20 Creative Local Business Incentives to Offer Instead of Gift Cards
From discussions on the same at RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com, offers and incentives can be a great tool for your small business, as they both attract new customers and retain existing ones. Offers and incentives stimulate repeat purchases from existing customers and attract a new set of loyal customers which in the long run is highly beneficial. If gift cards are no longer working for you and are looking for better incentives, here are 20 creative local business incentives to offer your customers instead of gift cards.
Buy one, get one free
This is a tried and tested offer that any local business can’t go wrong with according to RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com. This offer is best used for low-cost products rather than goods and services offered by large companies, hence why it is great for local businesses. It has been shown that the “buy one, get one free” offer works far better than the “50% off” offer.
Competitions
Competitions are highly successful when promoting high-priced products and services because the higher the incentive the more people will enter the competition. For example, a lot of travel companies offer the winner a free holiday. You don’t have to go this big, but a big incentive will make the competition more successful.
Free delivery
If your local business provides a delivery service, then the free delivery incentive is worth trying as per RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com. It is particularly useful for fast food businesses. It is also becoming more and more popular on e-commerce websites and if you have an online store, then this is an incentive worth considering.
10% off discount
The “10% off discount” offer is particularly potent when selling a product that has gone stale or the market for that product is in decline or has flatlined. It is also good to offer this offer depending on the demographic, for example, companies that offer student discounts because they tend to have less disposable income.
Loyalty cards
Instead of gift cards, why not consider offering your customers loyalty cards, which have been hugely successful over the past 10 years with the increase of fast food chains and low-cost restaurants. If you are in these verticals, you can use loyalty cards to your advantage.
Free Workshops
Free workshops are good for businesses that provide training on their products as articulated at RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com. Generously helping your clients with free workshops will help forge strong relationships with them and you will be able to keep them as long-term clients for your local business.
Student discounts
As already mentioned, student discounts have been used successfully for years now and they are particularly good for high street brands which students see as ‘in fashion’. Many clothing, fast food, restaurants, social businesses like cinema companies, and online stores and businesses offer student discounts of around 5% to 20% to attract one of the highest spending demographics out there.
Free ‘X’ if you buy before ‘Y’
This is a great offer that local businesses can use as it creates a sense of urgency and may help bring in more customers as captured at RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com. It can be great for businesses like gyms or other monthly paid membership businesses.
Free trials/try before you buy
This offer is often used because the customer doesn’t truly trust the product or understand it, therefore, the company offers them a trial period to see the benefits of having it so they buy the product at a later date. While this is an incentive that is synonymous with companies that offer software for computers and other technology, it also works very well for food and drink products – trying a free sample often leads to a purchase.
Free ‘X’ when you buy ‘Y’
This is another great incentive that a local business can use instead of gift cards. It has been used by car companies successfully for years, as most companies now offer a free year’s insurance with every car purchase. This offer can be a great way to get new customers or steal customers from the competition because they feel that what you are offering is more valuable to them.
Loyalty points
Not to be confused with loyalty cards, loyalty points are great for stimulating repeat purchases as covered at RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com. Tesco paved the way for this offer to become successful, and since then, other retailers have introduced a points reward system.
Random rewards
Random rewards are great for keeping your customers happy. Most companies make the error of putting all their efforts into getting new customers and ignoring the ones they currently have that are spending right now. This incentive will help make your existing customers feel valued and the better the reward, the more valuable your customers will consider your products or services.
Cashback
As described at RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com, many companies now offer cashback as an incentive for customers to shop in their business. This offer can be a great motivator for a customer to shop with you rather than with competitors.
Package deals
You can also bundle a group of products or services into a ‘package’ to get people to spend more than they would otherwise. A great example of how to use this incentive is food outlets that sell packaged ‘meal deals’, in which customers can buy a sandwich and get a drink and a bag of chips for free.
Provide a guarantee
If you are offering high-priced products or services, then this incentive can be great for you. High-priced goods have a higher margin of loss for a customer if the product is faulty and, therefore, most tend to be a bit more careful when choosing products like laptops, tablets, mobile phones, washing machines, etc. If your business provides a guarantee, the customer is more likely to be persuaded to buy because they know they have that safety net.
Better payment terms
If you offer your customers better payments terms, such as spreading the payment over a period of, say, a year, can be a great incentive to choose your business over competitors as discussed at RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com. Additionally, for business-to-business products or services, you could offer terms such as pay on delivery, pay on results, or pay on completion.
Free initial report or consultation
This is another incentive to consider instead of gift cards. This one will help make your customers feel comfortable with your services, as once they work with you for an hour or so, their fears about whether you know your stuff and whether they would be able to get on with you will be laid to rest.
Price match
Because of the current economic climate, businesses that have adopted this offer have had great success as outlined at RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com. It basically persuades customers because the company says, ’if you find the same product cheaper anywhere, we will pay the difference’. Businesses that sell low-priced goods can often use this incentive because there aren’t many businesses out there that can beat them for price.
Bonuses
Another alternative to gift cards that local businesses can use to incentivize customers is bonuses. Bonuses can be applied to the sum of money you have spent. For example, for every dollar spent, you get a bonus of one dollar, which can then be applied towards your purchase as a discount.
Free upgrades
Free upgrades work well for brands that sell software, program, and application subscriptions. Offering free upgrades is great as it shows potential customers that they won’t have to pay additional fees to get upgrades, which will incentivize them to choose you over competitors.
These are some of the creative local business incentives to offer instead of gift cards, with more on this topic, and much more, to be found over at RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com.