Why Your Small Business Should Offer Customers Vouchers

You’re a small business and may think you’re too small to offer your customers vouchers – well think again, now is the perfect Time to incentivise your customers this way.

So why should your small business consider offering vouchers to customers? In this post, we present reasons for using them during the pandemic and the months ahead, which are predicted to more challenging than usual.

The Humble Voucher

We call it the humble voucher as it’s been part of the marketing mix for years and it still works even with all the competition from other sales initiatives.

Vouchers or coupons typically use sales lines like “buy one, get one free“, “50% off“, “second item half-price” and while these captions may seem overused they still work with the consumer.

Could handing out a few vouchers really help your small business to build up the sustained custom it needs?

Yes, as mentioned earlier coupons or vouchers are a known entity with the consumer and they’re attracted to businesses using them. Here are a few reasons why, done in the right way, offering vouchers can undoubtedly help your business attract new customers and turn them into returning clients who regularly buy from your company.

Vouchers can help you to attract new custom

In a survey mentioned by smallbusiness.co.uk, 86% of UK consumers said that a voucher could tempt them into sampling what a business has to offer even if they usually buy from another provider. During tough trading times, we’re all looking to get the best deal we can on everything we need to purchase. Why pay more than you need to? Build up your new customer base with the first Time buy discount or special promotion. You can do this with your eCommerce store just as well as you a walk-in customer.

A voucher can serve as compensation

Naturally, you would like to think that you would never upset a customer enough to need to compensate them, whether for legal or practical reasons. However, it can still happen – and, when it does, you could offer that customer vouchers, perhaps for money off a future purchase or delivery.

That voucher should be offered in addition to what your company would be legally required to provide as compensation to the disgruntled customer anyway, Marketing Donut advises.

Buy-now-redeem-later vouchers can account for economical turmoil

The COVID crisis has wreaked economic havoc on various industries, to the extent where many of your target customers probably now have much less disposable income. Workers have been furloughed for weeks on end with 75 – 80 per cent of their usual wage. Rather than lose their custom, you can protect the future of your business through recognising their financial position with different purchasing incentives, for example, a redeemable voucher on their next purchase.

Plus advice from Business Matters suggests the buy now pay later payment schemes which can be also be managed with vouchers.

Offer printed or digital vouchers

While distributing print vouchers is one option, offering coupons digitally is an attractive and versatile option. With the voucher displaying on mobile devices, you can provide on-screen vouchers ready to be redeemed at brick-and-mortar outlets in the recipient’s local area, what a way to grow your business!

Digital technology lets you target customers not just by their location but also on account of their demographic, allowing you to inject new flexibility into your marketing campaigns.

However, print vouchers still have their place too, as older folk prefer them. With the first voucher offered in 1887, according to Time’s article, it’s a tried and tested sales strategy that continues to work.

If you see your business printing vouchers regularly you could look into buying slitters, cutters or creasers – or even a machine that is mainly all three in one – for keeping in your office. With such equipment, you could create perforated vouchers as well as various other printed materials.