Coupon codes are a great way to promote last minute Christmas specials. In fact, coupon codes in general are a great way to highlight a particular product or category of products you wish to sell. Coupons are hot – mobile coupons or app usage in particular increased by over 100% in 2011, and 100% again in 2012.
Over 92 million adult Internet users used online coupons in 2012. And guess who clips the most coupons? With the value offered by coupons, one might think that the lowest income households would be among the heaviest users. In fact, more affluent households dominate coupon usage. Wealthier households are twice as likely to use coupons. So is the college-educated consumer, as opposed to one who did not finish high school.
Coupons can be used for any occasion you can think of. For example, did you know that this next Monday is “Free Shipping Day”? It’s true – check it out: www.FreeShippingDay.com. Here is a website that shows you holidays for almost any day of the year: www.brownielocks.com
Depending upon the platform you are using for your web store, different types of coupons might be available for you to promote your inventory. These could include a percentage off, an amount off (with or without a minimum purchase), buy one get one or buy one get another at a perdentage off, or free shipping. Studies show that discounted offerings are even more effective that free product, although that might also be an option.
Typically, you create a coupon code through the administrative control panel or dashboard of your eCmmerce website. You can assign an expiration date for the coupon, and a coupon code that someone must enter to take advantage of the promotion. I recommend using a simple coupon code like “Holiday10” rather than a cryptic string that might be auto-generated for you.
Once you have your coupon code set up, you need to let customers and potential customers know about your offer. Certainly you can, and should, do this with an email blast to your subscriber list. But you can also post it on various social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and even YouTube. Another place to consider posting your coupons are sites like RetailMeNot.com that contain a database of coupon codes from various websites – this gives you additional exposure as well as back links to your website. Do a Google search for “coupon codes” and you will find a number of sites that will let you post your coupons.
Graphics are an important part of promoting your coupons. You should create a graphic each time you generate a coupon code, whether you expect someone to print out the graphic and bring it into your physical store to redeem it, or if the offer is available online through your shopping cart software. Use a barcode font and a clipline, even for your online coupon codes to make them look like a real coupon.
Graphics sell, so create a graphic that you can post on Facebook, Pinterest, or wherever else you plan on displaying your coupon.
UPDATE: The Babble Out (https://www.thebabbleout.com/) recently released an article about some great ways to save money on Amazon. It’s called “28 Genius Tricks: How to Save Money on Amazon and Get Free Stuff.” This has some really good information about how to save money, beyond just using coupons, so you should check it out.
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