Every businessman wants to increase the sale of goods that he deals in. He can adopt several ways for that purpose. You might have heard about “lakhpati bano”, “win a tour to Singapore”, “30% extra in a pack of one kg”, “scratch the card and win a prize” etc.

You might also have seen gifts like lunch box, pencil box, pen, shampoo pouch etc. offered free with some products. There are also exchange offers, like in exchange of existing model of television you can get a new model at a reduced price.You may have also observed in your neighbouring markets notices of “winter sale”, “summer sale”, “trade fairs”, “discount upto 50%” and many other schemes to attract customers to buy certain products. All these are incentives offered by manufacturers or dealers to increase the sale of their goods.

These incentives may be in the form of free samples, gifts, discount coupons, demonstrations, shows, contests etc. All these measures normally motivate the customers to buy more and thus, it increases sales of the product. This approach of selling goods is known as “Sales Promotion”.Sales promotion adopts short term, non-recurring methods to boost up sales in different ways.

These offers are not available to the customers throughout the year. During festivals, end of the seasons, year ending and some other occasions these schemes are generally found in the market. Thus, sales promotion consists of all activities other than advertising and personal selling that help to increase sales of a particular commodity. Objectives of Sales Promotion The objectives are: i. To introduce new products ii. To attract new customers and retain the existing ones ii. To maintain sales of seasonal products iv. To meet the challenge of competition Let us learn about these objectives in details: (i) To introduce new products: Have you ever heard about distribution of free samples? Perhaps you know that many companies distribute free samples while introducing new products.

The consumers after using these free samples may develop a taste for it and buy the products later for consumption. (ii) To attract new customers and retain the existing ones: Sales promotion measures help to attract or create new customers for the products.While moving in the market, customers are generally attracted towards the product that offers discount, gift, prize, etc on buying. These are some of the tools used to encourage the customers to buy the goods. Thus, it helps to retain the existing customers, and at the same time it also attracts some new customers to buy the product. (iii) To maintain sales of seasonal products: There are some products like air conditioner, fan, refrigerator, cooler, winter clothes, room heater, sunscreen lotion, glycerin soap etc.

, which are used only in particular seasons.To maintain the sale of these types of products normally the manufacturers and dealers give off-season discount. For example, you can buy air conditioner in winter at a reduced price. Similarly you may get discount on winter clothes during summer. (iv) To meet the challenge of competition: Today’s business faces competition all the time. New products frequently come to the market and at the same time improvement also takes place.

So sales promotion measures have become essential to retain the market share of the seller or producer in the product-market.