Legacy Promotions

Sometimes, businesses have ongoing, legacy promotions. The ones they (think they) can’t do away with because their customers may revolt.

They may get upset, but they won’t revolt. (Really. They won’t. As long as you follow the timing of the offer…)

Even if you bought a former owner’s business, who used to offer great deals, doesn’t mean you have to keep them. You might want to evaluate them carefully before you discontinue something that brought in customers though.

But, be critical. Be honest. Be aware of redemption rates and whether or not you are covering expenses.

Think about it…

  • How long can Bed Bath and Beyond keep up their 20% off mailers? Probably not forever…but maybe as long as they are still in business.
  • If 1 egg, 1 slice of bacon and toast is $2 but costs $3 to make, then maybe it is time to rethink that pricing offer.
  • $2 for $5 twelve packs of soda were awesome, until even the grocery store had to raise the retail on a single fridge-pack to $4.99 and now that deal is long, long, long gone (even as a destination driver with rebates on the back end.)
  • Can we say the $1 menu? I think they are up to 3 for $5 but I don’t track them too closely…that’s the last I recall hearing on the radio, but I may be mistaken.
  • A BOGO offer on a low margin item, one that used to have high margin until costs went up due to a lack of supply availability…that deal probably has to change, too.

Any time a business is built on offers that became legacy promotions still has to adapt and grow and change to stay with the times, the costs, the overhead and the expense. Stick it out as long as you can, but then make the move, rethink the positioning and offer something new and exciting. Leverage the signs that say “limited time offer” and “see store for details”. Don’t lose money and put yourself out of business trying to honor prior offers. On the other hand…Gift Cards…Now, those should never be worth less than the money it cost to buy one (at least as long as you are not counting inflation.) Gift cards, especially those offered and sold by a bank to give to your child on their summer trip, should be worth face value until redeemed.

~ Dawn aka Hat Girl

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Riddle me this... * Time limit is exhausted. Please reload the CAPTCHA.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.