What we do is create a discount coupon, then apply it to a specific set of products. We then advertise those products and promote the discount value in our newsletter, telling recipients of the newsletter to use the discount code when checking out.
We even encourage the newsletter recipients to forward the newsletter to their friends (business is business!) so if a wider group comes in to shop we're very happy to give them the discounts too - even if they decide not to subscribe to the newsletter.
These coupons are time-stamped anyway, so expire after a couple of weeks.
Occasionally we get customers who miss the deadline and (depending on the overall cart value) we still give them the discount - this makes for very happy customers, and builds loyalty.




