Why a spa deal card can work in every market

Deal cards are an opportunity to generate a significant spike in revenue by offering your customers a fantastic set of deals so they can experience something they love or try something new at an unbeatable price.

Since they include multiple offers sold together on one category-specific card, deal cards are sold at higher price points than regular deals. This means a higher return on your investment. Since multi-merchant deal cards traditionally involve no revenue split, deal cards are high-earners for your program. This revenue-generating effect is only increased by the fact that deal cards are sold at a higher price point than most regular featured deals.

Since all deal cards include a collection of high-quality offers and make great gifts, they have a the potential to bring in significant revenue during the winter holidays. This is particularly true for spa cards.

Every market has at least one fabulous upscale spa, and spa cards are a win-win-win for your customers, your merchant, and your deals program. Your customers receive a great deal on multiple spa services, your merchant receives repeat foot traffic from new clients (along with upsell opportunities and a possible revenue split), and you have the opportunity to drive revenue with a new offering at a high price point in a category with mass appeal (and one that doesn't usually buy traditional media advertising!).

The foot traffic that the deal card will bring your merchant is especially significant because attracting repeat business can be a struggle for spas since there is not usually a lot of brand loyalty. However, a deal card guarantees at least a certain number of return trips, all of which offer upsell opportunities.

Since spa cards are a big opportunity for the holiday season, here are some tips for selling and structuring a spa card for maximum success.

STRUCTURING A SPA CARD

Spa cards should include five to six treatments from a single spa, like the ones shown above and listed below:

• Manicure
• Pedicure
• Facial
• Massage
• Signature Treatment or Discounted Product

The goal is to have these treatments add up to a $300 value, so you can then turn around and sell the card for $150.

You want to keep these treatments at baseline or mid-level price so that the spa will have the opportunity to upsell customers once they arrive (i.e. choose the 90-minute massage over the 60-minute massage).

It's a good idea to go to the spa's website and actually build what you think the offer should be before you go in to sell. This helps reinforce that the deal card is something exclusive to the merchant – it's not just another deal. So instead of going in with a generic list like the one above, the one you bring might look more like this (notice that the total value of the six treatments is $300):

• Essential Manicure ($30)
• Essential Pedicure ($40)
• Essential Facial ($60)
• 60-Minute Massage ($80)
• Eyebrow Shaping ($20)
• Sea Salt Body Wrap ($70)

SELLING A SPA CARD

Since the revenue potential of a spa card is so huge, you want to treat it like a promotion in and of itself. While an ideal time to launch the card is mid-November – leading up to the holiday season – you can run a spa card at any time of year. No matter when you launch, run the card until it sells out. Promote it heavily – via all of the promotional channels available to you – from launch through the end of the holiday season.

When you are selling a spa card, make it all about the merchant, and emphasize how much value they will be getting from the promotion. Since spa cards are single-merchant deal cards, you can negotiate a revenue split, but be sure to assign a dollar amount to all of the promotion you will be doing around the card so the merchant can see how valuable it is for them.

When you are negotiating the terms, aim for a minimum of 300 available cards. Don't limit yourself though – remember that the more you can sell, the more money you will end up making.

Matt Coen is the president and co-founder of Second Street, a leading provider of private-label online promotions platforms and partner success services for media companies based in St. Louis, Mo. He can be reached at (314) 880-4902 or matt@secondstreet.com.