Sales promotion consists of all promotional activities other than advertising, personal selling and publicity, which are used to encourage the buyers to make immediate purchase of product or to boost its sale. 

According to Roger A Strong : 

Sales promotions are short-term incentives to encourage purchase or sale of a product or service. 

According to George W. Hopkins : 

All those organised efforts which help to make advertisement and sales process effective are known as sales promotion.

Consumer promotion techniques : 

These techniques are directly related to consumers and persuade them to buy more and more quantity of goods. These sales promotion methods can be implemented at consumers’ homes, offices or shops of middlemen. 

Main consumer-oriented sales promotion techniques are :

• Free samples : 

Free samples of low-priced and repeat sales items are distributed to selected people to gain consumer acceptance and to popularise the product. These samples can be distributed in the shop or door to door. 

• Contests : 

Under this tool, consumers are given rewards for analytical creative thinking about the product in the form of slogan writing, sentence completion, problem solving, quiz, etc. Rewards are given to the successful participants in the form of cash prize, merchandise or free travel. 

• Rebate or price-off offer :

In order to increase sales, many producers introduce price off offer to the customers. Under this, product is offered at a price lower than the normal price. 

• Discount coupon : 

A discount coupon is a certificate that entitles its holder a specified saving on the purchase of a specified product. Coupons may be issued by the manufacturer either directly by mail or through sales force or by dealers.

• Quantity gifts :

Offering extra quantity of the product commonly used by marketeer of toiletry products, for example; a shaving cream offers 40% extra, etc. 

• Trade fairs and exhibitions : 

Fairs and exhibitions provide an important avenue of sales promotion to the businessmen. Businessmen can demonstrate their products, explaining their special features and usefulness. Book fair, shoe fair, etc. are the examples of these. 

• Packaging : 

Attractive, colourful, and good packaging attracts and induces a consumer to buy. Packaging not only helps in identification of the product, but it also facilitates use of the product.

• Other techniques : 

Refunds, instant draws and assured gifts, lucky draw, usable benefits, etc. 

• Other techniques : 

Refunds, instant draws and assured gifts, lucky draw, usable benefits, etc.