Local Coupon Magazines- Inexpensive Ways to Build Business Sales

How do businesses retain customers or garner new ones when the economy is in the toilet? Many local businesses rely on local coupon magazines to retain and gain customers. Every month or so people across the country receive packets of coupons or a coupon “book” filled with great deals from a variety of local businesses.

Consumers
Should you use this medium to increase local sales? According to several studies, consumers love coupons, particularly when the economy is bad, but even during good economic times, a full 60% of consumers are actively seeking coupons and 87% use them on a regular basis. AC Nielsen puts the percentages a little higher with 90% of consumers “liking” coupons. Add to all of this the new reality television show dealing with couponing and you have a recipe for increased sales and customers.

Price Change versus Coupons
You may be wondering why businesses do not simply lower their prices. After all, wouldn’t that be a simpler approach? It would probably be easier and cheaper to simply drop the price of your products by 50 cents or a dollar and allow competition to guide the increase. The downside to this is setting your price; with coupons, you can temporarily lower the price without setting precedent.

Coupon Benefits:
What else do you know about coupons?
•    New Residents- people move in and out of areas frequently and within a short amount of time, they set their shopping habits. Coupon mailers give you an edge over the competition by snagging new residents. (Customer service will help keep them!)
•    Traffic- just like any good website needs traffic, so does your store. Coupons bring in the customers who are then more likely to grab an impulse item as well.
•    Upsell- offer a discounted price on a popular item and then upsell! Do this through complimentary products or service to the one offered for a discount.
•    Measure-no matter what type of advertising you use it is very important to be able to measure the results. Coupons are the most accurately measurable form of advertising available. It is as simple as knowing how many coupons minus the ones that were returned to the store!

Conclusion
Have you been looking for a way to win back customers you lost to the competition? Do you want to be able to measure the effectiveness of your advertising dollars? Participating with a local coupon magazine or mailer is a great way to accomplish all of the above.