How to use printed coupons
Printed coupons work well wherever you meet people in person: at the till, in a shopping bag, in a parcel, at a market stall, a trade show or a festival. Hand one out with a purchase to bring people back, or give them to visitors at an event as a reason to come to your shop later.
A good coupon has five parts: who it is from, the offer, a code, an expiry date and a short line of terms. Keep the offer to one line, such as "10% off your next purchase" or "Free coffee with any cake". If the full terms don't fit, put them on your website.
Why every coupon gets its own code
When every coupon has a unique code, you can:
- Track redemptions. Add the codes to your till system or webshop as single-use codes. Each time one is used, you know a printed coupon brought in a sale.
- Stop copies. A photocopied coupon has the same code as the original, so it only works once.
- Compare places. Use a prefix per place, such as EVENT- or BAG-, and count how many codes from each were used.
Redemption rate = redeemed coupons ÷ coupons handed out × 100. If you hand out 200 coupons and 30 are used, the redemption rate is 30 ÷ 200 × 100 = 15%.
How the codes are made
Each code is your optional prefix plus a number of random characters. With look-alike characters left out, 31 characters are possible, so 8 characters give 31^8 = 852,891,037,441 possible codes. A guessed code is very unlikely to work. Every new code is checked against the batch, and a repeat is replaced with a new one. Need more than 200 codes, or codes for a webshop? Use the discount code generator.
How to print the coupons
- Fill in the text, choose a layout and press "Create coupons".
- Press "Download PDF" and print the file at 100% scale (actual size). Or press "Print" to print straight from your browser: choose A4 and 100% scale, and turn off headers and footers.
- Cut along the dashed lines. Thicker paper feels more like a voucher.
A QR code can send people to an offer page, a sign-up form or your webshop. If you add each coupon's code to the link, your page can read the code from the address. To make a single QR code for a poster or a counter, use the QR code generator.
A digital alternative: scratch cards
A printed coupon gives everyone the same offer. A digital scratch card adds a game: people scan a QR code in your shop, scratch on their phone and see if they have won. You can upload your own unique codes as prizes, so each winner gets one code, and you collect email addresses and marketing consent at the same time. For more ideas, read in-store competition ideas.
