Sales promotion
How a beauty salon uses promotions to inform customers about their products
Sales promotion is used to encourage customers to buy more of a product or to increase sales.
There are a wide range of promotions that a business can use to promote its products and services:
Special offers
A bargain price or extra value package.are short-term pricing strategies that businesses, especially shops, will adopt to encourage customers to buy from them.
Discounts
By offering products at a reduced price for a set period of time, a business can offer customers better value, for example 20% off the price of a brand of washing-up liquid. This can encourage customers to buy more or to buy from them rather than a rival company.
Buy one, get one free
Buy One, Get One Free (BOGOF) is a commonly used special offer. This deal is used to offer customers extra value and may encourage them to buy more or to choose one business or product over another.
Point of sale displays
Point of sale displays are to be found at the checkout, for example at supermarkets. The point of sale display is most commonly designed to attract the customer to products that are new, for example the latest DVDs, books or video games.
Loyalty cards
Loyalty cards can encourage a customer to keep coming back to the same business. Most commonly, loyalty cards operate on a points-based system. The more that a customer spends in a shop, the more points are added to their loyalty card. These points can then be converted into some sort of reward, for example a discount on other products.
Free samples
Many food companies will offer A 鈥渇reebie鈥 or taster given away gratis to potential customers in shopping malls, supermarkets or other locations. as a way to let potential customers test a product. For example, supermarket shoppers will be given the chance to taste a new snack. The idea is that people will try the product and hopefully like it, encouraging them to buy.
Free gifts
Often a business will encourage customers to buy by offering a free gift with its product. For example, fast food companies give away toys with children鈥檚 meals, or some products include tokens in their packaging which have to be cut out and posted off in order to claim the free gift.