Sadaf VidhaMost people love to avail discount coupons for daily shopping & consumption. Be it taking a cab or ordering a pizza, we love those quirky coupon codes that let us have a good deal. Many a times, the money we save is not that much. But there is a psychological pleasure attached to getting a discount. It’s like knowing an inside story when tipping a negotiation in your favour. Or like a cheat code when playing a video game. It makes us feel like we are somehow different for having been smart enough to know the code and apply it.
However, it can be really irritating if you are given discount coupons which don’t match your taste or need in purchasing. For example, often, with a D2H recharge, I’m given discount coupons for McDonalds and KFC. But the point is, I’m not that big of a fast food junkie. I would have appreciated an amazon coupon that lets me get some discount off the books and stationery I buy.
Research for Discount Coupons
This is not just personal gyaan though. There’s a lot of research to this. Any product has a functional value and a self-expressive value. A functional value is about how you use the product. You may use shoes as footwear when going places. On the other hand, self-expressive value is how the product connects with self-concept. So, if you are someone who likes to be presentable all the time, you may buy shoes that fit both informal as well as formal settings or shoes that instantly look different based on the kind of socks they are paired with.
It turns out that when companies customize their products, it allows for both the functional and the self-expressive value to increase. The same concept applies to discount coupons as well because these are promotional products. If they do not cater to the audience, there really is no point. Customization helps to bring up brand loyalty and advocacy. That is, not only are you likely to buy more of the product, but also tell about it to others.
Amazon does this really well sometimes. If there is a book in my wishlist, they will give me a discount to buy this plus some other books by the same author or in the same genre. Customization makes you feel that the company cares for you. It is a great way to make a connection. Customization also gives you that great insider feeling we spoke of at the beginning of this piece. So, pizza coupons for a 50 year old woman may be a bad idea.
How to Customize?
Customization needs to be done based on demographic mapping, interests and previous browsing or shopping history. So, age, gender, likes and dislikes, what they have shopped before, as well as the range of money they have spent and the stuff in their wishlist as well as the pages they have visited on your website – all this should go into creating a lovely customized experience using one of the many big data mining tools and reports available.
If this is done right, companies can start boosting sales, like this online photo company called Filtergrade, who used coupons to boost their sale by 200%! All it takes is some attention to make the customer feel special.
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