Everyone wants to feel like they’re getting a good deal. Merchants often attempt to capitalize on this desire through coupon offers, rebates, and “special discounts.” Coupons have become the promotional drug of choice to woo more business from new and old customers alike. Unfortunately, coupons can destroy customer relationships almost as fast as they are [...]

Don’t throw away your dough on print advertising or coupons just yet! It seems that whenever a new pizza shop, dry cleaners, or whatever opens up, the local ValPak, SuperCoups or other coupon-envelope vendor will arrive and take about $1000-$2000 from the owner to “jump-start the business.” Don’t do it! The problem with starting out [...]