There are five basic reasons that companies like Costco, Spotify, The Wall Street Journal, and the PGA TOUR create exclusive special offers like discounts and free admission for targeted groups of consumers such as military, students, and teachers.
- Protect
- Preserve
- Attract
- Empower
- Earn
Let’s look at each one in greater depth.
1. PROTECT
Fraud is a legitimate concern surrounding exclusive discounts. Many companies run into customers and employees taking advantage of exclusive discounts that they may not qualify for.
USE CASE #1
An apparel retailer who partnered with SheerID launched a 25% college student discount for a 24 hour period. Although 35k shoppers responded to the message, only 14K were verified as currently enrolled college students. 60% were turned away or presented a secondary offer. Without verification technology in place, the retailer would have given an exclusive college student discount to 21k customers who were not attending college classes. Giving exclusive offers to consumers who do not qualify not only impacts retailers’ margins, it also lessens the appeal of the offer to the intended audience and makes them feel less sought after or special. Luckily, SheerID has a solution to avoid fraudulent activity surrounding exclusive discounts.
USE CASE #2
A second apparel retailer who partnered with SheerID had already been offering a military discount. Upon analysis, they realized that most of the users of the military discount were not actually military, but employees using the discount and giving it out to their friends and family when they came into the store. They came to SheerID to save hundreds of thousands of dollars on their bottom line while still honoring the military community with an exclusive discount.
Our platform allows you to expand your reach to your target market with a coupon code or exclusive offer. SheerID will verify them in a fraction of a second. No more “secret” landing pages or links buried deep in a singular newsletter.
You will be confident that the right people are getting the right discount with SheerID.
2. PRESERVE
Many companies worry that offering discounts will erode their brand integrity. While offering discounts can sometimes give the impression that your company or products are cheap, exclusive discounts actually have the opposite effect on a company’s image. Offering a discount that is in support of what a person is doing, like being a part of the military or being a student, makes consumers in that market more likely to shop at your store over competitors. Wouldn’t you want to shop at a store that was supporting a cause you were a part of? Even better, customers who are not affiliated with the military or colleges don’t begrudge these demographics for getting discounts. Military and student discounts can actually increase goodwill among existing customers.
- 70% of college students say they would be more loyal and would shop more at a retailer who offered a student discount.
So even if your company is established as a “non-discount” brand image, adding exclusive discounts through SheerID will only create a positive image in targeted markets while preserving brand integrity.
3. ATTRACT
Has your company been trying to reach new customers and increase incremental revenue? Offering exclusive discounts is a great way to reach new markets, especially markets that you may not have been able to reach before.
Currently, the market for both military members and students is made up of over 52.4 million members. When new discounts are offered to these communities, word spreads like wildfire.
- 85% of college students say they would be more likely to recommend a store to their friends if the retailer offered a student discount.
There are countless websites and social media channels dedicated to finding these exclusive offers, meaning free advertising for your company. In return, your company should start to see a direct correlation between offering discounts and your ROI.
USE CASE #3
Shooters Pro Shop determined the military community was a segment of their target market so decided to offer an exclusive 10% discount to all active duty, retired, and veteran military personnel, including National Guard and Reserves protected by SheerID.
In the first 30 days, Shooters Pro Shop saw
A 26% increase in online registered customers.
10% increase in total revenue.
10% of their total revenue was from verified military personnel
An ROI of 1:30—a $30 return for every $1 they spent.
Read the full case study.
Create offers too good to resist:
- Offer a discount for the MILITARY market, especially around Veteran’s Day and Memorial Day
- COLLEGE STUDENTS love free upgrades in shipping or free returns
- TEACHERS look for exclusive offers around Teacher Appreciation Day (in May) and during Back-to-School sales
To find out more about the final two benefits of giving special interest groups exclusive offers, and to find out how you can keep an exclusive offer truly exclusive, get your free copy of the entire white paper, The Benefits of Exclusivity.
