Sales Promotion is the process of giving any kind of incentives to consumers, sales staff and to traders in order to increase the sales volume for a short period of time. This is one of the commonly used marketing communication tools. The main intention of doing Sales Promotion is to push more product and services into the market. And it is important to understand that this is a strategy to boost sales for a short time period.
Sales Promotion can be either monetary or non-monetary. Price discounts and reduction, sales incentives are some common monetary Sales Promotions. When it comes to non-monetary Sales Promotions, gifts, extra volume, free samples, are some common practices. Basically, there are two branches of Sales Promotion. Organizations use both of the branches at the same time to achieve their marketing communication objectives within a short time period.
Consumer-oriented Sales Promotion
Here, organizations do Sales Promotion directly focusing on consumers. This kind of promotion tools help to develop the brand image, increase consumer loyalty, retain current consumers and it would help to increase the quickly of sales. There are several tools to do consumer-oriented Sales Promotion. Those are,
- Price deals and discounts
- Vouchers
- Gifts
- Coupons
- Free samples
- Bulk promotions and bonus pack deals.
- Getting Shelves
- Eye-catching positioning and shelves displays
- Contests
- Buy one get one free deal
- Loyalty deals
Most of these activities are done to attract consumers and to increase the impulsive buying behaviour of consumers. When doing consumer-oriented Sales Promotion, marketers try to highlight their incentive or discount. Because they want to attract as many customers as possible and retain them. Marketers try to satisfy their needs by doing a different thing. That gives a great competitive advantage. For an example, a mug is given as a gift attached to the main product. Whenever consumers use that mug, the product comes to their mind and the product or the brand is established in their minds.
Trade oriented Sales Promotion
Here, marketers try to reach consumers through traders such as distributors, wholesalers, and retailers. Organizations believe if the above parties get satisfied then it will lead to satisfying the customers. Nowadays organizations try to do trade-oriented Sales Promotion by making partnerships with distributors, wholesalers, and retailers. So organizations give attractive promotions to retain their partnerships with the sellers. Otherwise, a competitor will immediately offer their promotional package to the sellers. Listed are some trade-oriented Sales Promotion tools.
- Trade allowances
- Contests
- Point of purchase displays,
- Training programs,
- Give discounts to retailers and stores
- Return back allowances
- Merchandising assets
- Free goods or free tours
In any industry, traders play a major role in supplying products and creating demand. That means traders can establish or decline a brand or a product. It is the traders who provide the product to customers. They offer the product which they get the best promotional offer. Therefore it is important to maintain good relationships with traders through Sales Promotions.
Why Sales Promotions?
- Boost sales in a short time period
- Retains existing customers
- Attract new customers
- Increase customer loyalty
- Market penetration and new market capturing
- Satisfies both consumers and traders
