Limited-time coupons help spur sales. Here are five different types of coupons you can put to use:
Dollar-off discount coupon.
This is one of the most popular types of coupons. E.G., “Get $10 off when you order now!”
Take note that as with all coupons, this type of coupon works better if you put a limit on it. Here are the different types of limits you may impose:
- Good for a limited time. The shorter the duration before the coupon expires, the more urgency you create. That’s why you’ll see flash sales that are good for 12-24 hours.
The problem with flash sales is that part of your audience may never even see the coupon before it expires – and these people may have bought if they saw it. That’s why you may consider a coupon with a longer duration, such as two days, three days, or even up to a week.
TIP: If you’re launching a new product, then offering a coupon that expires in a week is a good idea. That’s because people typically need to gather information about a new product and decide if it’s for them. They may not have time to properly make a buying decision if you offer a coupon that expires in 12 hours.
On the other hand, you can offer coupons with short durations (hours or a couple days) on existing products and low-cost products. If a product is low-cost and thus doesn’t require an extensive buying process, the prospect will use the coupon without even giving it much thought. This in turn creates a high conversion for you!
- Good for a limited quantity. The idea here is to create a coupon code that only works for X number of customers. What the “x” represents depends on the product and the audience size – ideally, you want something that will sell out in a few days. For example, you might offer $50 off to the first 200 customers.
Note that you may put conditions on your coupon, such as “Get $10 off when you spend at least $20.” Or you may simply offer the coupon for one particular product (e.g., “Buy the Whiz Bang product and get $10 off!”).
Next…
Percentage-off discount coupon.
Instead of offering a specific dollar-off coupon, here you offer percentage off. E.G., “Get 25% off when you order now!”
You can offer this coupon in three ways:
- This coupon is only good for a specific product.
- This coupon is good for any purchase in your store.
- This coupon is good only if buyers spend a certain amount.
Take note that you can make this promo even more effective by offering discount tiers – the more someone buys, the more money they save.
E.G., Buy at least $25 and get 20% off. Buy at least $50 and get 30% off. Buy at least $75 and 40% off.
As with all coupons, this one works best if you create a sense of urgency by installing a rapidly approaching expiration date. (That goes for the rest of the coupons we discuss below.)
Buy one, get one free coupon.
For example: buy one app, get a second one of equal or lesser value for free.
This particular coupon works great on consumables or other products or services a customer will purchase often (including months of membership in a membership site). It also works great for products where the customer may give the product to a friend. And, as mentioned in the example above, you can simply offer a freebie of matching value on any other product in your store.
Buy one, get one at a discount coupon.
This is similar to the previous coupon, except the customer gets a discount on the second product. E.G., “Buy one at full price, get the second one at half off.”
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Buy today, get a matching credit on your next purchase.
The idea behind this coupon is to get your customer back into your store to purchase something else in the future.
E.G., “Buy a product worth at least $25, and get a 100% matching credit to use on a future purchase!”
You can use coupons to jumpstart sales on a variety of occasions, including:
- Holiday and event sales.
- Flash sales.
- Product launch sales.
- Business grand-opening sales.
- Product retirement sales.
Here’s the next idea for jump starting sales…
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