Attracting customers is one of the challenges of retail. How do you stand out in a crowded marketplace filled with retailers offering “everyday low prices”? How do you incentivize first-time buyers? How do you reward customer loyalty? The answer is: coupons.

If the word “coupon” conjures up images of housewives clipping coupons from the Sunday paper, think again. The delivery method is changing in today’s digital age but customers are always looking to save money.

While coupons do offer your merchandise at discounted rates, this won’t necessarily have a negative impact on your brand. According to a study by VoucherCloud, that 57% of shoppers said that discounts often seal the deal; and 91% said they would do business with a retailer in the future if they are offered a discount on their first visit. Those are important numbers to keep in mind as you consider ways to connect with your ideal shopper.

  • Make a great offer
  • Your ultimate goal is to influence your customers’ behaviors: to get them to buy, and become repeat customers. Offers like free shipping can boost online sales, and first-time buyer discounts get people in the door.

  • Broaden your distribution channels
  • If people can’t find your coupons easily, the coupons are essentially worthless. You want your coupons to find your ideal shopper… not to have your ideal shopper find your coupons. You have to know who your ideal shopper is, where they hang out, and how they like to consume information. This may mean upping your social media game or exploring ways of distributing coupons that you are not familiar with.

  • Consider the entire customer journey
  • The customer journey is about building relationships. At every step of the way, you want them to engage with you, and ultimately buy from you multiple times. This means plenty of opportunities to incentivize engagement, build loyalty, or win back past customers with special promotions.

  • Brand your coupons
  • Attention-grabbing and visually appealing logos, photos and graphics on your coupons will help people remember your business and associate it with great deals.

  • Make your special deals special
  • Customers love coupons, but if you’re constantly offering so many discounts that they get used to never paying full price, you’re just delaying purchasing behavior as they wait for your next promotion. Instead, offer first-time-buyer coupons and customer loyalty coupons, but make special deals unique and infrequent.

  • Have a strong call to action
  • Put expiration dates on all of your coupons to create a sense of urgency. Make this date very clear (no fine print) to avoid disappointing customers and potentially lose their business because they submitted an expired coupon.

    When you use coupons on their own or as one element of a broader marketing campaign, you can attract new customers, and effectively grow your repeat customer base. Connecting with your ideal shopper becomes much easier through a mobile coupon app like Grab Qpons, which makes discounts readily available, relevant to the consumer, and simple to use.