These four marketing strategies are the top four that large companies use to draw customers through their doors, and in most cases these gimmicks tend to work. This is a bonus to us, the consumer, when the gimmicks save us money but some tempt us to spend money on things we don’t want or need just so we can get the benefit. Let’s look at each in turn to see just how beneficial they really are.

Cashback
Cashback offers are regularly seen on the internet and there are plenty of sites that award you with Cashback when you purchase items from specific retailers via the Cashback website. In general you get between one and four percent Cashback with each purchase but this is variable depending on the retailer you’re buying from. In this situation the Cashback is beneficial and free – providing you were going to buy the items in question in the first place though.

Car dealers, mortgage lenders and credit card providers also offer Cashback deals when you use their services. Car dealers often offer a few thousand pounds Cashback when you purchase a specific car however it is important to make sure the car you’re buying isn’t a few thousand pounds more expensive than a similar model down the road. Mortgage lenders have also been known to offer a percentage of your mortgage value in cash when you transfer to them and these are always worth looking at. Similarly, a number of credit card issuers now offer Cashback cards that award you with points every time you use the card. The points can then be converted into cash which is again an added bonus.

Discounts
Virtually every retail company offers discounts – normally in the form of a sale – at some point. If the discounts are on items that you need and use then they are well worth taking advantage of however many companies tend to tempt you with big discounts on items that you never even considered buying before seeing the discount banners. In this way discounts lead to impulse buying and as we all know this type of shopping can be very bad for your finances. Before taking advantage of a discount take a minute to decide if you really need the item, and if you don’t then leave it exactly where it is.

Rewards
Rewards are normally offered in the form of points and you get them for being loyal. Some of the major supermarkets have reward cards where you get a certain amount of points with every pound you spend at the till. These are always an added bonus because the points are free and they convert into money off your shopping. A number of credit cards also award their customers with reward points and these can be used to buy items from online sites associated with the credit card issuer. Again the points are free and if you’re going to use the credit card anyway then why not get something back in return.

Vouchers
Everyone loves a voucher, especially when it entitles you to money off something you want to buy. Millions of people religiously cut the vouchers out of the local newspapers and magazines and use them against their shopping. Some vouchers specify that you have to buy the product that the voucher is for but others don’t and these are a great source of free money. Don’t be too proud to stand at the checkout and hand over a bunch of money off vouchers because they could save you a good deal of money over the course of a few months.