I recently noticed a promotion put out by a large UK retailer. This well-known brand was calling for customers to go on to its Facebook page at a specific time, on a specific day to access and print off a coupon to redeem a free chocolate bar.
Out of professional curiosity, I followed the instructions but couldn’t get the link to work. After trying a few times, I gave up. It didn’t take long to realise that the site had been overwhelmed by consumer response.
And I clearly wasn’t the only one experiencing problems – just a quick glance at the number of negative comments made by people who’d been unable to redeem their coupon was enough to show that the promotion hadn’t ended well for the retailer.
It made me think about how we would have done it differently. As a risk management business with over 20 years’ experience in the field, PIMS-SCA uses our expertise to advise clients on how to prevent problems happening.
The first issue was timing. Asking consumers to access the site at a particular time of day created a huge bottleneck, which the system clearly couldn’t cope with. It’s important to set some time parameters but giving consumers at least a day to access the coupon could have been a better option.
Unfortunately, they compounded the bottleneck issue by also informing consumers that there were only 5,000 coupons available. They might as well have posted an invitation to a bun fight!
The third point to make is that it’s vital to test systems prior to promotional activity. Technical teams should be briefed to bombard the system beforehand to make sure it can handle high demand. I got the impression that the system in question either wasn’t tested or wasn’t prepared as thoroughly as it should have been.
Online redemption schemes are becoming increasingly popular, and social media offers a powerful draw for consumer activity. We’ve all seen what happens when things go wrong but, with careful planning, a considered response to the client’s brief, good knowledge of the systems and technology available, and rigorous attention to detail, there’s no reason for a promotion like this to end on a negative note.
