Coupons Going Digital Too

          What used to be a shameful miser or people with no money do is now having a complete make-over and being a new successful business model for boosting up the sales. Coupons or promotional discount fliers are transforming its classical look and are distributed through phone services.

          Firms using such marketing strategies to increase their sales are cooperating with wireless carriers such as SK Telecom, KTF, and LG Telecom to provide their coupons to as many people as possible through free downloadable coupons and bar codes. Because of its convenience, people now don't have to go through all the booklets or vouchers to find the coupons and easily just press few buttons on their cell phones and download it in a few seconds.

          SK Telecom has been providing such service through "OK CouFun," which lets subscribers to have an access to varieties of coupon and discount promotions that could be reclaim at any given time. This service offers "...savings anywhere from getting hamburgers, attending musicals, renting cars and joining fitness centers" (KoreaTimes). One of the major benefits for using the service is that it's available for free.

          The wireless carriers are expecting more and more subscribers would use the service as economy gets tough and therefore, their efforts to look for more discounts will be increased as well. Since its success is boosting up the sales of the stores, many franchise chains are now asking the mobile service providers to work together in order to attract more varieties of customers.

          In the marketing class, I've learned that lowering the cost, differentiating products, creating strong suppliers and customers relationship, and targeting the niche markets are the key components to achieve competitive advantages. What use to be just an ordinary way of marketing the products or services is now having a totally different look and creates a great bargaining power which increases the sales. E-coupons, as the article illustrates, now became a strong niche market that differentiates its way of promoting organizations' goods and services and also at the same time, tightens the relationship with customers and creates royalty. I've used these electronically available coupons on few restaurants, and the way it works is unbelievably convenient and fast. This article showed me how this kind of marketing strategy can also affect the way people react to the products that the firm provides.

Reference;
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2008/04/123_22703.html
20601008 - 7th Entry