Clipping for cash

Five dollars off. Two for the price of one. Buy one, get one. A handful of local shop owners agreed that snipping along a coupon's dotted line has been good for business. Coupons get the business name out there, and they encourage customers to try out the service.

"In some cases, coupons are very useful," said James Arbogast, manager of Tuscano! an Italian restaurant in Harrisburg. "It identifies your establishment and gives customers an opportunity to come out, have dinner and save money."

Tuscano! opened two years ago and has offered coupons off and on. It recently began serving a lunch buffet. Arbogast said the coupons have generated new business, but he also sees a lot of return business and referrals because of coupons. 

"We'll see our regular customers, but coupons also bring out some new faces for us," he said. "It all helps to get people in the door."

Customers approach coupons several ways, Arbogast said. Some won't go out to eat without a coupon. Others use the excuse of having a coupon to go out to a certain place. A third type frequents a restaurant with or without a coupon, but having that coupon is an additional incentive to eat there by a certain date.

Laura Lawrence, a cosmetologist with Pegasus Salon in Harrisburg, noticed a change in customer numbers when the shop didn't have a coupon published one month. Total customer traffic decreased even though the regulars kept coming in.

"Coupons really help bring people in," she said. "We get a lot of new customers with the coupon. It's an eye-catcher."

Coupons are good for consumers because they save them money. But business owners agree that coupons are good for them, too, because a well-placed and well-designed coupon also serves as an advertisement about the business, including location, hours, phone number and services. A coupon can also announce the introduction of new products. 

"It helps show people that you're here," Lawrence said. "It shows that we're willing to give something for them to be our customer. You've got to get your name out there. It's worth paying for the ad because you get it back."

Stephanie Pomraning, an owner of Strites' Orchard in Lower Swatara Township, has offered coupons only in the past three to four years. The company is more than 100 years old. Lately, she has added up the number of "one dollar off any purchase" coupons redeemed at the store. In June, customers used 237 coupons. In July, the number rose to 265.

"Customers shopping in our market see other people using our coupon, which makes them aware that there's a coupon available," Pomraning said. "Then there are people who don't shop here that give the coupon to others."

Because of the positive customer response, Pomraning said she will continue to offer a coupon.

Sometimes a coupon can determine where a customer will receive particular services. For instance, coupons lure some customers to Arlington Optical for glasses even if they are patients of another doctor, said Mike Farrell, office manager with Arlington Optical Ltd. in Harrisburg.

"It's a good way to get your name out there, plus (it) offers value to the customer," Farrell said.

Arlington Optical has offered its coupon for about four years. When a new doctor recently joined the business, it used the coupon not only to notify consumers of savings but also to announce the new addition.

"Sometimes the coupon makes or breaks a sale," said Claudia Danna, an optician with Arlington Optical. "Coupons are a draw, and people love them."

The coupon/ad design is important to attract attention, said Bob Zuckerman, publisher of Clipper Magazine in Mountville. Some businesses provide the ad for the coupon, but the publication has artists to do the design work. A successful coupon is all about the proper heading, a good offer, the right photograph and ad size, he said.

"Our concerns are the ad's photos and design, and then what it offers," Zuckerman said. "We want to convey the personality of the business on paper."

Zuckerman's brother, Steve, and Ian Ruzow started Clipper Magazine in 1983 at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster. For several years, a folded flier filled with black-and-white money-saving offers was inserted in 2,500 mailboxes. Now, the publication is distributed in 500 different areas in more than 30 states, including California and Florida. The magazine has grown more than 10 percent each year since its start. The magazine had an estimated $40.6 million in revenue in 2005, according to Business Journal research.

"The major thrust of our growth is going into other cities," Zuckerman said. "A bad or good economy does not make it easier to grow. Some areas are skeptical about anything new. It's not a slam dunk."