Explain Sales Promotions and its objectives for buyers, middlemen, and sellers (sales force).

Sales promotion forms all the promotion activities other than personal selling, advertising, direct selling, and public relations. It covers non-personal and non-media activities like free samples, coupons, rebates, discounts, etc. Sales promotions are used to stimulate purchasing and sales by way of giving incentives or offers, and the objectives are to increase sales by informing potential customers about new products. The potential buyers know the source of the message as the organisation which arranges the activity.

Definition –
In a specific sense, Sales Promotion includes those sales activities that supplement both Personal Selling and Advertising and co-ordinates them and helps to make them effective, such as, displays, shows and expositions, demonstrations and other non-recurrent selling efforts not in the ordinary routine – The American Marketing Association.

Most of the organisations adopt sales promotions as it is less costly as compared to the increasing Television advertising and personal selling costs. Sales promotion is widely used for creating brand awareness and liking among consumers.

Consumers are lured by the incentives of buying through sales promotion activities like discounts, rebates, contests, coupons, product samples, price promotion signs, coupons, exhibitions, setting kiosks in malls, displays, free samples, gifts, etc. The customer who buys a product sees an extra value in the purchase like a discount, etc.

Risks Involved –
There is a high risk of devaluing the product or brand value if the sales promotion activities are not supported by advertising campaigns. Giving discounts, free samples, deals, etc. sometimes gives an impression that the brand is not of high quality and not being bought by majority of buyers. Sales promotions most of the time fail to attract long-term brand loyal customers. It mostly appeals to buyers who look for deals and value at a lower price. Hence it becomes important to support sales promotion activities with strong advertising messages.

Sales promotion employs tools for Customer Promotion, middlemen, and Company’s sales force.

A number of sales promotion activities are directed to lure customers in trying and buying company’s products. If the target audience is large, the company can use different activities at the same time. For example, a newly launched hair strengthening shampoo may give out free sachets of the product along with discounts on the standard package (free sample to buyers visiting a retail store apart from 10% discount on the 150 ml bottle). A consumer who is not band loyal but is seeking a low price good quality product will definitely try a product which is available at a 10% discount.

Objective of sales promotion for consumers-

• Sales Promotion attracts new customers to try the product,
• Reward existing customers,
• To increase repurchase of the product by occasional buyers.
• It attracts customers who are often looking for value from products and are not brand loyal.
• It generates a short term demand for the product in the target market.
• Luring buyers away from competitors
• Switch brands

Objective of sales promotion for middlemen-
The manufactures are dependent on the middlemen (retailers and wholesalers) for the sale of their products. The manufacturers help the middlemen in many ways like dealer contests, training of the dealers, supply display material, designing the middlemen’s stores, etc. to gain their co-operation in the company’s marketing effort.

• Encourage off-season buying
• Encourage stocking of company’s products
• Discourage competitor’s stocking and display of products
• Gain entry into new retail stores

Objective of sales promotion for sales force-
Sales promotion that is aimed at the sales force is to motivate and encourage the sales force to increase the selling effort in the target market. For example, offering a vacation to a sales personal who has achieved certain sales target.

• Encourage extra effort
• Encourage support for a new product or service
• Stimulating off season sales.