Customers, Coupons and You

We’ve all seen big brands do this, some of them annoyingly (think arm length receipts that a certain major drug store chain distributes as a standard part of their checkout process). In spite of this annoyance, the tactic of including coupons or promotions on printed receipts is an effective one.

The platforms we use most often - ShopKeep and QuickBooks - make it simple for businesses using these systems to leverage this.

One benefit of receipt based coupons is obvious…

…it can drive additional sales and create new buying habits - “Show this receipt on the same day for a 30% discount on your afternoon coffee”. But there’s much more benefit to be gained by any business that takes the time to use this functionality.

Capture the attention of your low tech customers.

Almost everyone has a phone that chirps or buzzes with every email or social mention that happens. There are still some holdouts, and there’s evidence that a coupon printed on paper is more likely to see some action. If receipts are printed AND emailed, you’re definitely casting a wider net.

The success of any marketing campaign is measured by engagement.

In this case it is driven by engagement as well. As you’d imagine, simply printing coupons on your receipts or invoices alone probably won’t move the needle. What big brands do well is train employees on the script associated with informing customers that they are being handed a coupon. Even in small businesses, there can be a disconnect between ownership/management and front line employees. Taking the time to educate staff members and reinforcing the objectives of the campaign increases the likelihood for success. It also creates an “ETDE - engagement trickle down effect”, where cashiers are taking extra steps to engage and delight your customers. This entire workflow can be regarded as Two Factor Engagement.

It’s FREE!

In today’s noisy world, businesses spend billions of dollars to get the attention of their customers. Taking a little time to create a promotion that is literally handed to your customers doesn’t cost you a dime, and when employees are properly trained, there’s no guessing if the customer “received” the offer.

We’d love to hear from you about the different ways you promote your business.

Drop us an email at info@bizhelm.com and share some of your tips and tricks (and of course if you’d like to learn more about this topic or any of our other services, click that email address above, too!)