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Virtual Deals and Coupons

Part of being productive is knowing how to make the most of your resources, especially when it comes to time and money. Getting more for your money helps you use your cash resources as efficiently as possible, and using time-saving ways to get the best deals heightens the productivity of both your time and your cash.

Realize that your customers also want to be more productive, and when you help them achieve their productivity goals, they’ll reward you with their business. So while it’s great when you get a good deal yourself, it’s also good when you can provide a great deal for your customers. That’s why it’s important to know how virtual deals and coupons work—so you can get them and give them.

Give First, and Reap the Rewards

In order to be able to give your customers special deals and coupons, you need to work with an online shopping cart that supports different pricing tiers, coupon codes, and other discounts. I’ve already talked about the basic features of online shopping carts and how to choose a program that meets your needs. Be sure that you think beyond just collecting payments to how you might be able to offer attractive discounts on a seasonal or special offer basis.

Don’t just think about discounts as being a way to get new customers. Offering a loyalty discount can win repeat or upsell business from your current customers. This can be as easy as providing a special coupon code—if your shopping cart can accept special codes.

Providing the code doesn’t have to be difficult. Constant Contact includes a coupon in many of its newsletter templates. This is the perfect place to reward your opt-in followers with special offers. You can also thank the people who have “liked” your Facebook page, who follow you on Twitter, or who read your blog. Or, reward the people who find your business through sites like Groupon or Yelp, or the Foursquare participants who frequent your location. (Rewarding your social media followers encourages new people to join your newsletter or connect on social media in order to get the discounts.) Or, you can go beyond simple couponing with programs such as BuildACouponSite.com, ModularMerchant.com, or CouponFusion.com. Before signing up for an extra program, make sure you fully understand the capabilities of your existing shopping cart; you may already have the capability that you need.

If you have the type of business that works well with loyalty cards, consider creating a mobile phone app that assures your best customers will always get the benefit of their reward card. Developing custom apps is getting easier and less expensive as more and more people embrace the use of smartphones. You can use a site such as Mobile.Conduit.com, Saasmob.com, or other programs to create your own app, or use one of the many companies that will create apps for you.

Giving Is Nice, But So Is Getting

As beneficial as it can be to provide online discounts and rewards to your customers, it’s pretty nice to land some good deals yourself. Mobile technology is making it easier than ever to assure that you can access your coupons, reward points, and discounts wherever you carry your phone. Apps also help you make more productive use of your time by helping you search for and find the products you want, and to compare availability and pricing.

AAA (American Automobile Association) has long been known for the special discounts it arranges for members with all kinds of dining, hospitality, and travel-related companies. Now, there’s an app for AAA that will use your current location to alert you to nearby merchants that offer AAA discounts. The app will even provide detailed directions to help you reach the merchant you select.

For those who are true believers in the value of coupons but hate to clip and carry all that paper, consider some of the coupon apps available for smartphones and tablet PCs. Coupon Sherpa, AFullCup, Shopper, and MobileCoupons all help you find, organize, and store digital coupons so that you’ve got what you need wherever you go.

Groupon, Living Social, Daily Shopper, and MobiQpons also provide online discounts and coupons. Most permit you to search by location, store, and product type. Other sites, such as Foursquare, reward frequent customers with special discounts. Getyowza.com and The Coupons App are more options. Try out several of these apps; you’re likely to find that some apps are more in tune with your shopping habits and tastes than others.

You can save a lot of money by comparison shopping, but who has time? You do—with the right apps. Loading Amazon’s app not only makes it easy to buy from this online retail giant, it also makes it simple to check prices to see if Amazon has a better deal. Not sure what size product to purchase to get the most for your money? CompareMe is an app that makes it easy to decide which package gets you the best price.

QR (Quick Response) codes are popping up everywhere. Many QR codes lead straight to discounts and deals, so make sure you have a QR code reader on your phone. Annoyed that merchants often don’t put a price sticker on individual items? You’ll always know what something costs when you’ve got the Barcode Reader app on your phone. Not only does Barcode Reader scan the code and tell you the price, but it will helpfully fetch prices for that item from other retailers so you can get the best deal.

If you travel, make sure that you check your frequent flyer, credit card rewards program, hotel loyalty program, and favorite car rental companies to see if they have apps and offer special online discounts. Hertz Car Rental not only has an app to help you make reservations, but it offers special weekly deals just for smartphone users. Hotel Tonight is an app that provides daily specials and helps you find low prices on hotel rooms wherever you travel. Omni Hotels has an app that not only makes it easy to find and book an Omni room, but it also provides special offers for app users. Priceline has an app for finding hotel and car rental discounts. Star Alliance (the consortium of airlines that includes USAirways, Air Canada, Continental, Lufthansa, and United, among others) has a FareFinder app that will search for flights to your chosen destination across all of its member airlines to help you find the best flights and pricing.

Expect more and more membership organizations, professional/ business associations, and other groups to begin offering their discounts to members via apps. You’ve paid your dues, so make sure you get everything included in your membership.