Sales Promotion can be seen as the extra enticement of an offer that increases the value or incentive to buy the product for the customer, this is turn aims to increase the number of sales (Bendle et al. 2018).
Bendle et al. (2018) categorises sales promotions into two large groups of either push or pull. A push approach is more targeted towards the supply chain to increase the presence of the product in the market and essentially pushed towards the market.
On the other hand, a pull approach creates demand to the point that customers essentially pull the product through the supply chain due to a high demand for the product.
Bendle et al. (2018) gives examples of both as the following:
Push:
- Contests and dealer incentives
- Displays (e.g. food stands in a super market)
- Trade Shows
- Cooperative advertising
Push
- Samples
- Refunds
- Rebates
- Coupons
- Bonus pack or portion
- Price reductions
- Loyalty programs
- Event Marketing
While ever market and product requires a tailored approach to their marketing efforts, there is no reason why a combination of both push and pull can not be utilised at different stages of a products life cycle to suit the demand for that product.
References:
Bendle, NT, PW Farris, PE Pfeifer & DJ Reibstein (2016) Marketing Metrics: The Manager’s Guide to Measuring Marketing Performance, 3rd edition. Pearson: New Jersey.
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