Promotions and sales: 33 ideas on how to attract buyers

You will be surprised: sometimes the buyer is even ready... to undress in order to get the desired product. But seriously, you shouldn’t limit yourself to the typical “let’s make a discount and hand out flyers.” There are many options for promotions, even with discounts you can come up with something unusual - and effective.

researched

hypermarket

13. "It's Now or Never"

14. “Motivated” discount

Promotion in the Calipso store.

Present

Promotion in the jewelry salon

19. For the future

supermarket

Half a liter of blood for an iPhone.

"Silpo" and Stikeez monsters

Promotion at the Olvy gas station.

33. Original shares

There are many ways to attract customers' attention - discounts, gifts, free samples and much more, but marketers never cease to generate new ideas and surprise consumers. We studied the experience of retailers from different areas and compiled a list of trade marketing campaigns that work.

Discounts in online and offline retail

In mid-2016, marketing company Nielsen studied the impact of promotions on consumer choice in grocery supermarkets. The results are impressive. Thus, 51% of 1,000 respondents confirmed that their interest in discounted products has increased over the year. Reducing prices is the most common way to attract the attention of store visitors to specific products. However, discounts are different from discounts. Along with traditional seasonal sales, quite creative promotional solutions are found in Russian and foreign retail.

Promotions are often found in fashion retail. Allows you not only to increase sales, but also to sell stale goods, receive funds and free up space in the warehouse for new arrivals. Larger events are also called “warehouse liquidations.” The mechanism works well - people are ready to buy things from last year's collections at a discount.

Liquidation in a baby supply store.

This model is used not only by retailers, but also by representatives of the restaurant business. On certain days and times in the store there are big discounts for a specific product or category. The hours are usually known in advance.

However, the St. Petersburg store household appliances Simtex took a different route. Customers were informed in advance that there would be happy hours and a 30% discount on Italian household appliances on Friday. But the time changed every week. For the third time, the shops were in a rush from early morning. Marketers coped with the task of attracting customers to inconveniently located retail outlets.

This model is used when you need to attract the attention of a specific audience segment. There are a lot of options - discounts for mothers with children, owners of Maltese shepherds, pensioners, etc. There are also more creative options - a promotion for visitors in white or shoppers with green handbags.

“Family” event at Pyaterochka.

This mechanism is often used by fashion retailers. Girls love to go shopping in a group, so the marketing campaign “bring a friend and get a discount” is in demand, and the discount depends on the number of attracted buyers - 5% for one, 10% for two, 15% for three, and so on. Another type of such promotion is discounts for new visitors - a regular customer gives a coupon to a friend.

Multi-Pass Refer a Friend Promotion - Possibly Too Complex to Complete

This is how Alfa-Bank in Belarus attracts clients.

The store makes attractive offers to specific customers. For example, birthday people receive a discount on a cake or other holiday items. The large Lenta hypermarket went even further. Personal offers are formed based on an analysis of your purchase history. The client receives information about discounts on products of interest to him by mail or in an email newsletter.

50% discounts on your favorite products in Lenta.

The promotion is more typical for online retail. Orders begin to be accepted when the product is not yet in stock. To encourage customers to make an advance payment, the store reduces the pre-order price.

Discount for pre-ordering RRD equipment.

The buyer is active - puts likes, subscribes to groups on social networks or e-mail newsletters, writes reviews - and receives a lucrative offer. Such actions pursue several goals at once. They stimulate sales and increase loyalty target audience, increase the subscriber base or community in in social networks.

200 rub. to buy underwear in a couple of clicks on social networks.

One of the options is special offers for those who have spent a certain amount in the store one-time or over time. In the latter case, the buyer is asked to keep the receipts or is given special card, on which the seller places marks for each purchase. The client receives a large one-time discount or bonus card. The percentage on it can increase as milestones are passed - 5% for purchases of 5,000 rubles, 7% for 10,000 rubles. and so on.

More purchases - more discount.

The goal of the event is to increase loyalty and increase the average check amount. Also used to sell slow-moving goods. An example of such an advertising campaign in shoe and accessory stores is a discount on a handbag when buying a pair of shoes from the same collection, in a supermarket - a discount on nuts when buying a pack of beer.

Accessories for smartphones and tablets at a discount.

This model is often used by grocery retailers. Every day the store has a discount on a certain category of goods. To attract the attention of the audience they come up with creative names- “Fruit Tuesday” or “Meat Friday”.

Discounts on meat in the BIGZZ chain, Minsk.

Such a promotion - good way get rid of stale goods or draw attention to new ones. To help customers better navigate, promotional products are marked. You can use bright stickers or price tags of the appropriate color.

Minus 30% on goods with a “red” price tag.

13. "It's Now or Never"

This technique is used by online retailers to combat cart abandonment. The visitor walks through the pages, selects products, but never completes the order. After some time, you will receive an email with a discount on the models added to your cart.

The buyer will receive a 5% discount and free shipping if they return and place an order.

But MYTH does not reduce prices, but presses the buyer with a fragment of the book:

Additional free chapter - good incentive buy the whole book.

14. “Motivated” discount

To earn a bonus, the buyer must complete certain actions. People go to such crazy lengths for profit. Thus, in the Moscow underwater equipment store Diskus, customers were asked to lower their heads into an aquarium. The size of the discount depended on the time a person could spend underwater while holding his breath. There have always been people who want to test their strength - people value more what they get for a reason. And discounts for which they had to work hard are used more willingly.

People are gambling, they like to play and win. Buyers positively perceive promotions in supermarkets with lottery elements. For example, when making a purchase, an arbitrary discount appears on the receipt. The size can range from 5% to 50%.

Random discounts on embroidery kits.

An original solution was found in a shoe store - the discount amount was tied to the size of the customers' feet. Another example is a marketing campaign in a sports equipment store. The buyer had to bring an old bicycle. He was weighed on the spot, discount on new inventory as a percentage equal to the weight of the old one in kilograms.

Promotion in the Calipso store.

Here’s another solution: “Sell in your old clothes and get a discount”:

Reducing prices is the most common, but far from the only way to attract visitors to the store and motivate them to buy more. This mechanism is good to use when, along with increasing sales, the goal is to get rid of certain products. However, you can increase the average bill and audience loyalty without reducing prices.

Present

Even more than buying a deal, people love getting things for free. Retailers actively take advantage of this, coming up with different mechanics with gifts. Consumers' attention is attracted by both truly valuable goods and pleasant little things. The effectiveness of marketing campaigns can also be affected by the original presentation.

One of the most common mechanics. When purchasing a product of a certain category, the client receives a second one as a gift. These may be identical products - a common “two for the price of one” promotion. Also, related products or consumables are often offered as a gift to the main item. There are also completely original combinations - vodka and Borjomi, Raffaello and condoms, etc.

Promotion in the home textile salon.

This option is not suitable for every store. But it works great in jewelry stores, where sales directly depend on the number of fittings. One of the stores managed to survive the crisis and increase sales by offering pearl jewelry for each fitting. Their cost is low, and due to increased sales, the campaign more than paid for itself.

Promotion in the jewelry salon

19. For the future

Sometimes a gift to a random visitor can increase sales if you need to take care of the free product and buy consumables. A pet store decided to conduct an unusual marketing campaign. The owner invited students from a nearby school on a tour. At the end, everyone received a free small fish. After some time, the parents came for aquariums, equipment and food. The cost of these animals is low, but related products are quite expensive.

We are talking about joint actions of companies from different fields. A good example is the Seventh Continent supermarket and the Sunlight jewelry salon. When purchasing products for a certain amount, the client receives a certificate for jewelry. The promotion usually involves cute trinkets - pendants or beads for Pandora bracelets.

Joint action of Pyaterochka and Sunlight.

Such promotions are usually carried out by manufacturers, but retailers also often use this mechanic. So, in one jewelry store they played a game among buyers. expensive gifts- cars, apartments and travel. An even more creative idea came to the minds of marketers at the Ukrainian store Citrus. They gave away a limited edition red iPhone 7 to blood donors. During the promotion period, in several centers each donor was given something like lottery ticket.

Half a liter of blood for an iPhone.

Marketing events with gifts are good to launch when opening a new outlet to attract customers. Good example promotions were shown by marketers of the Svyaznoy salon. Employees scattered “lost” wallets with an invitation to come to the opening of a new store and exchange their finds for a gift - a T-shirt with the inscription “The most honest resident of the city.”

In honor of the opening, Bookvoyed is exchanging balloons for books.

Marketers actively use techniques from computer games- achievements, awards, leaderboards, statuses and others. In grocery retail chains, customers are offered to collect toys. A collection of characters is created, an album or a box with slots for each figure is sold separately. There are plenty of examples from real practice - the Ukrainian network "Silpo" and the monsters Stikeez, the Russian "Dixie" with their "stickies" and "Magnit" with toys and tokens from Star Wars. The essence is always the same - in order to get or buy a figurine for a song for a collection, you must first purchase for a certain amount - 500-1000 rubles. Thus, the promotion significantly increases the average check, and at the same time increases the loyalty of the target audience - people like to play and share their successes on social networks.

« star Wars» on the Magnit network.

Buyers are invited to collect a certain number of items and exchange them for valuable prizes. Chain hypermarkets give away sets of knives, frying pans and other useful household items of good quality. A sticker is issued for every purchase of 50, 100 or 200 rubles. Thanks to the promotion, collectors come to make purchases at specific stores and collect more items in order to quickly receive a prize.

Coupon for chips in the “Professional's Choice” cosmetics store.

Promotion scenarios are limited only by the imagination of marketers and business owners. The main thing is to offer customers what they need, or to involve them in interesting game with elements of competition.

Marketing activities pursue different goals - to increase sales, attract buyers to new shop or attention to a new product, increase reach or loyalty. All previous examples directly or indirectly help solve all problems. In this section we will talk about promotions that are mainly aimed at increasing the average check.

This is how they motivate to spend more on the Zaodno network.

This model is most typical for online stores. The promotion is limited to the order amount - at least 1000-3000 rubles. Many people prefer to put an extra and not very necessary product in the cart rather than throw away 300-500 rubles. to the wind.

After trying a new product or drink, a visitor may buy something that was not originally planned. The mechanics are used by market traders and watermelon sellers - after tasting a refreshing delicacy on a hot day, it is impossible to pass by without buying.

Honey tasting at the BeeHappy store

People like to feel like they are part of a big and useful cause, so the inscriptions “By buying this product, you are helping children” or “I love nature” work. Certainly, charity project should exist not only in promotional materials.

"Panda card" in the "M-video" store.

In grocery retail you can often find products that sell no more than 2-4 pieces per person. Miraculously, a line grows at the counter where it was previously empty. The fear of not being on time, of missing out on something important, works to the advantage of marketers. Even those who don’t need the product at all are in a hurry to pick up their portion of the “exclusive”.

Promotion in the Novosibirsk Holiday store.

This model is used to increase the average check. Customers are offered a set of related products, such as tea and sugar or gin and tonic. The point is that buying a set is more profitable than buying each product separately. However, kits are chosen even by those who need one thing, thereby leaving more money at the register.

Each item in a set is cheaper.

There are other strategies to increase the average check, the simplest of which is to increase prices. However, in this case, some buyers may go to competitors to save money.

Promotions to attract attention to the brand and increase loyalty

Creating a buzz around the store means attracting customers and almost guaranteed to increase sales. In the struggle for the attention of the audience, companies take risky steps, sometimes on the verge of a foul. But such events always bring results, and the winners are not judged.

Some stores invite customers to do crazy things for gifts and discounts. One of the varieties of such promotions is the strip game. The pioneer in this matter was Euroset, which 10 years ago gave phones to those who came to the salon naked. However, most retailers do not resort to such radical options. So, in 2016, at the OLVI gas station they gave a full tank of gasoline to everyone who came to refuel in a bikini and heels. The conditions were the same for everyone without exception.

Promotion at the Olvy gas station.

Similar promotions were carried out by fashion retailers in different cities and countries. Of course, one can argue about loyalty here, but the marketers of these companies clearly coped with the task of attracting attention and creating excitement.

Promotion in one of the shoe stores in Grodno.

This mechanism is often used by hardware stores. In exchange for an old washing machine or refrigerator, the buyer receives a new one with an additional payment. The additional payment is usually 10-30% less than the normal cost of the equipment, and the store increases sales and receives working spare parts. HM also carried out a similar promotion - in exchange for a package of old clothes, the visitor received a small discount on new ones.

Exchange old for new in MediaMarkt.

A prize received in a fair fight brings more joy than a regular gift. People are ready to compete for simple titles and ratings, but they can do a lot for a discount or a prize. Social networks provide great opportunities for pranks. Repost competitions attract attention to the brand, increase reach of the target audience and increase loyalty.

Another common model is sweepstakes using special hashtags, including creative ones. You can also use this tool offline. So, grocery supermarket organized a competition for speed - the winner was the one who set time I added more items to my cart and ran to the checkout. The lucky winner took everything for free, the rest of the participants received a discount. Another example of chasing a gift is a promotion at a sports equipment store. Buyers had to choose any product and run to the checkout in a minute. A plumbing store organized a photo competition for wet T-shirts for its customers. We took pictures on the spot, the winner got a shower.

Creative competition in a fabric store.

33. Original shares

Unusually decorated advertising campaigns attract attention and are remembered, and a coupon for your next purchase becomes a reason to visit the store again. On New Year's Eve, the children's supermarket launched the “Compliments and Wishes” campaign. At the checkout, customers pulled out a beautifully designed scroll with wishes and a coupon for a gift or discount. Customers liked the event so much that the store began repeating it before every holiday.

This is far from full list ideas that will attract visitors to the store and increase sales. In every area of ​​retail, you can come up with a dozen more creative actions. To increase response, reach and achieve better results, it is worth combining offline and online tools, constantly analyzing the reaction and needs of the target audience. And careful calculation of marketing campaigns will help you not to go into the red.

trade marketing, marketing campaign https://www.site Promotions and sales: 33 ideas on how to attract buyershttps://www.site/articles/143779/ 2019-02-18 2019-02-18

Setting a price is a decision that depends on the chosen marketing pricing strategy. Marketing pricing tactics involve the use of discounts

Discount is the amount by which the price is reduced and, at the same time, the amount by which the seller subsidizes the buyer to stimulate sales

Tactical decisions related to adjusting the base price through the use of discounts depend on the type of discount. The following types of discounts are distinguished:

1 functional (trade) discounts - discounts provided to a trading company for performing the functions of sales, storage, accounting, promotion

2. Dealer discounts - discounts provided to sales intermediaries to cover costs and ensure profit.

3. Progressive discounts - discounts that are established in case of a certain volume of purchases

4. "Skonto" discounts - discounts provided for paying for goods in cash or for early payments. Standard discount "discount": "2/10, net 30" This means that the goods must be paid within 30 days, but the buyer will pay 2% less if he pays within 10 days, if he pays within 10 days.

5. Quantity discounts - discounts provided for the purchase of a certain number of goods

6 bonus discounts - discounts provided to regular customers for a certain volume of purchases over a certain period of time, usually a year. In this case, a certain scale of discounts is established

7. Discounts to encourage sales of new products - discounts provided to intermediaries if they take on new products for sale, the promotion of which requires additional costs

8. Special discounts - discounts that are established for regular and exclusive customers in which the seller is interested

9. Export discounts - discounts that are provided to foreign buyers in addition to those discounts that apply in the domestic market

10 club discounts - discounts provided to members of discount clubs for the purchase of goods

11. Preferential discounts - discounts that are established to stimulate preferential categories buyers or promotion of sales of certain types of goods

12. Promotional discounts - discounts that are established during promotions

13. Holiday discounts - discounts that are established on the occasion of a holiday

14. Seasonal discounts - discounts that are established for purchasing goods during periods of lack of demand. Can be pre-season and post-season

15. Trade-in discounts (goods exchange offset) - discounts that are established on a new product in the event of a return of a similar old product

16. Hidden discounts- discounts that are set in the form free services or a certain number of free samples

17. Closed (transfer) discounts - discounts that are established in intra-production cooperation of an enterprise

18. Discounts on bargaining - discounts that are established at the final stage of price negotiation

19. Final discounts - discounts that are set for the last batch (unit) of goods

20 complex discounts - discounts that provide for the simultaneous establishment of several types of discounts

21. Negative discounts - price premiums established for a small batch of goods, more high level quality of goods, urgent delivery, delivery directly to the place of use, etc.

Control questions

1 we present and characterize the main elements of the price

2. What is the essence of the concepts “price composition” and “price structure”?

3. How does the price structure differ depending on the length of the distribution channel?

4. Name the characteristics of price classification

5. What types of prices are distinguished based on the “nature of service turnover”?

6. What is the difference between market prices with horizontal fixation of market prices and vertical fixation?

7. Specify the difference between regulated, fixed and parity prices

8. Describe the “E” terms in the system of international trade terms. Inkotnerms

9. Is the use of discounts a strategic or tactical pricing decision?

ON THE. Abramova General Director of TH "Alfa-Service"
Magazine “Planning and Economic Department”, No. 3 for 2011

New Year, February 23, March 8... During the holidays, the number of customers in stores increases. And so that everyone leaves the store happy and with a lot of purchases, you can unobtrusively push him towards these very purchases. The main thing is to correctly calculate the size and duration of discounts in order to cover momentary losses by increasing sales volume. The seller’s hesitation is always understandable: excessive extravagance, without leading to a noticeable increase in sales, guarantees a decrease in profits; excessive caution, especially during the holidays, will lead to an outflow of customers and a decrease in sales volumes. How can we find a middle ground that will allow us, sellers, to make a profit, not lose customers, and increase sales? Let's figure it out.

If you ask sellers for what purpose they provide discounts, you can hear different answers:

• Everyone gives discounts, and so do I. Buyers are not interested in goods if there are no discounts on them;
• if the buyer doubts whether to purchase a product or not, then the simplest and effective way persuade him - provide a discount;
• market prices for the same categories of goods are approximately the same. To attract a buyer, you need to offer a discount.

First, let's look at the times when discounts are ineffective and don't live up to expectations. The first mistake of the seller is that he did not calculate the economic efficiency of the discount provided, did not estimate how much the turnover should increase in order for the discount to pay off and income not to fall. A small calculation (below we will see how to do it correctly) will show that a 5% discount requires an increase in turnover of at least 30%, and this is a significant increase.

You won't surprise anyone with discounts now. And sellers often do not take into account that many buyers believe that sellers first put the product up for sale at an inflated price, and two weeks later they put up a discount label and began selling the product at the “correct” price. To be honest, sellers often do this. Therefore, before buying an expensive durable product, such as a refrigerator or a car, buyers will visit several stores, search for information on the Internet, and only then make a choice in favor of one store or another. And the main element of choice for the majority will be the final price and quality of the product, warranty periods for the product, but no discount provided.

For your information. Human psychology is structured in such a way that the first noticeable and significant number for them is 15%. Whether their salary was increased, whether they were given a discount, or the price of gasoline was raised - most people will pay attention to this only if the size of the change exceeds 15%. Therefore, discounts of 5 or even 10% will not add noticeable attention to the product. And vice versa, if the buyer likes the product, he will buy it without a discount.

For any buyer, the value is the product itself, the purchase of the right to own it, and not its cost. Price targeting begins where there is a lack of information about the product itself, or where the market is oversaturated with goods in one category. After all, you can take a different path and not provide a discount, reducing the price of the product, but, for example, offer a bonus, a gift that increases the value of the product itself, or some related product. But these should not be old 3.5 floppy disks for a computer that no one buys, and other unnecessary stale goods. And here free shipping heavy goods the buyer will definitely be interested in. This will be a good counterbalance to discounts, which also really works.

Note! It often happens that the seller reduces his profit by offering discounts without first calculating their cost-effectiveness. But sometimes it is easier and more economical to resort to other effective methods.

So do you need discounts or not? And if necessary, in what cases will their use be most effective? What will help the seller do right choice- common sense, pursuit of public opinion or exact calculation?

So, the seller must understand that discounts are not a necessary evil, but a means of increasing income. The most effective in practice is not one or two discounts on a specific product, but the whole system discounts, simple and understandable for both employees of the trading company and customers. Discounts burdened with additional conditions should not lead employees and customers into the jungle of these conditions. The use of a discount system also leads to a bright, accessible and understandable advertising campaign for everyone, from bright stands at the entrance and inside the store to announcements and commercials on television and radio.

By and large, the variety of discounts applied can be divided into the following groups.

• Temporary discounts. They are provided at a certain time interval (morning, night), during the season (summer, winter) or on holidays.
• Segment discounts. Provided to a specific circle of people or social group(housewives, students, pensioners).
• Hidden or inconsistent discounts. A product of marketers who are “not friendly with their heads.” A type of discount that the buyer learns about only when standing at the checkout and about to pay or receiving a terrible-looking kettle with a whistle as a “gift”. I just want to ask: why? Whether this discount is or not is no longer important.
• Saving from additional costs. Selling stale, unfashionable goods or end-of-season sales and eliminating the costs of storing and transporting goods.

Let's see how positive and negative sides have discounts, why they are interesting for the seller and the buyer, and learn to calculate the economic efficiency of the discount.

Increasing discounts with increasing purchase volumes

This type of discount is used most often. The seller develops a scale of discount percentages, which increases as the volume of purchases increases over a certain period of time. For example, in a month you bought an iron and a coffee maker and received a 4% discount, and if you also want to buy a microwave oven, the discount will be 6% on all purchased goods. The simplest example to understand the principle. In most cases, such discount systems are created out of the blue, and even the seller himself does not undertake to determine their effectiveness.

Initially, we assume that the appointment of a progressive discount scale will primarily provoke an increase in sales, that is, an increase in volume. Based on the economic concept of profitability, the profit received at a discounted price and increased sales volume should be no less (and even greater) than the expected profit at prices without discounts and the existing sales level.

So, let’s create a formula for calculating the progressive scale of discounts:

Profit is the current amount of commodity revenue minus variable costs (for an industrial enterprise) or the cost of purchasing goods (for trading enterprise). If a trading company has its own production, then all variable costs must also be deducted from revenue.

The expected profit increase is the planned revenue for an increased volume of goods. The larger the enterprise, the more complex calculations for product items, prices, sales volumes and units of measurement will be. It should be taken into account that the discount scale is developed not for one product, but for an entire category of goods, the sales volume of which needs to be increased. The discount scale can be applied either specifically to each client, or it can be made uniform for all clients, without singling out any of them. Let's look at both examples of using a progressive discount scale.

Example 1

Our regular customer expects an additional discount. We will calculate whether this is beneficial for us and offer a specific buyer an additional condition for providing a discount.

This buyer already has a 3% discount and buys goods worth RUB 50,000 from us every month. in the amount of 50 pieces. That is, taking into account the discount, the commodity price of all goods purchased by him is 51,546 rubles. (50,000 / (1 – 3% / 100%)). The trade margin for this product is 20%. Purchase price or cost of production - 42,955 rubles. (51,546 / (1 + 20% / 100%)), and the profit is 7,045 rubles. (50,000 – 42,955).

How much must a buyer buy a product for to receive a 5% or 7% discount? We want to create a discount scale, so each discount percentage will have its own calculation conditions. Let's take into account that the seller wants to receive an additional profit of 200 rubles for a 5% discount, and 500 rubles for a 7% discount. The calculation is given in table. 1.

Table 1. Calculation of new sales volumes

Index	Discount percentage
Expected profit growth, rub.
Profit, rub.
Purchase price of the entire volume of goods, rub.
Quantity of goods, pcs.

Calculations were made using the above formula. For the first column, the discount is 0, the markup is the same for all columns and is equal to 20%. Expected profit growth for the first column = 0. Find the required sales volume at a discount equal to 0: (7045 – 0) / (1 – 1 / ((1 – 0 / 100) × (1 + 20 / 100)) = 42,269 rub.

The required sales volume is equal to the full price because there is no discount in the first column.

We remove the 20% premium from the full price and get the purchase price: 42,269 / (1 + 20 / 100) = 35,224 rubles.

We calculate the ratio of the required volume to the current one as a percentage: (42,269 – 50,000) / 50,000 × 100% = –15.5%.

By providing a 5% discount, we want to increase our profit by 200 rubles. for the entire volume of goods. Now the formula will take the following form: (7045 + 200) / (1 – 1 / ((1 – 5 / 100) × (1 + 20 / 100)) = 58,995 - the required sales volume at a discount.

The full price will be 62,100 rubles. (58,995 / (1 – 5 / 100)). Purchase price - 51,750 rubles. (62,100 / (1 + 20 /100)).

The ratio of the required volume to the current one is 18% ((58,995 – 50,000) / 50,000 × 100%).

All other calculations are performed in exactly the same way.

The buyer can count on a 5% discount if he increases purchases of goods by at least 18%. This will be our counter offer. And if he wants a 7% discount, then purchases should almost double. If the buyer agrees to this, such cooperation will be mutually beneficial.

Example 2

Now let's consider the general case of calculating the discount scale. What is needed for this? First, let's determine the sales volume, so to speak, the lower limit of the purchase volume from which the discount begins. This stage of calculations is the most difficult, requiring a comprehensive analysis of sales volumes trade organization or sales policy of an industrial enterprise. The lowest limit can be considered the break-even point, that is, the provision of a discount at the very beginning of sales. Of course, in this case the profit margin will be less than expected. But many retail and industrial enterprises offer this type of discount scale in order to increase competitiveness and attract potential buyers.

It is also necessary to determine the expected amount of profit that the company would like to receive for the volume of goods sold. It's about not about profitability, which is calculated in calculations per unit of production, but about profit for a certain amount of products sold. In this case, the expected profit cannot be less than profitability, but its upper limit is limited by the competitiveness of the product price and consumer demand for this product category.

To determine the size of the calculated discount steps, you can arm yourself with the already accumulated this issue practical experience and not reinvent the wheel. But if the product is new or the circle of buyers is quite stable, then you can conduct a survey or a full-fledged sociological study and calculate a scale for reducing the price of the product to increase the interest of potential buyers, then calculate a scale for the volume of products sold (Table 2).

Table 2. Calculation of the discount scale

Index	Discount percentage
Full price of the entire volume of goods without discounts, rub.
Purchase price of the entire volume of goods or cost, rub.
Required sales volume at discounted prices, rub.
Ratio of required volume to current volume,%
Quantity of goods, pcs.
Profit, rub.

What can be concluded? The purpose of providing discounts is to increase sales, as in the calculations we are considering. The profit level will increase only if the sales volume for each discount exceeds the calculated one for each discount percentage. And if with wholesale regular customers it is quite simple to make such a calculation and determine the size of the discount, then in retail trade the indicators will always differ from the calculated ones. Ignoring the reasons for a decrease or increase in consumer demand can lead to the fact that actual indicators may differ significantly from the calculated ones, and it’s good if they are higher. This can threaten both a decrease in expected profit and the appearance of illiquid, stale goods. This may be why real discounts in stores do not exceed 3–5%: sellers trust their caution more and do not organize constant trade with large discounts.

Let's see how the volume of goods sold should increase if the discount percentage increases and the profit share remains unchanged (see figure).

Dynamics of the volume of goods sold

In life, everything can be calculated much more simply, without resorting to complex academic formulas. The above formula is not entirely convenient for practical calculations, since we depend on the volume of additional products sold on the expected profit. More often, you need to calculate the optimal discount percentage for a specific buyer or a single optimal percentage for all buyers, and the formula for calculating the optimal discount percentage will help in such calculations:

Max.% Discount = (Profit – (Profit × Min. Volume / Expected Volume) / Unit Price.

Example 3

Let's use the data from example 1. (7045 – 7045 × (62,100 – 42,269) / 62,100) / 1031 = 4.7%. The minimum additional volume of goods sold is determined by the difference between the expected sales volume and the existing one. The price of the product is known and established. Based on this calculation, the seller understands that with an increase in sales volume by 18%, the maximum possible discount will be 4.7%. To obtain additional profit, you need to either make the discount lower or increase sales volume even more.

Note! The seller, by providing a discount, pursues two goals: to gain additional profit or to get rid of an unfashionable product that is not interesting to customers. Permanent discounts lose their relevance over time and people stop paying attention to them.

Contract discount

Very interesting is contract discount. There are plenty of options for both the buyer and the seller. These are discounts for prepayment, when purchasing certain types of goods, and even when using various types settlements in foreign currency. Various types of discounts under a contract can be combined, always taking into account the interests of the buyer. If he is not interested in our proposals, there is no need to impose them on him. For example, transport services can be added to the discount system, which is widely used by companies that have their own transport. A discount is provided for a product if the buyer has ordered transport from the seller or manufacturer and transport for its delivery. The economic efficiency of discounts is calculated in the usual way.

Pre-holiday or seasonal discounts

These are the same discounts that we talked about at the beginning of the article. Such discounts require promotions. Before the holidays, every potential buyer will be looking for gifts for their family and friends. It is necessary to focus his attention on our store. This type of discount is mainly used for retail, as opposed to seasonal sales. The question arises: what to do with unsold items, for example from the summer collection? What is cheaper - selling them at a significant discount or leaving them gathering dust on store shelves waiting for a bright future? In this case, the size of the discount and its effectiveness are determined by the cost of storing the goods in a warehouse and the low probability of selling the goods at the original price. Many buyers enthusiastically await seasonal sales, when prices sometimes drop by almost 80%. But there is another way for seasonal discounts - to sell goods at a discount before the onset of the main season, offering new products that are interesting to the buyer.

Supermarkets use similar discounts every day to reduce the load on the store in the evenings and weekends. They offer discounts on all purchases up to 12 noon on weekdays and at night, so that interested people come to the store to shop outside of busy times. In this case, the size of discounts and their effectiveness depend on the amount of lost profits when consumer demand is not met during peak hours.

Retaining regular customers and attracting new ones

When customers are “accustomed” to buying goods in a certain store, in order to retain them, it is necessary to develop a system of cumulative discounts, in which the discount percentage increases for a specific customer when a certain amount of the cost of all his purchases is reached. For example, for purchases worth more than 5,000 rubles. a 3% discount is provided, when crossing the barrier of 10,000 - 5%, 15,000 - 7%, etc. When a certain purchase price is reached, the maximum possible discount percentage is assigned, which is significant for the buyer, which will not allow him to change the discount store. You will have to take into account the purchase amount and the provision of a discount using magnetic cards, the cost of manufacturing of which and the cost of reading devices will also have to be taken into account when calculating the discount scale. Some supermarkets offer a discount or gift when purchasing goods for a certain amount at the same time, which may also be of interest to the buyer.

Note! Many supermarkets use a very interesting method to attract new customers and retain regular ones. Indicator products are selected - milk, bread, cereals, which are most often purchased by each person, and the price of these products is reduced quite noticeably. At the same time, prices for other goods in the same category that have more beautiful packaging or a longer shelf life, as well as for goods purchased for gifts or pleasure, may be inflated.

Products with reduced prices should be popular, there should be few of them (no more than three to five from each category), but they should be in high demand every day. Then, in order to buy cheap bread and milk, the buyer will come to this particular store, while simultaneously purchasing other products at prices without discounts or even inflated prices, which compensates for discounts on popular goods.

Network discounts

A separate group includes discounts intended for network distributors, distributors, dealers and other sellers network marketing. Products are sold to distributors at a discount, approximately equal to the cost of finding a potential buyer and subsequent sale of the product. The size of such discounts can vary from 15 to 100% depending on the implementation of the sales plan.

The sale of goods through catalogs in online stores is gaining momentum, as well as a new online service - collective purchasing. The meaning of the idea is that lots with certain goods and services are put up on the site, including trips to a restaurant or fitness club. The discount increases when other clients are attracted and is distributed equally among all clients at the time of sale. The more buyers bought a product or service, the cheaper it costs them. The discount scale is simple and clear; any user can see how many more customers are needed for this or that discount to apply. In this case, the buyer himself is interested in attracting new customers and performs the functions of free advertising. On such sites you can find offers with a 90% discount, valid for a short time only to attract potential buyers of goods or services.

The benefits of such discounts are obvious: you can buy a product or service that you couldn’t afford at full price, new types of services can be “tasted” for a small fee, a purchased coupon can be used as a gift, you can get together with a large group, agree and redeem coupons at a big discount for a celebration in an expensive restaurant or nightclub. You can make money by attracting customers: many sites pay a certain amount or give gifts for attracting customers.

To sell a lot of goods and at a good profit, you don’t have to be the smartest or the most experienced. Most likely, on the contrary, you need to forget about what you were once taught. For example, you need to forget the rule forever American businessmen that the buyer can be manipulated. Forget also that selling is a difficult and thankless profession, and forbid your hired sellers to remember this too.

If you want to have a high sales volume, you don't need to start with discounts or bonuses. There is something very cheap in monetary equivalent and expensive for any person - in our case, the buyer. A smile, a polite and even attitude, friendly communication. Even if the prices in your store are higher than those of your neighbors, and there will be no discounts, there will always be an influx of customers.

Conversely, you can plaster your store with discount tags and the word “sale,” but gloomy and even rude salespeople, long lines, ignoring customers, or overly intrusive staff will cause all correctly made cost-effectiveness calculations to be shattered by the soviet mentality of your store employees. and the buyer will swear even to cross the threshold. Sometimes it is the friendliness of the seller that becomes the main incentive for shopping in this store.

For your information. Now the so-called trust marketing is gaining momentum. Its meaning is that by “taming” the buyer to your store, giving him increased attention, you win his heart and affection, and the buyer will kind word and your attention is ready to come to your store over and over again.

Let's say we are going to establish a trusting relationship with the buyer in our store. Where to begin? You offer a potential buyer some kind of chip with the address, phone number and email address (if any) of your store (a magazine with interesting articles, a chocolate bar, a small bottle of shampoo) in exchange for the phone number or email address of the future buyer. Few people will refuse such a little thing. Next, you can call or write to the future buyer and offer a free service or product at a good discount. The main thing is that this call/letter corresponds to the interests of the client, that is, at the moment of recording the address and name, you should find out what the future buyer was interested in and offer him only what he really needs. As a result, the buyer himself matures into the need to purchase goods from you and will maintain a pleasant and long-term relationship with your store. How to calculate the economic efficiency of such a step? Almost impossible, but the result will be worth the effort.

The listed marketing moves also have all the signs of discounts: the seller reduces the price of the product. One more interesting example is the application of discounts by segments of consumer demand. For example, a pensioner will always go to buy goods in a store that offers a discount for pensioners. And, having seen an advertisement about such discounts, he will remember it and take advantage of it, because he has a lot of time, but little money, and he agrees to go where the product will cost him less. Discounts in stores and cinemas in the morning and afternoon hours of working days also have their own contingent of buyers of goods and services - pensioners and unemployed people. Market segmentation also includes dividing stores into expensive, medium and cheap. Market segmentation has simply permeated our entire lives.

Summary

Sales psychology - a whole science, which has developed along with humanity throughout its history. Despite all the calculations of economic efficiency, the end result may not be what was expected if you do not take into account the nuances of human psychology. The easiest way is to trade food and basic necessities. However, there are convenience stores in almost every yard, and their profit margin is limited by the number of residents living in the area. Such stores do not need to organize any sales (unless out of a desire to lure customers from a neighboring store). Marketing moves and discounts are primarily of interest to large stores and chains, and the cost of a mistake when choosing a marketing policy can be significant.

We must also not forget that for effective use A system of discounts, in addition to advertising, charm and goodwill of sellers, also requires a system of motivation for employees. It is necessary to develop a clear and understandable system of bonus payments, when a successful seller is rewarded not only for the volume and quantity of goods sold, but also for the absence of complaints about his work, attracting new customers, etc.

Every seller must know that when offering a discount of 20% or more, he must prepare supporting documents to explain his actions: issue an appropriate order or order for the enterprise on the appointment of a discount and the reasons for its appointment, attaching the necessary economic calculations, or indicate the reasons for reducing discounts in the contract with the buyer. Such actions are necessary to justify and explain one’s actions to the tax authorities, since, according to Art. 40 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, a short-term decrease or increase in the price of a product by more than 20% must be checked tax authorities on the legality of application in order to protect the market from dumping or shortages.

The seller needs to be able to correctly calculate the cost-effectiveness of the discounts provided in order to obtain the maximum possible profit while building trust and interest on the part of buyers. The discount system should be beneficial to both the seller and the buyer. Only in this case is it possible to strengthen and develop long-term relationships to mutual satisfaction.

Companies, as a rule, do not set just one price, but create an entire pricing system that reflects differences in demand and costs by geography and the requirements of specific segments

look at abstracts similar to "Types of discounts"

I. Introduction……………………………………………………………. With. 2
II. A system of discounts as a tool for stimulating sales…. With. 2

1. Discount for cash payment…….………………………… p. 3

2. Discount for the volume of purchased goods……………………… p. 3

3. General (simple) discount…………………………………… p. 3

4. Discount for turnover……………………………………………. With. 4

5. Functional discount…………………………………… p. 4

6. Progressive discount…………………………………… p. 4

7. Dealer discount…………………………………………… p. 4

8. Special discounts………………………………………….. p. 5

9. Export discounts……………………………………………. With. 5

10. Discount for off-season purchases…………………………….. p. 5

11. Discount for expediting payment ………………………………… p. 6

12. Discounts to encourage sales of new products…………… p. 7

13. Discounts for complex purchases of goods……………….. p. 8

14. Discounts for “loyal” or prestigious buyers…… p. 9

15. Discounts for quality…………………………………………… p. 10

16. Discounts for returning previously purchased goods……………… p. 10

17. Discounts on the sale of used equipment

in use…………………………………………………………… p. 10

18. Service discounts……………………………………………. With. 10

19. Club discounts……………………………………………. With. eleven

20. Discounts taking into account intercultural communications……….. p. eleven

21. Tests……………………………………………………….. p. 12
III. Conclusion……………………………………………………… p. 12
IV. References………………………………………………………….. p. 13

Introduction

Companies, as a rule, do not set just one price, but create an entire pricing system that reflects differences in demand and costs by geography, the requirements of specific market segments, the distribution of purchases over time, order volumes, delivery schedules, guarantees, service. The use of discounts and advertising support for products leads to differences in the profit margin of products.

An extremely useful and flexible tool for a company's marketing policy is a system of price discounts. Born out of the traditional custom for any bazaar of reducing the asking price for a buyer who takes more goods, now the practice of setting discounts has become extremely sophisticated, and the set of top discounts is very diverse.

To reward consumers for certain actions, such as early payment of bills, high-volume purchases, or off-season purchases, many companies are willing to change their original prices. Published prices are primarily of a reference nature and quite often deviate significantly from the prices actually paid by the buyer due to the widespread use of a system of special discounts. There are also Russian-language versions of the term – price deduction and discount.

The amount of discounts depends on the nature of the transaction, terms of delivery and payment, relationships with customers and market conditions at the time of the transaction. Currently, about 20 different types of discounts are used in international trade.

Discount system as a sales promotion tool

By its commercial nature, a discount can be one of two types:

1) planned discount;

2) tactical discount.

Planned discounts are formed at the expense of the total amount of overhead costs and are usually so disguised that they are sometimes called that -
"disguised". It is precisely this kind of discount that includes the organization by the manufacturer of advertising of its products indicating a list of trading companies that sell these products. Thus, the manufacturing company actually saves its dealers money on advertising their trade names, which by economic nature is equivalent to providing them with an additional discount.

Other types of discounts can be classified as tactical. They are united by an economic source - profit, as well as a common task - creating additional incentives for the buyer to make a purchase.
The use of tactical discounts leads to a reduction in the actual purchase price of a product and, accordingly, to an increase in the buyer's premium. This premium represents the difference between the economic value of the product for the buyer and the price at which he was able to buy this product. Let's look at the main types of discounts.

Discount for cash payments – a reduction in price for buyers who promptly pay bills in cash. A buyer who pays within 10 days receives, for example, a two or three percent reduction from the payment amount. This discount can also be applied partially, for example, only for a percentage of the entire amount received within 30 days.
For larger delivery volumes or more expensive equipment this type discounts can greatly activate a local counterparty who is interested in selling faster and receiving their considerable income.

Such discounts are widely used to improve the liquidity of the supplier/seller, the rhythm of its cash receipts and reduce costs in connection with the collection of receivables.

Discount for the volume of purchased goods – proportionate reduction prices for buyers purchasing large quantities of similar goods. Usually the discount is set as a percentage of total cost or a unit price of a set supply volume, for example, a 10% discount for orders over 1000 pieces. Discounts may be offered on a non-cumulative basis (per order placed) or on a cumulative basis (per number of items ordered over a given period).

Quantity discounts should be offered to all customers, but in this case the supplier/seller must ensure that the amount of discounts does not exceed its cost savings due to increased volumes of goods sold. These savings can be achieved by reducing the costs of selling (trade processing), warehousing, maintaining inventory and transporting goods. Discounts of this kind can also serve as an incentive for the consumer to make purchases from one seller.

A general (simple) discount is provided from the list price or reference price and is usually 20 - 30%, and in some cases up to 40%. Such discounts are widely practiced when concluding transactions on machinery and equipment, in particular on standard types equipment. Discounts from the reference price are also used when supplying industrial raw materials and average 2–5%. A simple discount includes a discount provided when purchasing goods in cash -
“cash discount”. It is given to sellers in cases where the reference price includes short-term credit and the buyer agrees to pay in cash. This discount is usually 2–3% of the reference price or corresponds to the loan interest rate on the financial market.

A discount for turnover, a bonus discount, is provided to regular customers on the basis of a special power of attorney. In this case, the contract establishes a scale of discounts, depending on the turnover achieved during a certain period (usually one year), as well as the procedure for paying amounts based on these discounts. For some types of equipment, bonus discounts reach 15-30% of turnover, and for raw materials and agricultural goods they are usually calculated at several percent.

Functional discount. Manufacturers offer functional discounts
(also known as retailer discounts) to those participants in the distribution process who perform certain functions for the sale of goods, their storage and accounting. Manufacturers may provide different functional discounts to different sales channels because they provide them with different types services, but by law manufacturers must offer the same functional discounts to all participants in a particular channel.

Progressive discount - a discount for quantity or serialization is provided to the buyer subject to the purchase of a predetermined and increasing quantity of goods. Serial orders are of interest to manufacturers, since the production of the same type of product reduces production costs.

Dealer discount is provided by manufacturers to their permanent representatives or sales intermediaries, including foreign ones. These discounts are common on cars, tractors and some standard equipment. Dealer discounts on cars vary depending on the make of the car and average
15 – 20% of retail price.

Special discounts (extra discount) are provided to privileged customers whose orders are particularly interested in sellers. The category of special discounts also includes discounts on trial batches and orders
(discount for a trial lot), intended to interest the buyer, and discounts for regularity or stability of orders (discount for a regular purchases), with the help of which manufacturers strive to retain a regular clientele.

Export discounts (export rebate) are provided by sellers when selling goods to foreign buyers in addition to the discounts that apply to buyers on the domestic market. Their goal is to increase the competitiveness of a particular product in the foreign market.

Discount for off-season purchase is a measure of reduction in the standard selling price that is guaranteed to the buyer if he purchases seasonal goods outside the period of the year for which they are intended. The purpose of using discounts for off-season purchases is to encourage buyers to purchase these goods before the start of the next season, at the very beginning of it, or even out of season. This provides faster asset turnover and allows manufacturers seasonal goods reduce seasonal fluctuations in the utilization of its production capacities.

With a well-established system of seasonal discounts, manufacturers have the opportunity to organize and complete the production of goods for the next season long before it begins and promptly begin preparations for the manufacture of products for the next season.

The amount of seasonal discounts is usually quite small and is determined by:

1) on the part of the buyer - the amount of costs for storing the goods purchased in advance before the start of the sales season
(including fees for loans attracted for this purpose);

2) on the part of the manufacturer - the amount of costs and losses that he would have to incur if the manufactured goods were stored before the start of the season in his own warehouses, and production was either stopped due to death working capital in inventories of finished products, or was supported by additionally attracted loans to replenish working capital.

Consequently, the amount of discounts should provide the buyer with savings greater than the increase in his costs of storing goods until the seasonal increase in demand. On the other hand, the manufacturer can provide such discounts - for an amount no greater than the amount of its losses due to the slowdown in capital turnover as a result of storing goods in its own warehouses before the start of the season and not receiving sales revenue.

The logic of discounts for off-season purchases requires their differentiation in time: the earlier the product is purchased before the start of the season, the greater the discount should be.

Discount for expediting payment. The main purpose of discounts for speeding up payment
– reducing the repayment period of accounts receivable and accelerating the turnover of the company’s working capital. Therefore, this commercial tool can be attributed to a greater extent to the sphere of management than pricing itself. But since such discounts are established in relation to prices, price specialists, together with financiers and accountants, are traditionally involved in determining them.

A discount for accelerating payment is a measure of reducing the standard selling price, which is guaranteed to the buyer if he makes payment for the purchased batch of goods before the deadline established by the contract.

The payment acceleration discount scheme includes three elements:

1) the actual quantitative amount of the discount;

2) the period during which the buyer has the opportunity to take advantage of such a discount;

3) the period during which payment of the entire amount of debt for the delivered consignment of goods must be made, if the buyer does not exercise the right to receive a discount for accelerated payment.

Accordingly, in contracts for the supply of goods, such a discount can be written down in the following form: "2/10, net 30" (or in English version –
"2/10, n/30"). And this will mean that the buyer is obliged to make full payment for the goods delivered to him within 30 calendar days from the moment of receipt. But if he makes the payment within the first 10 days of this period, he has the right to automatically reduce the payment amount by 2%, i.e., take advantage of a discount for accelerating payment.

The rate for accelerating payment is usually determined by two factors:

1) the level of such rates traditionally established in a given market;

2) level of banking interest rates for loans to replenish working capital.

The connection between the discount for speeding up payment and the price of credit resources is quite logical. If a manufacturer cannot achieve acceleration of repayment of accounts receivable, then it has to replenish its working capital mainly through credit. Accelerating payment for shipped goods reduces the need to raise funds and provides savings by reducing the amount of interest payments.

However, usually the level of discount for accelerating payment is significantly higher than the price of credit resources. Let's say the above rate according to the scheme
“2/10, net 30,” which is fairly typical of global trading practice, is effectively equivalent to an effective annual interest rate of 36%. And this is significantly higher than the cost of a loan in most developed countries world where the annual inflation rate does not exceed
10% (say, in 1996, loan rates in European countries were about 7–8%).

This excess of the discount level over the price of loans is justified by the large positive effect that accelerated payment has on the financial condition of the selling company. This effect occurs due to the fact that early payments:

1) speed up delivery Money to the seller’s account and improve the structure of his balance sheet, which is essential for him to obtain loans, and also affects the assessment of the company’s position by investors (including the price of its shares on stock exchanges);

2) reduce credit risks associated with accounts receivable and increase the reliability of financial planning;

3) reduce the company’s costs for organizing collection. accounts receivable.

Discounts to encourage new product sales. Such discounts can be considered as an addition to planned discounts that help promote a new product to the market. As a rule, such discounts in the form of financing a national advertising campaign indicating the names of the trading companies selling the product are not enough. For example, such advertising does not really give buyers information about where they can actually buy the mentioned product in their city (district).

Therefore, dealers and end sellers have to conduct their own advertising campaigns using local authorities mass media(advertising rates in which are also usually lower than in the national press or on national television). This gives them the opportunity to indicate the addresses of their stores in such advertising, which actually provides an increase in sales.

Sales promotion discount - a measure of reduction in the standard selling price that is guaranteed resellers, if they take on new products for sale, the promotion of which to the market requires increased costs for advertising and the services of sales agents.

Discounts for complex purchases of goods. Many firms that sell lines of complementary products use a special type of discount to encourage customers to purchase several products from that line, i.e., bundled purchasing.

A discount for the complex purchase of goods is a measure of reduction in the standard selling price, which is guaranteed to the buyer if he purchases this product along with other complementary goods of this company.

The logic of such a discount is that the price of each product in the set is lower than with an isolated purchase, even from the same company.

An example of using discounts to encourage complex purchasing of goods is the organization of sales of the famous encyclopedia Britannica.
The range of products offered by the publisher of this encyclopedia includes the following items (prices in Dutch guilders as of October 12, 1995):
|Product |Prices when isolated |Share in the total cost |
| | purchase | the entire range of |
| | |isolated purchase |
|Isolated purchase |
|Encyclopedia |8080 |72.3 |
|"Britannica" | | |
|Yearbook "Book of the Year" |250 |2.2 |
|CD-ROM "Encyclopedia |2850 |25.2 |
|"Britannica" | | |
|I T O G O |11180 |100.0 |
|Complex purchase |
|Encyclopedia |4050 |72.3 |
|"Britannica" | | |
|Yearbook "Book of the Year" |123 |2.2 |
| CD-ROM "Encyclopedia | 1427 | 25.5 |
|"Britannica" | | |
|I T O G O |5595 |100.0 |

Thus, a buyer who wanted to purchase the entire set would receive a discount of 5585 guilders (11,180-5595), i.e. more than 3 thousand dollars, or 50% (5595/11180) of the total cost of the kit elements when purchased separately. Accordingly, with a complex purchase, the prices of each of the individual elements of the set would be lower (assuming the same share of each of the elements of the set in its total cost as with an isolated purchase).

Often, such a set of goods covered by a discount for complexity also includes goods that are not produced by a given company.
For example, companies that sell copiers give customers the opportunity to purchase them along with big amount paper, which ends up being cheaper than purchasing it separately. Similarly, computer companies now include a large set of software packages with customers, both already recorded on HDD, and located on a CD-ROM (if this computer has a device for reading such disks).

Discounts for “faithful” or prestigious buyers. A special type of discounts found in commercial practice are discounts for “loyal” or prestigious buyers. Such discounts, as their name suggests, are provided to customers who:
1) or regularly make purchases from this company over a long period of time;
2) or belong to the “prestigious” category, which allows the fact of their purchase of this product to be used for its advertising

These discounts are provided on a purely individual basis and can be issued, for example, in the form personal cards buyers. Many European food supermarkets have now begun to issue such cards.

As for discounts for “prestigious” buyers, they are most often not advertised and remain a secret of bargaining between the seller and such buyer.
The reason for such secrecy is the fact that this type of discount is the most blatant manifestation of price discrimination, which is generally inherent in the discount mechanism.

Meanwhile, the legislation of many countries categorically prohibits price discrimination. This forces firms to disguise the discounts they use and to come up with economic reasons why such discounts should not be considered price discrimination.

Discounts for quality. Unfortunately, quite often manufacturers do not show sufficient flexibility in meeting the requirements and offers of the market in terms of packaging, packaging, labeling, technical and operational characteristics of individual units, parts, etc. This negatively affects both sales volume and price.

Once established low price difficult to change, especially in the minds of end consumers. An appropriate marketing technique is to offer a discount for completing the work required to adapt the product to market requirements. In practice, this is a fairly common case of industrial cooperation. It is important to understand that by providing such a discount, the supplier achieves only a temporary result (lower export price - net), but secures positions for its real increase after solving its production problems.

Discounts for returning previously purchased goods from this company (in the amount of 25
– 30% of the list price) are provided to the buyer upon return of an outdated model product previously purchased from this company. Such discounts apply to the sale of automobiles, electrical equipment, rolling stock, standard industrial equipment, etc.

Discounts on the sale of used equipment. In different countries there are opportunities to profitably purchase used machines, mechanisms and other equipment. If, in addition, the maintenance is well organized, then such a purchase is a reasonable alternative to buying new equipment. You can work with new equipment for a long time, while operating costs are low. Prices for used equipment are sometimes up to 50% or more of the original price of the product.

Service discounts. A significant part of industrial products requires maintenance during operation. Unfortunately, many manufacturers underestimate the importance of this factor in the struggle for markets.
A service discount is preferred to creating and maintaining an effective service network, which requires significant investment and effort. This approach to solving the problem would be acceptable if it were possible to monitor the implementation of additional functions by the recipient and a way to assess the effectiveness of such a discount. Often, the provision of a service discount reflects, rather, the manufacturer’s neglect of its own economic interests.

Club discounts. There are many national and international discount clubs around the world that provide their members with “club price discounts” on services and goods. Members of such clubs can be individuals and legal entities, associate membership takes place.
The latter is essentially a sophisticated version of a serious hidden agent sales network based on international discount programs.

National and international clubs issue and sell licenses to service enterprises and stores that undertake to provide price discounts to club members; such discounts are especially common on transportation, car rental, hotel and restaurant services, and insurance.
For club members, there are entire chains of stores selling industrial and other everyday goods at discounts.

Special clubs are aimed at wealthy clients, generating an elite society, where they provide significant discounts on luxury goods and non-traditional services, for example, VIP services.
The main incentive for an enterprise to participate in the discount (club) program is a significant increase in annual turnover due to an increase in sales volume, but with a slight decrease in the profitability of a single transaction.

Club members pay entrance and annual fees, receive a plastic personalized club card, as well as a regional directory of enterprises and stores that offer discounts on goods and services.
The directories provide the names and addresses of sellers providing such discounts, the size of these discounts and conditions (for example, the purchase of two or more types of goods and services), and the type of payment. Upon presentation of the card, a club member receives a price discount from 10 to 50 percent or more upon purchase.

Discounts taking into account intercultural communications. In practical activities, marketing faces a very important circumstance, which should be attributed to the so-called cultural differences, which is also the subject of marketing research.

In Arabic, some Balkan countries and individual Transcaucasian republics, during trade negotiations it is considered a matter of honor to achieve a large discount on the offer price. And although this circumstance is associated with a complex of Eastern mentality, many importers will not sign an agreement that does not contain a provision on discounts generally exceeding 20 - 30% of the proposed price. Since this fact is known in the marketing and trading environment, some companies consider it necessary to first artificially inflate prices by the expected percentage, and then present it with a discount specified in the contract.

This practice of negotiating price and the peculiar Eastern approach to discounting do not correspond to the philosophy and concepts of market activity of American companies. IN THE USA long time There are Federal Trade Commission guidelines that restrict a seller from making arbitrary price increases that do not result in real additional benefits to consumers. However, this does not prevent American companies from considering different approaches and pricing policy the firms they trade with, the specifics of the markets they target.

The main criteria for focusing on one or another method of price modification should be the following: achieving benefits in the long term; receiving the planned (targeted) profit from a specific transaction; satisfying the needs of consumers, who ultimately decide which supplier has a place in a given consumer market.

Tests. Offsets refer to other types of discounts from the list price. For example, a goods exchange offset is a reduction in the price of a new product subject to the return of the old one. Trade-in credit is most often used for the sale of cars and some durable goods. Sales promotion credits refer to payments or price discounts to reward dealers for participating in advertising and sales promotion programs.

Conclusion

Summarizing the practice of applied discounts, we can conclude that they help the price perform its stimulating function and help market research. Namely: they help reduce the costs of production, storage, and sales due to increased sales, facilitate the acquisition of regular customers and long-term planning of the company’s activities, stimulate orders of large volumes, and provide advertising assistance to sales on the market.

Bibliography:
1. F. Kotler “Marketing, Management”, “Peter”, St. Petersburg, 1999
2. "Prices and pricing", textbook for universities. Ed. V. E. Esipova,

"Peter", St. Petersburg, 1999
3. I. V. Lipsits “Commercial pricing”, BEK, Moscow, 1999
4. P. N. Shulyak "Pricing", "Dashkov and Co", Moscow, 1999

discount reward incentive sale

By its commercial nature, a discount can be one of two types:

• 1) planned discount;
• 2) tactical discount.

Planned discounts are formed from the total amount of overhead costs and are usually so disguised that they are sometimes called “disguised”. It is this kind of discount that can be attributed to the organization of companies that sell these products. Thus, the manufacturing company actually saves its dealers’ money on advertising their products. trade names, which by economic nature is equivalent to providing them with an additional discount.

Other types of discounts can be classified as tactical. They are united by an economic source - profit, as well as a common task - creating additional incentives for the buyer to make a purchase.

The use of tactical discounts leads to a reduction in the actual purchase price of a product and, accordingly, to an increase in the buyer's premium.

Let's look at the main types of discounts.

Types of discounts

Discount for cash payment- price reduction for buyers who promptly pay bills in cash. The buyer who pays within 10 days receives a three percent reduction from the payment amount. This discount can also be applied partially, for example, only for a percentage of the entire amount received within 30 days.

With a larger supply volume or more expensive equipment, this type of discount can greatly activate the local counterparty, who is interested in selling faster and receiving their considerable income.

Such discounts are widely used to improve the liquidity of the supplier/seller, the rhythm of its cash receipts and reduce costs in connection with the collection of receivables.

Discount for the volume of purchased goods- proportionate reduction in price for buyers purchasing large quantities of similar goods. Typically, the discount is set as a percentage of the total cost or unit price of a specified volume of supply, for example, a 10% discount for orders over 1000 pieces. Discounts may be offered on a non-cumulative basis (per order placed) or on a cumulative basis (per number of items ordered over a given period).

Quantity discounts should be offered to all customers, but in this case the supplier/seller must ensure that the amount of discounts does not exceed its cost savings due to increased volumes of goods sold. These savings can be achieved by reducing the costs of selling (trade processing), warehousing, maintaining inventory and transporting goods.

General (simple) discount is provided at list or reference price and is usually 20 - 30%, and in some cases up to 40%. Such discounts are widely practiced when concluding transactions on machinery and equipment, in particular, on standard types of equipment.

Discounts from reference price are also used in the supply of industrial raw materials and average 2 - 5%.

TO simple discount One can refer to the discount provided when purchasing goods in cash - “cash discount”. It is given to sellers in cases where the reference price includes short-term credit and the buyer agrees to pay in cash. This discount is usually 2 - 3% of the reference price or corresponds to the loan interest rate on the financial market.

Discount for turnover, bonus discount (bonus), is provided to regular customers on the basis of a special power of attorney. In this case, the contract establishes a scale of discounts, depending on the turnover achieved during a certain period (usually one year), as well as the procedure for paying amounts based on these discounts. For some types of equipment, bonus discounts reach 15-30% of turnover, and for raw materials and agricultural goods they are usually calculated at several percent.

Functional discount. Manufacturers offer functional discounts (also known as retailer discounts) to those participants in the distribution process who perform certain functions in the sale of goods, their storage and record keeping. Manufacturers may provide different functional discounts to different sales channels because they provide different types of services to them, but by law, manufacturers must offer the same functional discounts to all members of a particular channel.

Progressive discount- a discount for quantity or serialization is provided to the buyer subject to the purchase of a predetermined and increasing quantity of goods. Serial orders are of interest to manufacturers, since the production of the same type of product reduces production costs.

Dealer discount provided by manufacturers to their permanent representatives or sales intermediaries, including foreign ones. These discounts are common on cars, tractors and some standard equipment. Dealer discounts on cars vary depending on the make of the car and average 15 - 20% of the retail price.

Special discounts (extra discount) are provided to privileged buyers in whose orders sellers are particularly interested. The category of special discounts also includes discounts for trial lots and orders (discount for a trial lot), intended to interest the buyer, and discounts for the regularity or stability of orders (discount for a regular purchases), with the help of which manufacturers seek to retain a regular clientele.

Export rebate provided by sellers when selling goods to foreign buyers in addition to the discounts that apply to buyers on the domestic market. Their goal is to increase the competitiveness of a particular product in the foreign market.

Discount for off-season purchases- a measure of reduction in the standard selling price that is guaranteed to the buyer if he purchases the goods seasonal demand outside the period of the year for which they are intended. The purpose of using discounts for off-season purchases is to encourage buyers to purchase these goods before the start of the next season, at the very beginning of it, or even out of season. This ensures faster asset turnover and allows manufacturers of seasonal goods to reduce seasonal fluctuations in the utilization of their production facilities.

With a well-established system of seasonal discounts, manufacturers have the opportunity to organize and complete the production of goods for the next season long before it begins and promptly begin preparations for the manufacture of products for the next season. The amount of seasonal discounts is usually quite small and is determined by:

• 1) on the part of the buyer - the amount of costs for storing the goods purchased in advance before the start of the sales season (including fees for loans attracted for this purpose);
• 2) on the part of the manufacturer - the amount of costs and losses that he would have to incur if the manufactured goods were stored until the start of the season in his own warehouses, and production was either stopped due to the deadening of working capital in inventories finished products, or was supported by additionally attracted loans to replenish working capital.

Consequently, the amount of discounts should provide the buyer with savings greater than the increase in his costs of storing goods until the seasonal increase in demand. On the other hand, the manufacturer can provide such discounts - for an amount no greater than the amount of its losses due to the slowdown in capital turnover as a result of storing goods in its own warehouses before the start of the season and not receiving sales revenue.

Discount for expediting payment. The main objective of discounts for accelerating payment is to reduce the repayment period of receivables and accelerate the turnover of the company's working capital. Therefore, this commercial tool can be attributed to a greater extent to the sphere of management than pricing itself. But since such discounts are established in relation to prices, price specialists, together with financiers and accountants, are traditionally involved in determining them.

A discount for accelerating payment is a measure of reducing the standard selling price, which is guaranteed to the buyer if he makes payment for the purchased batch of goods before the deadline established by the contract.

The payment acceleration discount scheme includes three elements:

• 1) the actual quantitative amount of the discount;
• 2) the period during which the buyer has the opportunity to take advantage of such a discount;
• 3) the period during which payment of the entire amount of debt for the delivered consignment of goods must be made, if the buyer does not exercise the right to receive a discount for accelerated payment.

Accordingly, in contracts for the supply of goods such a discount can be written in the following form: “2/10, net 30” (or in the English version - “2/10, n/30”). And this will mean that the buyer is obliged to make full payment for the goods delivered to him within 30 calendar days from the date of receipt. But if he makes the payment within the first 10 days of this period, he has the right to automatically reduce the payment amount by 2%, i.e., take advantage of a discount for accelerating payment.

The rate for accelerating payment is usually determined by two factors:

• 1) the level of such rates traditionally established in a given market;
• 2) the level of bank interest rates for loans to replenish working capital.

The connection between the discount for speeding up payment and the price of credit resources is quite logical. If the manufacturer cannot achieve acceleration of repayment of receivables, then he has to replenish his working capital mainly through credit. Accelerating payment for shipped goods reduces the need to raise funds and provides savings by reducing the amount of interest payments.

However, usually the level of discount for accelerating payment is significantly higher than the price of credit resources. Let's say the above "2/10, net 30" rate, which is fairly typical of global trading practice, is actually equivalent to an effective annual interest rate of 36%. And this is significantly higher than the cost of a loan in most developed countries of the world, where the annual inflation rate does not exceed 10% (for example, in 1996, loan rates in European countries were about 7-8%).

Discounts to encourage new product sales. Such discounts can be considered as an addition to planned discounts that help promote a new product to the market. As a rule, such discounts in the form of financing a national advertising campaign indicating the names of the trading companies selling the product are not enough. For example, they can actually buy the mentioned product in their city (district). Therefore, dealers and end sellers have to conduct their own advertising campaigns using local media outlets (whose advertising rates are usually lower than those in the national press or national television). This gives them the opportunity to indicate the addresses of their stores in such advertising, which actually provides an increase in sales.

Discount to encourage sales- a measure of reducing the standard selling price, which is guaranteed to resellers if they take for sale new goods, the promotion of which to the market requires increased costs for advertising and the services of sales agents.

Discounts for complex purchases of goods. Many firms that sell lines of complementary products use a special type of discount to encourage customers to purchase several products from that line, i.e., bundled purchasing.

A discount for the complex purchase of goods is a measure of reducing the standard selling price, which is guaranteed to the buyer if he purchases this product along with other complementary goods of this company.

The logic of such a discount is that the price of each product in the set is lower than with an isolated purchase, even from the same company.

Often, such a set of goods covered by a discount for complexity also includes goods that are not produced by a given company. For example, companies that sell copiers allow customers to purchase them along with more paper, which ends up being cheaper than purchasing them separately. Similarly, computer companies now include a large set of software in their delivery package to customers, both already recorded on a hard drive and located on a CD-ROM (if the computer has a device for reading such discs).

Discounts for “faithful” or prestigious buyers. A special type of discounts found in commercial practice are discounts for “loyal” or prestigious buyers. Such discounts, as their name suggests, are provided to customers who:

• 1) regularly make purchases from this company over a long period of time;
• 2) belong to the “prestigious” category, which allows them to use the fact of their purchase of this product for its advertising.

These discounts are provided on a purely individual basis and can be issued, for example, in the form of personal buyer cards. Many European food supermarkets have now begun to issue such cards.

As for discounts for “prestigious” buyers, they are most often not advertised and remain a secret of bargaining between the seller and such buyer. The reason for such secrecy is the fact that this type of discount is the most blatant manifestation of price discrimination, which is generally inherent in the discount mechanism.

Meanwhile, the legislation of many countries categorically prohibits price discrimination. This forces firms to disguise the discounts they use and to come up with economic reasons why such discounts should not be considered price discrimination.

Discounts for quality. Unfortunately, quite often manufacturers do not show sufficient flexibility in meeting the requirements and offers of the market in terms of packaging, packaging, labeling, technical and operational characteristics of individual units, parts, etc. This negatively affects both sales volume and price.

Once established, a low price is difficult to change, especially in the minds of end consumers. Appropriate Marketing Technique

consists of providing a discount for completing the work to adapt the product to market requirements. In practice, this is a fairly common case of industrial cooperation. It is important to understand that by providing such a discount, the supplier achieves only a temporary result (lower export price - net), but secures positions for its real increase after solving its production problems.

Discounts for returning previously purchased goods from this company(in the amount of 25 - 30% of the list price) are provided to the buyer when he returns an outdated model product previously purchased from this company. Such discounts apply to the sale of automobiles, electrical equipment, rolling stock, standard industrial equipment, etc.

Discounts on the sale of used equipment. IN different countries There are opportunities to profitably purchase used machines, mechanisms and other equipment. If, in addition, the maintenance is well organized, then such a purchase is a reasonable alternative to buying new equipment. You can work with new equipment for a long time, while operating costs are low. Prices for used equipment are sometimes up to 50% or more of the original price of the product.

Service discounts. A significant part of industrial products requires maintenance during operation. Unfortunately, many manufacturers underestimate the importance of this factor in the struggle for markets. A service discount is preferred to creating and maintaining an effective service network, which requires significant investment and effort. This approach to solving the problem would be acceptable if it were possible to monitor the implementation of additional functions by the recipient and a way to assess the effectiveness of such a discount. Often, the provision of a service discount reflects, rather, the manufacturer’s neglect of its own economic interests.

Club discounts. There are many national and international discount clubs around the world that provide their members with “club price discounts” on services and goods. Members of such clubs can be individuals and legal entities, and there is associated membership. The latter is essentially a sophisticated version of a serious hidden agent sales network based on international discount programs.

National and international clubs issue and sell licenses to service enterprises and shops, which undertake to provide price discounts to club members; such discounts are especially common on transportation, car rental, hotel and restaurant services, and insurance. For club members, there are entire chains of stores selling industrial and other everyday goods at discounts.

Special clubs are aimed at wealthy clients, generating an elite society, where they provide significant discounts on luxury goods and non-traditional services, for example, VIP services.

The main incentive for an enterprise to participate in the discount (club) program is a significant increase in annual turnover due to an increase in sales volume, but with a slight decrease in the profitability of a single transaction.

Club members pay entrance and annual fees, receive a plastic personalized club card, as well as a regional directory of enterprises and stores that offer discounts on goods and services.

The directories provide the names and addresses of sellers providing such discounts, the size of these discounts and conditions (for example, the purchase of two or more types of goods and services), and the type of payment. Upon presentation of the card, a club member receives a price discount from 10 to 50 percent or more upon purchase.

Discounts taking into account intercultural communications. In practical activities, marketing faces a very important circumstance, which should be attributed to the so-called cultural differences, which is also the subject of marketing research. In Arab, some Balkan countries and some Transcaucasian republics, during trade negotiations it is considered a matter of honor to achieve a large discount on the offer price. And although this circumstance is associated with a complex of Eastern mentality, many importers will not sign an agreement that does not contain a provision on discounts generally exceeding 20 - 30% of the proposed price. Since this fact is known in the marketing and trading environment, some companies consider it necessary to first artificially inflate prices by the expected percentage, and then present it with a discount specified in the contract.

This practice of negotiating price and the peculiar Eastern approach to discounting do not correspond to the philosophy and concepts of market activity of American companies. In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission has long been in force, restricting sellers from arbitrary price increases unless they result in real additional benefits for consumers. However, this does not prevent American companies from taking into account the different approaches and pricing policies of the companies with which they trade, and the specifics of the markets they are targeting.