of market fluctuations in commodity value.

Things You Can do to Get rid of Excess Inventory From Retail Shelves:

1. Flow with the Market

When the market value of a good dips significantly below what you paid when you were acquiring them, keeping hold of a sizeable quantity of those goods can affect your business. As any effective inventory manager will admit, there is no way to completely insulate yourself from overstock.

However, you can run with a plan that helps you reduce your inventory to optimum levels. This would also aid the financial state of your business and position you for other great prospects.

The major goal of controlling your inventory level is to ensure you have enough to match the fluctuations in customer demand. You do not need to tie your cash in maintaining unnecessary stock. You can reduce inventory by communicating effectively down the supply chain.

The engagements at each stage must be in sync and data driven. This will ensure that goods reach your customers without interruption while the safety stock requirements will be kept to a minimum. Some organizations use inventory management software to fulfill this role.

Every process manager across the distribution channel is can be properly positioned to work with up to date data which creates effectiveness.

2. Get rid of Surplus or Obsolete Inventory

Inventory management software can help a business to identify obsolete or surplus inventory. It is important to earmark the most effective way of taking out obsolete inventory. The long term damage of holding in unnecessary stock outweighs the damage of holding on to it in the short term.

There are a number of channels which businesses can use to dispose unwanted inventory. The first thing to do is to categorize the stock that needs to be scrapped or thrown away, those that can be sold off and the stock that can be used within the organization.

You can also negotiate the option of returning surplus stock to the supplier. Closeout and special discount offers is a good avenue to increase customer demand and move excess inventory. Goods which are sold at a discount in an International market allow the retailer to get back part of his investment while moving the stock.

As a last resort, it may be vital to give the goods to a cause or charity which will create some goodwill in the community or you can simply scrap them.

It is important for a business to invest in running with a good inventory management system. This would help to reduce the challenges in your supply chain while improving your profit margins.

Channels of Engagement at the Point of Sale of Consumer Goods

It is interesting to talk about a subject that is creating so much buzz across various business circles. There is a lot of evidence that points to businesses enjoying higher sales through active engagement of their point of sales units.  The influence of the out of store online activities on in-store purchase decisions is unique and worth a close look. The moment a consumer is about to do a transaction; it is critical to build loyalty and create multiple income channels for your business.

The message of marketers to attract customer interest in various brands has reached a saturation stage. Sadly, this has led to a point of diminishing returns for marketers who operate in various industries. This means that any business that wants to stay ahead of the pack must be able to communicate with its consumers at the right moments in order to win the lion’s share of the customer’s attention.

One of the best ways to engage this opportunity or business dynamic is to envision the engaged consumer as a segment all by itself. Many brands have an opportunity to engage a great number of their clients but are not paying attention to this new trend. It is important to give a high priority to this move in order to draw customers that would be loyal and valuable to your brand in the long term.

Here are 4 of the Channels of engagement at the point of sale of consumer goods that is generating the right results:

1. Text Message promotions

Shoppers can be enticed to enter contests while shopping with the use of an effective text message. It is important to get the buyers’ consent in order to interact with them and build a strong following for your brand through their mobile device. About 67% of individuals do their shopping through a mobile device so this is a channel that must not be overlooked. You can create a trend by telling them the best time to shop while tying it to various store locations where you may want to drive increased sales.

2. Email Coupon programs

Consumers can register to receive limited time offers and coupons from their favorite brands. They opt in for such messages/communication from in-store promotions, brand websites, text message, mail messages or in response to calls. You can track the conversion rate from this medium and further understand the location from which the consumer makes the purchase. This can help you to build a strong data and dominate the market that you serve.

3. Brand Websites

Consumers are encouraged to register on the sites and provide important details about themselves. The data would capture their social network profile, information about their household and this can aid the message, research, segmentation or relevance of your sales approach to reach them.  This can help you create a stronger engagement with even the most passive customer on your list.

4. Social Media

Social media connects brands to their customers like no other channel. When this avenue is well harnessed, it can influence the shopper’s behavior and increase the profit margins of any business.

Why Sales Promotion Work and Some Don’t?

Every sales promotion begins with a business or brand making the right offer. This is true of one-time marketing concepts that help in boosting your short-term revenue or expanding your business.

The ideal sales promotion offer needs to have the following components:

1. Align with your competitive edge

2. Creates real value for your clients or customers

3. It is relevant

The usual strategy is to go for conventional offers like Discounts , extra of the same product, a related product by the same company or a freebie of excess inventory. Lets look at each aspect

1. Discounts – these work always, but to a extent. A brand cannot forever be giving discounts and get identified as “discount” brand.

2. Extra of the same product – this is a slightly better strategy than giving discount as it gives a better perceived value to the customer.

3. Get a related product – Good if want to sample your new offering that does not conflict with the existing product category

4. Give a free from your excess inventory – This may save you some monies but could give the customer a wrong impression if not communicated right.

The new approach to sales promotions is to catch the fancy (and the spend) of your customers by giving them something which is aspirational and has a much higher perceived value. Two things stand out:

1. Offer a service – Run a promotion that rewards the customer with something exciting that matches the target profile like Movies, a spa experience or mobile recharge .Something that gives instant gratification and has a high perceived value and is relevant

2. Sweepstakes with assured gift – Everybody loves to win. An assured prize giveaway with a chance to win a grand prize appeals to all. A sure win gives instant gratification and gets the brand love and a chance to win big like a car / mobile phone / dream holiday keeps them engaged .

When you have decided on the sales promotion plan that you want to implement, it is important to prop up its message and communicate effectively. This is the point where many businesses miss it in their campaigns and marketing efforts. This failure usually happens in two ways:

• They do not effectively promote their program to their clients and potential customers
• They use the wrong message or marketing tools to reach their audience
• The rewards are not exciting enough
• It’s not easy to get the free gift

A close look at the first point shows that the default sales promotion drive of most businesses is to advertise. However, advertising adds to the expense that an organization incurs. The cost of running a media campaign is high and the returns may not justify the investment made. Research shows that price-sensitive shoppers may be attracted by an advert but may not return to consummate the purchase or transaction.

There are Effective Ways to Drive Sales Promotion and Some of Them Would be Discussed Below.

1. Use your Store effectively

It is ideal to make full use of your store signage to woo buyers to the products you have on offer. The employees can strengthen the stakes by mentioning the promotion to your customers. Employee stickers/tags/buttons can talk about the promotion while promotional flyers can also do a good job. Reminders on receipts or the use of an inexpensive sticker or rubber stamp can help to drive the best returns for your business.

2. Embrace the Internet:

You can give a strong voice to your Sales promotion by highlighting it on the main page of your website.  You can create a page that talks about your promotion and draw in a strong following by offering freebies which can help you build lists for future marketing efforts.

3. The Telephone:

Your employees can harp on the promotion to anyone that calls your business or you can change your answering machine message to let customers know about what you are doing.

4. Email 

You are sending out hundreds of emails everyday. Add the promotion to the footer. Its zero cost free media.

There are other powerful media which you can harness to generate the right results for your sales promotion. They include Flyer distribution, use of conventional media and word of mouth. It is important to get the word to as many people as you can through these channels. It is vital to mention that you can have a great sales promotion plan but without a strong marketing base to drive it; no one will know about it and this can lead to failure.

The best sales promotion is simply anchored on understanding your market and driving your plan to bring the returns you desire. There is a thin line between success and failure in this range but following some of the rules listed above would get the job done for you.

How To Create Effective Promotional Marketing Strategy in 2025

There is one Marketing question that always begs a detailed answer – What is the right way to go about planning a product promotion activity? It’s easier asked than answered. Over the many years that we have been working with Marketing divisions across Industry types, we have actually drawn up a list of 10 important issues that Managers must consider while planning a Promotion.

While they may not be in Chronological order, each point jostles for attention. This is an attempt to assist the Marketing manager build a template for every promo; remember every promo needs the same amount of consideration before an idea is finalized.

Here Are The Given Top 10 Effective Strategies for Promotional Marketing

1. Identify the Role of Incentivization

Providing added value to customers by making available an “incentive” instantly influences purchase. If the customer is convinced that he is getting more than the value he is spending on the product, it will persuade him further to make the purchase. The strategy lies in convincing the customer that he will not only receive the worth of his rupee but also supplementary benefits.

These incentives may be in the form of free samples, gifts, discount coupons, demonstrations, shows, contests etc. All these measures motivate the customers to buy more and thus, it increases sales of the product. The promotion must be able to change the perceived value or price of the product or service.

2. Communicate with your consumer – offline & online.

Social media, smart-phones and the Internet are the buzzwords of marketing of the future. The customer is becoming more and more technology-friendly and accustomed to the ways of approaching products through these media.

By making product promotions accessible via such media, the customers are significantly encouraged to utilize the benefits offered to them. Not only do these media influence the behavior of the customers, it is the swiftest and most effective way of reaching out to your befitting target-audience.

3. Collect, manage & nurture data.

Sales promotions are not only effective in the acquisition of new customers but also in the retention of your existing customer-base. It is essential to recognize the significance cultivating a relationship with your existing customer-base.

In-order to develop and nurture relationships, it is important to firstly collect and create powerful databases. Secondly, they must be managed to eliminate unusable data in order to effectively target the usable database. The customers must be made to feel their value in the company in order to extract long term loyalty.

4. Be relevant

Sales Promotions must not only be relevant to the type of product being sold but must also suit the needs of the target-audience. If the customers are able to relate to the promotion being offered are able to comprehend it effortlessly, then the chances of the promotion resulting into a sale are higher. The sales promotion must also be able to hit the consumer at a particular behavioral stage.

5. Make sure to Customize and localize

The promotions offered must be customized to suit the requirements of the customer with regards to their demographics and psychographics. The promotions must be also be designed according to the attitude & behavior of the target-audience. They must be able to provide instant gratification on a temporary basis in-order to convince the customer to take immediate and simplistic action to achieve results of the offer.

6. Clarify objective and provide tangible benefit.

The customer will only be convinced to make the purchase of the product if they feel the value they are receiving is more than the amount they are spending. The customers must be able to measure the added value they receive along with the purchase.

By offering clear objectives of the promotion, the brand is able to foster a trustworthy relationship with the customer – which is key in terms of long-term loyalty benefits.

7. Maintain timing, duration and frequency

Sales Promotions if introduced at a appropriate time can yield greater results. India is a very time driven economy; festivals, occasions and seasons are great influencers in the consumer’s purchase decisions.

The promotions must be able to provide the customers with instant gratification over a temporary period and must not be repeated too often, as the customers will then be unable to differentiate the added value of these offers in comparison to the original product.

8. Engage your customer

The customer wants to be felt important and appreciated; and if the brand recognizes this need of the consumer and nurtures it, they can witness groundbreaking results. The brand must endeavor to involve the customer in promotional activities as much as possible.

Any activity that engages the customer to interact with the brand – for instance contests, sweepstakes or coupons will instantly appeal to the customer’s psyche and induce a sense of association and bonding with your product.

9. Integrate sales promotion with the communication strategy

Sales promotion is an aspect of a promotional mix that includes –advertising, personal selling, direct marketing and public relations. While sales promotion is an effective tool itself, it must be used in accordance and relation to the other tools of the marketing strategy as well. Once the promotions are complemented by the other elements of the promotional mix, the efficiency of this tool will automatically be intensified.

10. Integrate sales promotions with social media

Sales Promotions must be run on social media such as _ Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare. Linkedin and Pinterest. Sufficient word of mouth is generated via social media that not only increases awareness but also heightens reach of the promotions.

Integration with social media immensely intensifies the effectiveness of the campaign. The reach of social media must not be overlooked and must be used effectively to create viral effect.

10 Mistakes to Avoid in Sales Promotion

Numbers never lie and if numbers are to be believed, take a look at following industry figures of impact of sales promotions:

• Total Reach Value: 90%
• Total Recall Value: 89%
• Positive Impression On Customer: 52%

The relevance, reach and impact of meticulously planned sales promotion on customer behavior is unsurpassable; which inversely also means that if your sales promotion is not planned well, it could negatively affect your brand and business with equal values!

So, how would you ensure a flawless sales promotion plan that affirmatively reaches and affects as many people as possible? Here are the common mistakes that you should avoid to maximize the impact and minimize the remorse:

Here Are The 10 Mistakes To Avoid In sales Promotion

1. Thinking Single Channel

Sales promotions can elevate the sales and profits dramatically in a short time. To fetch optimum outcomes of the sales promotion activity that took much of your hard work and huge capital, it is necessary that you utilize all the channels of promotion available to you. The current advancement of print and digital media offers a beautiful amalgamation to explore infinite opportunities to boost your sales and brand value.

When your consumers see you everywhere, they get inured to your brand and you gain their acceptance. Do not keep it only online (which may be fine if you are an online company) or only print promotion. Integrate all the channels ingeniously to stand ahead the crowd.

2. Not Setting A Goal Or Deadline

Launching a sales promotion program without fixed deadline or measurable goal will lead it to whole big null point. Set a start date and end date to streamline your efforts to complet everything within the stipulated time frame. This will help keeping each component of the program in track. By setting up goals, you will always have a figure in hand to achieve and to measure the success of the campaign.

3. Fixing On Presumptions

Don’t presume customer’s behavior. Never plan your sales promotions assuming that the segment you have created defines your real or limited customer base. It is very much possible that a profitable share of customers in high concentration is in the segment you do not tap your sales promotions for. Study your data patterns well to have a diverse profitability.

4. Not Solving It For Each Stakeholder

While planning your sales promotion program keep in mind how would it impact each of your stakeholder or retailers or any other patron associated to your organization. You may launch a promotional plan that attracts new customers with some special offer or benefit but would it be fair for your regular and loyal customer who may not have that benefit? Take each stakeholder into your consideration for an overall successful sales promotion program.

5. Making It Too Complex

Keeping your sales promotion plan simple makes it easy for you as well as your customers. Your customers will feel more connected and involve when the processes are simple without much complicated terms and conditions. With a simple sales promotion activity, capturing, handling and processing the data for result analysis and profit calculation gets extremely easy and effective. So, do not unnecessarily complicate things.

6. Not Keeping It Relevant

Relevancy is the essential most factor of any sales promotion program for its success and positive outcomes. Relevant program helps you in targeting your right customers and communicate with them for awareness and sales. Relevancy of the sales promotion plan also ensures that your customers are reminded about your brand or product with full intensity.

7. Communication Gap with yourTeam

For successful promotional plan, it is imperative to involve and inform all those part of your value chain that includes your team members, distributors, retailers about your plan. This provides the required thrust to pull it to an extended level for broader effect and profit.

8. Not Testing Your Assets

This is a very common mistake that is easiest to avoid. It doesn’t take much to test all your assets that you plan to consume within your promotional program to be active, available and useful. For example, you may roll on an email campaign with a broken link due to lack of adequate testing. This is a sheer waste. Avoid it.

9. Not Capturing The Data

Without capturing the data appropriately, it is impossible to measure the effectiveness and successfulness of any activity. Capture the data to realize if your plan has delivered what you expected. Capturing the data can also benefit you to apprehend new market segments and opportunities that you never thought of before.

10. Not Using The Captured Data

This is the biggest mistake companies commonly get trapped into. Before planning the next sales promotion plan, it pays largely to dig in the previously captured data to concentrate upon profitable segments along with exploring new dimensions for unconfined growth.

For a short word, make your sales promotion plan to attract new customers while also encouraging your brand power and loyal customers effectively.

These are a few common mistakes you need to be aware to ensure a flawless sales promotion. You should do everything possible to learn whatever you can about the complexities and nuances of your industry or profession–and not just once, but regularly.

By knowing the potential bottom-line of impact of your sales promotion, you’ll have the information to invest the energy necessary to host a strong flawless sales promotion that will deliver boosting results over the time period it covers.

How do Businesses Benefit from Loyalty Programs?

Businesses operating in mature markets have a unique dilemma- they have to constantly look for innovative ideas to stay close to customers and differentiate themselves from competitors. The proverbial sword of low margins and fixed costs hangs over their head. And there’s also the threat of the low-price players. When price cannot be a differentiator, companies have to look for other differentiators.

One such advantage can be offered through customer loyalty programs. They don’t just discourage existing customers from switching stores, but also give businesses an edge during a price war. When done properly, loyalty programs can generate up to 20% of a company’s profit. No wonder, US companies spend around $25 billion every year on loyalty programs.

How did Loyalty Programs Start?

A lot of research conducted around the 1970s indicated that suppliers who formed a better relationship with customers tend to have ‘better customers’. Further research also indicated that better customers bring better business. It slowly began as a marketing strategy for small and medium businesses that used their database to monitor and manage customer behaviour.

Modern Day Loyalty Programs

There are plenty of loyalty programs, but most of these can be slotted into two different categories; Standalone and Coalition.

1. Standalone

The most common loyalty membership today is the standalone program where customers get rewarded for doing business with the company that offers the program. Points can be redeemed only within the range of products offered by the program owner.

2. Coalition

More than one company participates in this program. Customers are rewarded for doing business with all the participating companies. Loyalty points can be redeemed within all the products offered by the participating companies.

How do they compare against each other?

There are advantages and disadvantages associated with both these programs.

Benefits of the coalition program include;

1. Helps attract new customers

Companies participating within the coalition program get to share and thereby attract new customers. And that too at just a fraction of the cost normally incurred on marketing and advertising.

2. Costs and risks are shared

Costs to set up and operate the program are shared between participants. This also applies for risks if the program fails to take off.

3. Ideas and practices can be shared

As partners, businesses get to share their ideas and practices through promotions. The organizing contractor often arranges meets to discuss promotion strategies and ideas.

Disadvantages of the Coalition Program Include:

There’s a reason why coalition membership programs aren’t as popular as their counterpart. The greatest disadvantage lies in the fact that they leave the customers confused about which brand to choose.

1. Difficult for brands to maintain individuality

Although brands are being packaged together, they’re also competing against each other. They have to struggle to maintain their individuality.

2. Unclear information on customer database

The customer database is the most important factor in deciding promotions and allotting budgets for the program. This database is controlled by the coalition promoter who doesn’t disclose it to avoid misuse. But without knowing and analyzing customer behavior, companies have to devise their own mechanism to derive customer data.

3. Problems during redemption

In a typical coalition based loyalty program, different kinds of brands may participate. Customers who’ve collected reward points cannot redeem them as they wish. This is because the redemption value of different brands would be different, and it would be low for high end brands.

Advantages of Standalone Programs:

If retaining customer loyalty is the main focus of a reward program, then standalone is the best.

1. Program can be identified with a single brand

Customers need not be confused about choosing from multiple brands. They can identify the program with a single brand, thus making brand promotion an easy task.

2. Exclusive access to customer database

Unlike coalition programs, companies choosing a standalone program have exclusive access to customer database. This helps them analyze their promotion strategies and even budget accordingly.

3. Consistency in strategizing and marketing

The program is designed exclusively for the participating brand. The company has complete control over every aspect including the rules and regulations related to the program. They even get to control communications related to the program. This ensures consistency and reliability.

What do customers want?

The problem with any good customer strategy is that every company wants to copy it. Almost every company wishes to or has already launched a program. Sadly, most of these fail miserably; not because of a fault with the concept, but because it isn’t based on careful judgment. Every loyalty program should include;

1. Rewards that customers can relate to

The reward program should offer instant rewards and not expect people to wait for a long period until the points can be redeemed. Customers are attracted to a program for rewards, but only temporarily. In the long run, what matters is that the effort taken to maintain relations with the customer.

2. Never forget the ultimate aim, i.e. to sustain customer loyalty

Rewards are undoubtedly the end result of every program. But they shouldn’t be the ultimate motivating factor. It is about maintaining customer’s loyalty and preventing him/her from switching stores.

3. Program suited for different segments

The program should be customized for people in the targeted category. It should identify their needs; study their purchasing behaviour, etc.

Common loyalty programs include offering reward points for air travel, fast food chains, etc. Standalone programs promise all of this and much more.

How Brick-And-Mortar Retailers Can Beat Ecommerce Price Advantage

The online ecommerce juggernaut may seem invincible, but players like Flipkart, Snapdeal, or Amazon have a major Achilles heel. Research shows that exceptional customer service is the number one factor influencing how much a consumer trusts a company, and 75% of consumerssay they have done business with a company because of positive customer service experienced in the past and the experience with buying process

Retailers hoping to fight online giants will have plenty of ammunition at their disposal if they use this insight to up their in-store game. Brick-and-mortar retailers can counter razor-thin margins offered by ecommerce sites through superior customer service. But first, they have to listen to what shoppers need and want, and use this data to propel their customers beyond the lone factor of low prices.

Here are 6 Strategies  to Beat Ecommerce Price that  May help Conventional Brick and Mortar Store Owners:

Know your customer:

It is now more important than ever for retailers to take a genuine effort in understanding their customers. I’d suggest that you initiate programs that help you know your buyer and his preferences. Some effective ideas include capturing customer data through CRM practices, a loyalty program, social media strategies, etc. Online companies score over conventional store owners, because they know so much about their customers. But with a little imagination and ingenuity, this information can be collected and used effectively. In fact, large retail companies have already started to implement strategies around this idea.

Engage customers:

Large retail companies have data but they have to use this information to communicate and personalize their relationship with their customers. Personal information about buyers is probably the biggest weapon in their arsenal that could help them handle competition from online companies. Retailers, large and small, can use this data to send information about offers, receive feedback and engage customers. With tools like email, SMS, missed call, apps, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, implement such ideas would be a cakewalk.

Blend the good aspects of online and in-store shopping:

Imagine you are the owner of a retail store and a customer checks in asking for a particular material of cloth. Being an earnest businessman, you inform the person that although the material isn’t in stock, you can get it for him in two days time. Problem solved, you’d say? But wait! There’s more that you can do. You can direct this customer to your Facebook page and tell him that he can choose a color of his choice and inbox the preference to your page. You, in turn would see to it that the chosen color is set aside for the customer. This can then continue as a tradition wherein your customer can order from home and yet assure the quality of the product before buying. Another instance where online and offline shopping can be integrated is when retailers blend in-store shopping and online payment. Apple has already marched towards this end. iPhone customers can scan bar codes of products and purchase them through their Apple Pay app.

Enhance the Shopping Experience:

Installing mobile charging pods, keeping children entertained with a separate kids’ play area, matching the customers pace, etc. can go a long way in enhancing customer experience. The last aspect is particularly important. It is more than likely that your in-store customer has already researched about the product before entering your place. He is already aware of the different models available online and has probably chosen your store because yours was the lowest price of all and also because he’d like to be sure about the quality of the product. Understanding such customers and creating a positive experience for them is important.

Service first then sales:

I recently had the misfortune of purchasing a product through a teleshopping network. Whilst everyone in the company was happy to sell me their product, none of them shared the same enthusiasm when I had to complain about the product quality. If I had taken the pain of shopping through a conventional brick and mortar shop, I could at least visit the place and get the problem sorted. But it’s been a month now, and I am yet to speak to a ‘customer relations person’ who could own up to the problem and offer a solution. This is where brick and mortar shops can easily outshine their online counterparts. By demonstrating to your customers that their complaints matter, you’ve not only earned their trust, but also given them the satisfaction that there lies a solution to their problem.

Webrooming:

Webrooming refers to the process of researching products online and then visiting the store to purchase them. A report by Merchant Warehouse estimates that around 69% of customers with a smart phone, webroom. And to put this trend into numbers, Forrester Research estimates that this trend is likely to result in $1.8 trillion in sales by 2017. There are several reasons why customers prefer webrooming as against showrooming. Merchant Warehouse says, 47% of them don’t prefer paying for shipping, 46% wanted to touch and feel the product before buying, 36% of them wanted the store to match the online price and around 37% wanted it to be easy to return the product back to the store if they didn’t like it. So have a great presence online and on social media and run good offers there incentivizing the customer with coupons to use it offline.

Even in the age of online shopping, consumers want to be able to trust retailers before they buy a product. Retailers can take advantage of this factor by keeping customer engagement at the heart of their strategizing.

The Art of Marketing by using Coupons

Coupon campaigns have been around since the launch of the first paper coupon by Coca-Cola in 1887. The first lot of coupons were distributed on the streets and in magazines and newspapers. Wow! that is a good century-old marketing tool. Since then it has grown in popularity, with it being almost a give in American retail and now a part of the marketing mix of the Indian marketing ecosystem. Since then, however, the coupon has evolved and in the new digital times, it’s become a more effective tool.

Why you should use coupons?

Coupons are an inexpensive form of marketing, nearly half of all retailers and brands reported offering consumers some form of bonus coupon program or gift with purchase. This means your competitors are probably utilizing coupons in their marketing plan and maybe should you too. With the advent of digital, it has now become easier for products in the FMCG category to use pack /in-pack digital codes. You should use Coupons – digital or print to
– acquire new customers
–  increase sales of specific products
– Increase brand awareness
– move out unsold inventories
– reward existing customers
– retain former customers
– up sell a higher margin product
– Increase social media engagement
……..add to it that this is a highly measurable activity

How to use coupons in your sales promotions

Coupons should be used in a way that not only motivates the consumer to purchase the product but creates good brand memories. This way there will be good social media stories about your brand. That’s free marketing for you! This can be done by creating a cyclic format where customers just don’t get price offs or discounts all the time ( this will ensure that your brand is not perceived to be a “discount” brand.

– Run programs with coupons that deliver rewards instead of discounts always.
Eg: A free Rs.200 voucher for online shopping on the purchase of a toothpaste

– The reward should be relevant and experiential.
Eg: Free Movie tickets on purchase of shampoo.  Everybody loves the movies!

– The perceived value of the reward should be high, even equal to the value of the product purchased (not too high if you are an upcoming brand, else it will seem too good to be true).
A known food company gave a minimum gift of Rs.150 on purchase of Rs.100

– Add sweepstakes. Everyone loves to win the lottery. Add a contest with a chance to win big. It always works. A large personal products brand gave assured gifts and a chance to win Ipads and it worked!

Applications of Coupons

Coupons can be used in multiple ways for multiple marketing goals

1. Gift with Purchase
2. In pack /On-Pack promotions
3. Contests and Sweepstakes
4. App Download
5. Online registration
6. Product trial
7. Referral marketing

Coupon Distribution Methods

You can distribute coupons in multiple formats in different ways

1. e-coupons delivered online, in-app, SMS, email
2. Paper Coupons
3. M-Coupons – SMS-based coupons for the segment that is not online
4. On-Pack/In-pack

Making Coupon Programs effective

So we have a great coupon idea with fantastic offers which are bound to attract the customer, but that is not all for it to work. There are  certain hygiene elements of the campaign that you must keep in mind before launching the campaign

• Clear, Concise Text Detailing Offer and Terms
• Ease of use along with a clear explanation
• Product Image and packaging
• Frequently Asked Questions ( FAQ )
• Any Necessary Legal Copy
• Expiration Date
• Complaint redressal – Company Name, Address & email

Conclusively, coupons are a very effective marketing tool with a proven model of success. If you have not used it earlier try it with a small budget, you will see instant result. If you already use coupons try out the above to get a better ROI.

10 Ways to Build your Business with O2O – Online to Offline

A Garter Survey says that 98% marketers say online and offline marketing are merging. What does it mean for offline businesses who are feeling that they are losing out to online businesses? Simply put they have to embrace a O2O – Online to Offline business strategy.

What is O2O or online to offline Marketing?

The best & simplest definition is “A business strategy that draws potential customers from online channels to physical stores.” Online-to-offline commerce, or O2O, identifies customers in the online space, such as through emails and internet advertising, and then uses a variety of tools and approaches to entice the customer to leave the online space. This type of strategy incorporates techniques used in online marketing with those used in brick-and-mortar marketing.” as defined on investopedia.com

Marketers of large companies have moved beyond digital marketing techniques and are expanding marketing’s role to create new digitally led business models. The sweet spot of the physical and digital worlds represents opportunities for marketers to apply customer insights to create and test new digitally led experiences and business models.

Baidu and Alibaba are doing this in a big way in China while on demand services companies like Airbnb and Uber have made these into unique business models.

But what does this all mean for the small and medium size business. How do they adjust to this with limited resources?

10 Ways to Build your Business with O2O – Online to Offline Marketing

1. Customer Data

Start collecting data of visitors and buyers. This is the starting point and perhaps the key driver of your O2O strategy. The fancy e commerce valuations you see are mostly driven by data. Merchants need to put in place a system where you collect information such as name, email, mobile number and as you move ahead you can add transaction history and other data points.

Reward customers with offers and freebies to share data via website, sms or on paper. A simple tool to start with is www.zoho.com to manage the data.

2. Email and SMS

You have now data of visitors and customers. Segment it. The more data points the better segmentation. This is not very scientific. Just segment it by gender, area, age & transaction initially and then evolve to by birth date, preference, days of visit etc. Reach out to them by email or sms. Update them on offers, invite them to events, and wish them on their birthdays.

A good DIY tool for email is MailChimp , ConstantContact. SMS is a very cost effective direct to customer tool .There are local vendors who will provide this service for prices as low as Rs.0.10 per sms

3. Facebook

Most likely your customer is on Facebook. Set up your page and get people to like your page. Keep the page active with 4 or more posts a week. Always use images and if possible videos. Unfortunately, now it doesn’t mean that if you post all your fans see your post. So you will need to “boost” you post for a little fee. Use the Audience feature to add your data on Facebook to get people who already know you. This is another effective way to reach out to your prospects and customers.

Based on the size of your business it would be a good idea to manage the page yourself for a while and probably engage an agency when your ROI is up. There are many other tools on Facebook to help push your business. Create offers that can be redeemed in-store.

4. Twitter

A recent study by Small Business Customer website shows that nearly 60% of Twitter followers buy from an SMB. One way to initiate more traffic to your Twitter business page is by integrating a “follow” button on your website. Once your profile becomes familiar with existing customers, you can tweet to your followers about your upcoming product launches or trade shows and encourage them to retweet about your event. You can consider offering special discounts or freebies to your Twitter followers when they and their friends attend the offline event.

5. Instagram

Instagram will soon join the 100 million users club and if you haven’t yet used this innovative visual storytelling platform to meet your business goals, it’s high time you considered it. You can build anticipation among your Instagram community about your upcoming offline event by taking instant photos of your event’s stage being set and so on and post it on the website.

Another way is to send exclusive invites to your Instagram fans and encourage them to meet up at your store or on the streets and post photos of them using your products or services. It would be a cool idea to host such real life meet-ups among your online community to build your brand offline.

6. Google – Places and Maps

More than 70% of online Google search activity is related to finding local stuff. And nearly 80% of online local searches on Google Places can end up visiting your offline store. It’s time you considered it carefully to build your business. Here’s a way to initiate it. Make sure you have a 100% score on the Google Places listing by filling all details. Optimize your listing description with product/service keywords. Encourage your existing customers to give good reviews on the Google Places & Maps to stand out among your competitors.

7. Strategic Partnerships

Strategic partnership can jointly benefit you and your partner as you can offer value added services to your existing customers. It spreads the marketing load to each partner while promoting their respective products/services. More importantly, your relationship with customers gets strengthened. For example, if you are an offline music training center you can partner with an online music instruments selling website to attract new students.

You can distribute to your existing customers a free e-book or an online demo of your product/service that features you and your strategic partner(s). Make use of exclusive online discounts as a way of promoting your partnership among new and existing customers.

8. IOT

With the onset of the Internet of Things (IOT), offline businesses can harness it to offer customers a virtual like shopping experience. Take for instance, a fashion clothing store that makes use of iPad or tablets in changing rooms to help customers request various colors and sizes. IOT isn’t just about increasing sales, but leverage it effectively to boost overall shopping experience for your customers.

As an offline business, you can access the same level of information just like an online store to improve your new or existing customer’s experience. One way is to follow up data on your customer’s recent online shopping journey and offer special discount on products they looked online.

Your message can be something like, “Hello Jenny, the trousers you looked online two days ago is now available at our store at 10 percent off and its available in three additional colors.” The IOT technology can be harnessed to build better relationships with your customers like never before.

9. Wallets

Digital/online wallets can now be used not only for online shopping payments, but even for offline businesses. You can make use of this trend, whether you have a food store or a cab services company. Give your customers the freedom to pay through online wallets anytime, anywhere.

This can result in increased revenue, as your customers will be long satisfied since they aren’t required to carry cash or plastic cards to make payments when they avail your services or products. So whether you are a small start-up or a growing offline business, you have the option of choosing an extensive range of digital wallet services.

10. Loyalty

Simply put, there’s no shopper who doesn’t like to get rewarded. A loyalty program should aim at encouraging the loyal engagement of your customers, in other words get buyers to patronize your business. It can’t get any easier than using the digital platform to promote your loyalty program for increased offline revenue with repeat customers. You can reward loyalty points to your existing customers when they subscribe to your online newsletter.

You can also reward them when they refer their social network friends to visit your offline store. Another way is to conduct special online loyalty surveys to know more about your customers’ shopping activities both online and offline to gather valuable data. Just ensure the redeem limit is not too steep to reward your customers.

Following all these strategies require time and planning, get a team to work on these and plan accordingly. Similar to online revenue, offline store can gain more profit and revenues by being up to date. All the best!

18 ‘Refreshed’ Sales Promotion Ideas

Over the past decade we have had the opportunity to work with many of the leading brands across the country, have had discussions with the marketing gurus in different sectors on what common promotion ideas works across any of the business segments. We came up with these ideas, which are NOT new, simply being looked at with a fresh NEW perspective, that are proven methods of sales promotion.

1. SALE!

• Promote it well and go all out to make it heard.
• Give preference to  your existing customers, ALWAYS!
• ‘Upto xx%’ – doesn’t work, be honest.
• Sale must be on everything, not on the limited stuff.
• Dress it up and make it an event

2. FREE

• The free stuff should be actually useful.
• Don’t always give your own stuff free, always.
• No *conditions apply.
• Free stuff should lift your product not degrade it.

3. BOGO / 2 for 1

• Keep it simple.
• Apply it on few items & products.
• Must be ‘limited to….’ quantity, time etc.

4. Contests & Sweepstakes

• Easy to participate
• Have as many winners – ‘Assured Prizes’ – ‘Everyone Wins’
• Make the giveaway exciting and what people want.
• Request an action, get data and use it.

5. Assured Gift

• Add a dash of surprise and excitement.
• Make the gift experiential.
• The gift should have a high perceived value.

6. Codes & Coupons

• Use M-coupons & E-coupons.
• Distribute it through partners to increase reach.
• Use it for acquisition but also for retention, refferal & rewards.

7. Like, Share & Get

• Use Facebook not to show off but to engage.
• You don’t brag, let the fans do that for you.
• Reward participation and actions.
• Have conversations not monologues.

8. Tweet & get Free stuff

• Run contests.
• Reward the 100th, 1000th, etc. followers.
• Retweet followers tweets.
• Reward most retweets, best # message.

9. Pin & Get!

• Run competition – Pin & Win!
• Run offers with powerful images.
• Have great images and many of them on the board.
• Acknowledge and reward regularly for ‘pinning’

10. Refer & get stuff!

• Create a simple and easy to understand referral program.
• Make it worth the while for customers to refer.
• Act quickly on the refferals generated.
• Make sure the reference is rewarde too with a great offer to buy.

11. Deal

• price-off on purchase is mostly the best offer.
• Let it be sizable and above competition in your category.
• Don’t make it too frequently but make it BIG!

12. Upsell

• Offer complementary product or services.
• Time the pitch well.
• Be specific with the upsell offer.
• Make assumptions & suggestions.

13. Reward loyalty

• Doesn’t have to always be loyalty program.
• Reward actions other than purchase too.
• Reward not only with points – acknowledge and make them feel special.

14. Engage

• People love to have dialogues & interactions with the brand they buy.
• Encourage participation.
• Engage everywhere – in store, online, on phone.
• Let them have conversations with the brand.

15. Free Trial

• Works for tech products and non tech products too.
• Free trial is a statement of confidence.
• It works for donut, a software or a car – find a way to let the buyer get an experience of what you sell.

16. Cross Promo

• Align with other brands to reach new customers.
• Offer & get privileges from other brands for YOUR customers & THEIRS!
• Choose alliances carefully and in sync with your brand positioning & target group.

17. Excitement

• People love ‘what money can’t buy’ experience.
• Add a dash of fun & excitement.
• Sports & movies can help make the promos effective.

18. Pamper

• Everyone loves to feel important.
• Doesn’t have to be indulging, could be just acknowledging.
• Let it be more personalised and less automated.