Running a business is a two-way deal. Both the customers and the business owners must benefit from the company’s existence or the company will not survive. One element crucial to the function of a business is advertising, specifically, advertising with offers that benefit both the customer and the business owner.
One key in creating these mutually-beneficial offers is knowing your customer. When the business owner knows the audience whom he or she is trying to reach, the audience feels validated and the owner succeeds in effectively reaching his or her intended audience. However, different offers tend to appeal to different audiences.
According to a study done by the AMG Shopper Panel, “buy one get one free” offers are preferred among 66 percent of those who consider themselves frequent shoppers. When the “buy one get one free” deal is advertised, customers naturally focus on what they are getting free, not on what they have to pay for in order to receive the free offer. As customers are introduced to the business through the “buy one get one free” offer, they are likely to re-visit the business later because of the positive experience they associate with the free offer they received upon their initial visit. This benefits both the business and the customer, offering positive experiences for each.
The AMG Shopper Panel also found that a price discount off of one item was preferred second to the “buy one get one free” offer among frequent shoppers. Seventeen percent of shoppers said they would prefer this deal to any other when offered a variety of coupons to their favorite businesses. Studies have shown that customers tend to stock up on items that are discounted, ultimately saving money in the long-run but spending more money than they may have intended during that particular shopping trip. Business owners see these stock-ups as an increase in revenue for their company and some continually offer everyday discounted items to allow this type of shopping on an everyday basis.
While it is no secret that both business owners and customers are each looking for the best deal, it is important to remember that one cannot succeed without the other. Offers like “buy one get one free” and “30 percent off your entire purchase” have been around for decades and will continue to surface and resurface as businesses and customers build one another.
