"Buy one, get one free" or "two for the price of one" is a common form of

sales promotion Sales promotion is one of the elements of the promotional mix. The primary elements in the promotional mix are advertising, personal selling, direct marketing and publicity/public relations. Sales promotion uses both media and non-media marketing ...

Marketing strategy

The economist Alex Tabarrok has argued, that the success of this promotion lies in the fact that consumers value the first unit significantly more than the second one. So compared to a seemingly equivalent "Half price off" promotion, they may only buy one item at half price, because the value they attach to the second unit is lower than even the discounted price.

History

The concept of "buy one, get one free" was devised in the 18th century by retail entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood. This technique is commonly known in the

marketing Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...

industry by the acronym BOGOF, or simply BOGO.

Criticism

Two-for-one promotions in the food industry have been criticized as contributing to

food waste The causes of food going uneaten are numerous and occur throughout the food system, during food production, production, food processing, processing, Food distribution, distribution, Grocery store, retail and food service sales, and Social clas ...

. Because many foods under such offers have short shelf lives, customers are more likely to pass the products' use by date.

References

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