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One of the simple and smart ways of engaging your customers is through sales and discounts. Wondering whether it would work for the shopaholics, casual and need based customers equally? Put yourself in the customers’ shoes and think about it, would you not develop association with a brand that always has exciting discount deals on desirable products?

Sales/Discounts traditionally were and still are the most promising and effective marketing technique. Here are a few suggestions to make these even more worthwhile for increasing customer loyalty.

Membership Cards and Special Discounts

Membership cards are a great way to make your customers feel privileged. The purpose of membership cards should not be merely to provide bonus points to the customers but you should use this to develop a brand – customer relationship. Regular customers should be given special discounts on every purchase, this would help you strengthen your bond with them and you are more likely to get “new customers” referred by the loyal ones. People like to recommend those brands to their friends and loved ones that have “a lot” to offer them. Research by Nielson reveals that “84% of consumers say they either completely or somewhat trust recommendations from family and friends about products – making these recommendations the information source ranked highest for trustworthiness.”

Brand Loyalty and Customer Care

Brand loyalty is directly proportional to premium Customer Care Services. Give more to your customers and they will stick with you. Most brands offer seasonal sales, so surprise your customers and announce a three day or one week sale every once in a while. You can give exclusive discounts on your anniversary celebrations or new outlet’s opening. Up to 20% or 30% off on relatively new products would make your customers happier than ever. Do segmentation of your audience and then define your customer reward plans, this is likely to get you instant results for branding.

Discounts Create an Arena of Competition

Competing businesses always want to outperform each other when it comes to marketing and sales strategies. If one brand announces a sale or discount deals, most of the other contemporary brands have to offer their customers extra perks to retain them. So the customers get an array of choices that way with many brands offering amazing sales and discounts. It works well for the brands as well, since they are able to generate more revenue through exclusive offerings, as “Mega Sale” lures impulsive and wandering customers.

Tips to Make Discounts More Customer Engaging

According to the statistics, loyal customers are only 20 percent of the customer base but they contribute around 50 percent to the earnings of a business. Sales/discounts can be made more engaging for the customers to earn their trust; first tip is to make a list of regular customers and offer them loyalty cards with considerable bonus points. Send a text message and e-mail to every customer a couple of days before the sale. If a regular customer runs out of bonus points on the membership card, be flexible enough to bend the rules. Going out of the way to facilitate your customers would definitely earn you brand loyalty.

Case in Perspective

“Mango” is an affordable trendy clothing and accessories brand that has outlets across 140 countries. This fashion retailer offers its customers special sales and discounts throughout the year. In countries where the brand was comparatively new; frequent enticing discount deals earned it popularity since it was quite surprising for the first time shoppers to have such fabulous fashion wear within a reasonable price range. “Mango” is retaining its customers because of terrific quality products and exceptional customer service (that includes) providing likable discount offerings.

Do you have any interesting ideas for offering sales and discounts to retain more customers? Feel free to share your thoughts with us!