The online retail market has surely replaced physical retail stores. But, is it easy to retain customers online? Not so much. Because of the intense competition in the e-commerce sector, most customers find cheaper and better alternatives with ease, that is, comfort of their homes. They’re not bound anymore and it looks like the market dynamics have taken a paradigm shift towards a more customer-oriented strategy. Providing convenience to customers on all spectrums is essential.

So, how do online retailers retain customers? The key to this is offering discounts. Who doesn’t like that anyways? Even retailers would want their supplies to be cheaper, but of amazing quality. As humans, we are allured towards opportunities that help us save more – or to put it in practical words, smart buyers are attracted to such offers most.

Discounts can be in many forms, coupon codes are one example. But what are they really?

What Are Coupon Codes?

Many businesses launch the holiday marketing campaign and the essence of that campaign is a coupon. A coupon code is a computer generated code that comprises of numbers and letters that help you get a discount on your orders. It’s also called promotional code.

History of Coupon Code

When we talk about history, we always want to know about the first person who came up with a particular idea or thing. Well, in the case of coupon codes, it was Asa Chandler. The Coca-Cola co-owner made the first coupon in 1887 and derived the word coupon from the French word ‘couper’ which means to cut. Asa Chandler used paper tickets to offer free glass of Coca-Cola (new drink) to promote the product.

Moving on towards 1909, C.W. post used one cent coupon to sell breakfast cereals and grape nuts. Thereon in 1930, the use of coupons boosted owing to the financial strain on families caused by the great depression. In 1940, chain supermarkets exploited the idea by offering more coupons to its customers so that they’ll choose them over neighbourhood stores.

Furthermore, in 1957, the Neilsen Clearing House was established as a coupon redemption, resulting in more popularity of these. In 1965, most US households were seen clipping coupons. 1990 was the era that transformed the paper coupons into online, downloadable ones via internet. By 2002, millions of people ended up saving more, either on groceries, shopping and many other areas. So, what’s happening in the recent times? Merchants are able to share coupons to their customers via smart phones, emails, etc. Many offer coupons to make up for a defected product or an unsatisfied customer in order to make them loyal to their business.

Where Can You Get One?

Coupons, today, are readily available on the internet. For big brands like Amazon, Walmart, Lazada and many others, you can even find external websites that offer them. Moreover, there’s variety of coupons available including, coupon for free shipping, for 15% off, etc. You can even find them on the company’s main website on the homepage or in the coupons/sales section.

Besides that, if you are a loyal customer, the company many email you coupon codes too, which you can avail easily at their website to get more discounts on your orders.

What Are The Common Types of Coupon Codes?

Since we’ve already mentioned that there can be variety of coupon codes available on the internet, let’s emphasize on the types more specifically now.

• New Customer Coupons – These are usually offers to a new customer who is placing order for the first time. Usually they get the coupon code after signing up. The alphabets or numbers may be like, WELCOME or WELCOME10.
• Event Based Coupons – These may be offers to customers around the holiday season like Christmas, Halloween, or sports events. Typically the alphabets or numbers are like, FOOTBALL, HALLOWEEN10, etc.
• Popular Days Coupons – These are the most common and popular ones. They are offered around the popular days and examples may include that of cyber Monday, black Friday, St. Patrick’s Day, etc.
• Seasonal Coupons – We all know about the end of season sales, fall sale, winter sale or summer clearance sales. They’re very popular and quite hyped upon by many customers.
• Saving Coupons – This may be offered unannounced by any company. This may be a part of their sales strategy, therefore can be offered at any time of the year. In such coupons, you get a percentage off on your order/ particular product. This can vary from 10-75% or even more at times. For example, SAVE50.
• We Are Sorry Coupon – These are mostly offered by fashion and food companies, but are likely to be offered by others too. This is a great way to retain customers and to make it up to them for, for example, an unsatisfying meal, rotten vegetables, ripped shirt, etc. Sometimes, the company compensates by giving you a coupon of full worth of the product that you had ordered and sometimes of half the price.

Concluding Note:

To wrap it all up, we can safely say that coupons are a great way to maintain effective relationship with your customer. Whether you’re on good terms with them or not, a coupon code is sure to put a smile on their face and make them happy shoppers which in turn, affects your profitability. So, it’s a win-win situation for both of you. Since the digitalized coupons are easier to be advertised and provided to customers, more businesses are seen offering these pretty often.