Consumer sales promotions encompass a variety of short-term promotional techniques designed to induce customers to respond in some way. The most popular consumer sales promotions are directly associated with product purchasing. These promotions are intended to enhance the value of a product purchase by either reducing the overall cost of the product (i.e., get same product but for less money) or by adding more benefit to the regular purchase price (i.e., get more for the money).
While tying a promotion to an immediate purchase is a major use of consumer sales promotion, it is not the only one. As we noted above, promotion techniques can be used to achieve other objectives such as building brand loyalty or creating product awareness. Consequently, a marketer’s promotional toolbox contains a large variety of consumer promotions.
Next we discuss the following 11 types of consumer sales promotions:
- Coupons
- Rebates
- Promotional Pricing
- Trade-In
- Loyalty Programs
- Sampling and Free Trials
- Free Product
- Premiums
- Contests and Sweepstakes
- Demonstrations
- Personal Appearances
