Discount codes, flash sales and how to entice your customers
Discount codes and flash sales are powerful ecommerce discount strategies to boost sales and increase brand awareness. Who doesn't love a deal? In the e-commerce battle to stand out, a well-executed sale or a new joiner code creates the much-needed hype and urgency around your brand.
Planning in advance and building hype on social media and via email marketing efforts can significantly benefit your long-term business models. Getting people excited to talk about your brand's activities is essential to attracting new customers or retaining existing loyal ones. Research shows that receiving discounts releases oxytocin, in turn making shoppers happier — and less likely to abandon their carts.
Effective Ecommerce Discount Strategies
Let's explore three proven ecommerce discount strategies that can transform your online sales performance:
Flash Sales: Creating Urgency and Excitement
The right type of time-limited discount can maximise sales and prevent shoppers from abandoning their carts due to the time-sensitive nature of the promotion.
Gymshark exemplifies successful ecommerce discount strategies by using social media to create a much-anticipated buzz around their 'drops' so users eagerly follow their social accounts to ensure they don't miss out.
By utilising FOMO, or the fear of missing out, a flash sale can drive customers to take action and complete a purchase, helping your brand avoid abandoned baskets and missed opportunities. Introducing a discount can cause the consumer to perceive your product as more valuable and essentially view the bargain they're getting as too good to ignore.
Shopify Plus brands can implement these ecommerce discount strategies using Launchpad, one of the apps only available to Plus users, to schedule discounts in advance and automatically change product prices on your ecommerce page for a set duration.
Discount Codes: Personalised Offers That Convert
Other brands ensure each new joiner and newsletter subscriber receives a time-sensitive discount code to feel more welcomed with an air of exclusivity. More than 52% of consumers are significantly influenced to hit 'buy' when they're offered personalised discounts, making this one of the most effective ecommerce discount strategies.
Discount codes are a great way to increase your average order value (AOV) with offers that give customers specified deals such as 'get 20% off when you spend £50'. They can also be limited to particular collections and dates to protect your brand and profit margins by limiting the number of times a code can be used, the minimum spend amount before the code can be applied, and to which products, collections, or variants the discount can be applied.
An even better omni-channel approach to ecommerce discount strategies would be to permit your customers to use their codes both online and in-store, creating a seamless shopping experience regardless of channel.
Buy One, Get One Free & Free Gifts: The Power of "Free"
The word 'free' excites any shopper. Small, unexpected gifts are a cost-effective ecommerce discount strategy to convert customers and earn loyalty. Gifts spark joyful experiences across the customer's journey with your brand and offer an excellent way to move older or smaller stock items.
Even including a small free item with a purchase over a certain price threshold makes customers feel like they're receiving bigger deals with the second item. This perception of added value can significantly influence purchasing decisions.
Implementing Ecommerce Discount Strategies Effectively
When implementing these ecommerce discount strategies, consider these best practices:
- Set clear objectives - Determine whether you're aiming to acquire new customers, increase AOV, clear inventory, or boost overall revenue.
- Protect your margins - Calculate the minimum discount needed to motivate purchase while maintaining profitability.
- Create exclusivity - Make certain discounts available only to specific customer segments to maintain perceived value.
- Track performance - Monitor which ecommerce discount strategies deliver the best results for different products and customer segments.
- Maintain brand integrity - Ensure your promotions align with your brand positioning and don't train customers to only buy when items are discounted.
Measuring Success
The effectiveness of your ecommerce discount strategies should be measured against key performance indicators:
- Conversion rate increases during promotional periods
- Average order value changes
- Customer acquisition cost when using discounts
- Customer lifetime value of discount-acquired customers
- Cart abandonment rate reductions
By closely monitoring these metrics, you can refine your approach to ecommerce discount strategies and maximise their impact on your bottom line.
Will you increase your promotions to attract and retain customers? The evidence suggests that strategic implementation of these ecommerce discount strategies can significantly boost your online store's performance when executed thoughtfully.