For restaurant owners and retail managers, the challenge is constant: how do you get new customers in the door and turn them into loyal, repeat visitors? For years, the answer was paper coupons and punch cards. But in today's digital world, paper is slow, expensive, and holding your business back.
The flyers are costly to print, they're impossible to track, and worst of all, they are easily lost or abused. There is no way to know if your promotion is actually working or if a single coupon is being shared and reused, eating into your margins.
The solution is to go digital. But traditional digital coupon systems often require expensive scanners, complex POS integrations, and clunky hardware that gets in the way.
There is a better way. This guide will show you how to use trackable digital vouchers that customers can redeem on their own phones, with no special hardware required.
Imagine a system so simple that all your customers need is their phone, and all your staff needs is their eyes. That's the power of the "Mark as Used" digital voucher.
It's a unique, secure webpage that each customer receives. When they are at your counter or table, they simply show the voucher on their phone. Your staff visually confirms the offer and then taps a single button on the customer's screen to redeem it. The voucher is instantly marked as used and cannot be used again.
This simple, hardware-free process is the core of our solution for restaurants and retail. It prevents fraud, requires zero staff training, and is incredibly easy for customers to use.
Now, let's turn this feature into a powerful, automated system for getting new customers and building your email list. The most effective method is the "Table Tent" or "Package Insert" funnel.
Here's how it works, step-by-step:
First, decide on an offer that's compelling enough to make a customer pull out their phone. Examples include:
Using Coupon Carrier, you create a simple landing page with our Public Signup Form feature. You can customize this page with your logo and a message related to your offer.
Take the unique URL for your Public Signup Form and turn it into a QR code using any free online QR code generator.
Print this QR code and place it where your customers will see it:
The sign should have a clear call-to-action: "Scan Here for a Free Appetizer on Your Next Visit!"
Now, the magic happens automatically:
While the "Mark as Used" button is perfect for most businesses, some require more robust validation. If you have multiple locations, want to track redemptions by staff member, or use codes generated by your POS system, our Mobile Scanner Service is the ideal solution.
This web-based app turns any staff smartphone into a powerful code scanner. When a customer presents their QR code, your staff can scan it to instantly validate that the coupon is legitimate and has not been used before.
Digital vouchers are the key to building a modern, trackable marketing strategy for your physical business. You can stop wasting money on paper and start building a real, measurable connection with your customers.
