When all your rivals are having sales and launching discounts, it can be tempting to jump on the bandwagon. But it takes a lot of careful planning and strategy to make a voucher code work for your business. Before you start offering discounts on your products or services, Mark Pearson has these words of wisdom.

"Discounts will affect your margins if you don’t use them properly," says the MyVoucherCodes founder.  "Always look at your average order value and then try and increase that. If you want to use a discount, use it in your favour."

Pearson believes that the worst thing an entrepreneur can do is just throw a discount out there and "hope for the best".

"Use it sensibly," he says. "If someone’s average basket states £36 why not say, ‘Spend over £40 to get your discount’, or ‘Buy this product and get this product free’."

Another way to use voucher codes for your business is to clear unwanted stock. "If you’ve got expired products or end-of-line, put a big discount on it and get it out. It’s better to sell it all at a discount than have it sitting in your shop or sitting in your warehouse."

The most important thing is to win new business with your discount. The MyVoucherCodes entrepreneur continues: "Don’t just bottom line it. It may have been a customer who would have shopped with you anyway who just comes and gets a discount. That does happen."

MyVoucherCodes turned over £9m last year. With big brands fighting each other for a place on the site, Pearson is the king of codes. He says: "As long as you play the game correctly, a voucher code can benefit both the consumer and the retailer. The two go hand in hand."

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