Final answer:
The coupons provided by Shapr scissors hair salon to potential customers walking by the store represent a form of sales promotion, which is a short-term incentive to boost sales and interest in the salon's services.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question is about the marketing strategy used by the owner of the Shapr scissors hair salon when giving out coupons to potential customers. When businesses give away coupons, this is usually considered an example of sales promotion, which is one of the components of the promotional mix. Sales promotion refers to the short-term incentives to encourage the purchase or sale of a product or service.
Other components of the promotional mix include advertising, personal selling, direct marketing, and publicity. Advertising refers to any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor. Publicity, as opposed to advertising, involves non-paid promotional activities. A channel of distribution is the path or route that products and services take from the producer to the consumer. It's not related to the concept of sales promotion directly.
Therefore, in this scenario, the coupons given out by the hair salon to stimulate interest in the store are best described as a form of sales promotion, aimed at increasing customer traffic and eventually sales.