Coupon businesses work by promoting other companies’ product discounts directly to customers.
How it works is this: They collect discount offers from participating companies. Participating companies get a wider audience and therefore a boost to their business. Meanwhile, consumers get a good deal. And, oh yes, the coupon business gets a commission for any sales.
All the while, the coupon company looks for other opportunities. Some of them make their money through direct sales while others get it through sales and offers such as the methods we describe here.
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Online Advertising
Online coupon websites often find ad placement services to be a fertile draw for new customers. They purchase space on others’ websites on a PPC, or pay-per-click, basis.
This arrangement pays a fixed amount to the website host every time one of their visitors views the ad. When the visitor clicks the ad, the pay is more.
Also, some of these websites give out free coupons in order to drive more traffic. This can help them to bring in more advertising income.
The best coupon businesses follow this model but also combine this strategy with others. For example, Maulik Patel, CEO of Dealslands, uses a combination of strategies, including online discount codes.
Paid Deals
For example, some sites sell deals to consumers at a rate that is lower than the retail price of the product.
In this way, consumers get a great deal while the coupon site makes money. Then, the site passes on a share of its earnings to the producing business. In such a scenario, coupons function as regular inventory. This allows for a traditional retail business model.
This business model succeeds when participating businesses have a quick turn-around, leading to fast-moving inventory.
Program Fees
Another popular means involves program fees. Sites that operate in this way charge businesses a fee for marketing their products. This works well for most businesses, as coupon sites do have the ability to boost sales.
When sales remain high, the resulting income compensates the producing company for the discounts they are offering to customers as well as the fees they are paying to the coupon site. Meanwhile, the coupon company earns commissions on sales.
For example, sites such as Latest Indian Deals do not charge consumers any money. But they do earn commissions on sales.
Bulk Sales
Producing companies sometimes sell coupons in bulk to coupon companies. These arrangements allow the coupon companies to operate at a high enough volume to not only cover their expenses but also to make a tidy profit.
Affiliate Programs
Coupon websites can also make money through affiliate programs. These programs foster relationships with other deal distributors.
Small websites benefit most from these kinds of arrangements, since well known websites can drive traffic to smaller ones. In return, though, the smaller websites list deals available on the larger websites, so traffic flows both ways. Therefore, each side has the opportunity to earn commissions from the other’s sales.
It All Hinges on the Consumer
Everybody wants to save money. It follows, then, that the future of coupon websites is bright. With properly planned strategies, coupon websites can surely thrive.
