|
Providing discounts on products is an effective way to increase product conversion rates and cultivate customer loyalty. However, most sellers are troubled by whether and how to offer discounts on their products. In today’s article, we will talk about how sellers can do peak season marketing. Before talking about specific promotional strategies, let’s first clarify the situation. Providing discounts to consumers not only helps to acquire customers, but also helps to cultivate customer loyalty. However, different methods are suitable for sellers in different situations:- If you are positioning yourself as a high-end brand or your business has slim margins, you may need to cultivate customer stickiness rather than offering big discounts.
- If your store is profitable, you might consider offering huge discounts occasionally or small discounts regularly to keep your business stable.
All of the above promotion types have two forms in the Shopify platform:
Percentage discounts : Generally, small discounts are 5% or 10%; discounts that can drive sales are 20% or 25%; and discounts of at least 50% are generally offered when clearing out inventory. Sellers can create percentage discounts like this: Buy two pairs of sneakers, get any sweater at half price.Discounts in the amount of money : Providing coupons will make consumers feel that they are wasting money if they don’t use it. Sellers can create amount discounts like this, such as: 20 off for purchases over 200.
Free shipping : One of the reasons why consumers abandon their shopping carts is expensive shipping. Free shipping can save shopping carts and increase product conversion rates. Sellers can market their products like this : set a minimum purchase amount and offer free shipping above that amount to increase the average order value. You can even combine it with seasonal promotions, such as offering a 20% discount code to email subscribers.
Provide gifts : Adding gifts to products is a good way to provide value-added services to consumers. If you can use this strategy flexibly, you will be able to increase the average order value of the product or clear the inventory in the warehouse. Sellers can refer to this strategy : set a minimum discount amount or require purchase of product A to get a coupon for product B, or purchase a certain quantity or amount at one time to get a free gift. Automatic discounts : Applicable to eligible customers, customers will see the discount on the shopping cart page before starting the checkout process. Consumers do not need to enter the discount code, the system automatically gives the discount price. Studies have shown that if the store uses automatic discounts, American consumers are 1.8 times more likely to place an order and place orders faster. Discount Code : When checking out, customers enter the discount code to redeem the offer. It works best when sent to the right audience, such as email list audiences, new fans, or returning customers.
19 promotion strategies There are many ways to offer discounts and conduct promotions. This article will provide 19 ways for sellers to refer to.
1. Offer discounts regularly The traditional way of promotion is to offer discounts on a weekly or monthly basis. Sellers usually use this strategy at the end of each month or quarter to achieve their business goals.
Example : Walgreens, an American drugstore chain, offers coupons or promotional codes every week (as shown in the picture).
If you are in the pre-launch preparation stage or may release a new product, you can publish pre-sale offers to attract consumers to visit and pique their interest, thereby converting new customers into loyal customers.
Example : The Jewelry Wardrobe was about to launch the Scarlett collection and they offered consumers a free $25 gift card in exchange for their email address and a survey. They then manually contacted potential audiences on their LinkedIn account to launch the collection.
3. Peak/Seasonal Promotions Black Friday, Cyber Monday and peak season are important promotional days, but there are many major holidays in a year. For sellers, these holidays are opportunities to increase product sales. Sellers can provide consumers with relevant discounts and offers.
Example : Blu Skin Care regularly uses holidays to offer special deals to its visitors and past customers. They do this through different channels such as email, social media, sales platforms, and the brand’s website.
4. Recover shopping cart benefits Nearly 70% of consumers abandon their shopping carts. If you want to bring them back, you can send them an email. If your store is on Shopify or Advanced Shopify plans, you can use the built-in feature to restore shopping carts. If not, to get more customization and analytics features, you need to use the Klaviyo plugin to access it.
Klaviyo Tools: https://apps.shopify.com/klaviyo-email-marketing ) Example : Online grocery brand Brandless sends an email after a consumer abandons their cart offering $1 off shipping, which both entices first-time visitors to return and incentivizes them to make a purchase.
5. Subscribe to email/newsletter offers Building an email list is important for online sellers. By offering a discount in exchange for a visitor's email address, you can effectively increase your conversion rate. With consumers' email addresses, you can also establish a connection with them to increase customer loyalty, and you can also use it in future email marketing. Example : Overstock.com, an American shopping website, sends a 15% discount coupon to consumers who subscribe to its email newsletter.
6. Reward consumers for engaging with your brand on social media One of the most difficult parts of running a new store is getting the word out about your products. Encouraging visitors and customers to share your store on social media is a cost-effective way to build word-of-mouth.
Example : Truxx, a car-sharing service , offers $5 shopping coupons to customers who share their brand experiences on Facebook .
Consumers are more likely to buy products that have been recommended by family or friends. Take advantage of this by offering incentives to encourage referrals. You can offer rewards to the referrer, the referee, or both.
Example : Fast food brands Blue Apron and Hello Fresh are well-known for their referral marketing . If consumers share a referral code with friends and family, as long as the other party redeems the code, the referrer can get a free meal or a discount.
Offering new customer offers can help entice visitors to make a purchase.
Example : Eyewear brand Clearly offers new customers 50% off on prescription lenses, 15% off on contact lenses, and free shipping.
And DODOcase (which sells iPad cases) offers a 10% discount to first-time buyers. 9. Get discounts when you spend more than a certain amount The "matching discount" is an effective upselling strategy that encourages customers to spend more, thereby increasing the average order value. How to calculate the specific match discount? First, you need to calculate the average order value (AOV) of the previous few months. If the customer's spending amount is 10% - 20 % higher than the AOV , you can offer a certain discount or free shipping service. You can also offer discounts on specific product lines. If you want customers to focus on a certain product line, it is recommended to try offering discounts on that line to attract consumers.
Example : Nasty Gal offers free shipping on orders over $100.
10. Social Media Exclusives Offering exclusive social media deals is an effective way to build consumer loyalty. Plus, this strategy can help grow your brand’s social media followers, which can help you market to them in the future.
Example : Maple Holistics, a natural skincare brand, provided its Twitter followers with a discount code that can save 15% on all orders placed on Amazon. The original Twitter post is as follows:
Giving your loyal customers deals can help maintain and strengthen connections with them. You can easily create promo codes for specific audiences using Shopify.
You can use an email marketing tool like Klaviyo to send emails to past customers after they purchase a certain amount, or use the Loyalty Lion tool to create a customer loyalty program. Klaviyo : https://apps.shopify.com/klaviyo-email-marketing Loyalty Lion : https://apps.shopify.com/loyaltylion
Example : One of the main customer loyalty tools behind the success of outdoor brand REI is its membership program. You can get a 10% rebate on full-price purchases and have special privileges on certain products. REI also frequently rewards members, such as a free $20 gift card for purchases over $100.
Sometimes, all it takes to turn a visitor into a customer is to retain them just as they are about to leave your site or close the tab. You can do this by showing them a pop-up window as they exit, offering them a last-minute discount.
Example : Auto Accessories Garage displays the following pop-up window when the customer plans to exit the website. Consumers enter their email address in the form and receive a percentage discount. If the user then abandons the cart, the seller sends an email offering a coupon for a bigger discount to further convince the consumer to buy.
13. Retargeting Advertising Offers Retargeting ads, also known as remarketing ads, are only shown to audiences who have visited your website before. These audiences already know who you are, and running this type of ad can remind them to return to your website, and then the seller can offer some discounts to encourage them to place an order.
Example : Let’s take DODOcase as an example. They effectively run Facebook and Google remarketing ads multiple times throughout the purchase cycle to attract visitors back to their website, and they state in the ads that they will enjoy a 20% discount when they place an order. Their ads are shown below:
14. Internet celebrity promotion discount code Partnering with influencers who have a large following is a great way to increase brand awareness. Providing exclusive discount codes to the influencer’s followers will hopefully convert their followers into your customers.
Example : BarkBox , a pet subscription box brand, often partners with popular pet bloggers/vloggers to build brand awareness and drive sales. BarkBox gives the influencer’s fans exclusive coupon codes to entice them to make a purchase. Through these codes, sellers can also check and track the code redemption effect so as to select suitable cooperative influencers for future campaigns.
15. Offer rewards to customers who join your loyalty program Offering rewards to customers for joining your loyalty program not only rewards them for engaging with your brand, but also gives them more motivation to become a member right away.
According to a Forrester report, customers who join a loyalty program spend $42.33 more than the average consumer over a three-month period.
Example : Customers who join the Big Lots brand loyalty program can redeem a $5 coupon on their next purchase, which can be used online or offline.
16. Online Shopping Offers If you want to drive online sales, it is recommended to provide coupons that can be used online to drive conversion rates.
Example : The Dick brand offers customers special deals on their homepage for online purchases. Their goal is to get customers to order online and pick up their orders in-store. This allows the brand to provide an in-person experience for online consumers and cross-sell other products in-store.
17. In-store shopping discounts If you want to boost offline sales, offer in-store discounts or coupons that can be used during holidays, trade shows, conferences, etc. Example : Bed Bath & Beyond is well known for offering in-store coupons, some of which can be used even after they expire.
18. Participation in activities will earn you prizes You can host online or offline events to offer discounts or free gifts to participating consumers. The gifts can be given during or after the event. Hosting events can help maintain relationships with customers and increase customer loyalty, and it can also help warm up for your next promotion.
Example : prAna ’s Boulder is a clothing brand that holds free yoga classes in its physical store every day. After the class, they invite students to make a purchase, which will give them a 25% discount if they buy in the store.
19. Customer Milestone Discounts If you have a customer loyalty program, milestones are especially important. Milestones can be divided into two aspects:
- Personal customers: the customer’s birthday or anniversary;
- Customer brand engagement: the anniversary of the customer’s first order, the anniversary of joining a customer loyalty program, spending a certain amount/quantity, or interacting with your brand to a certain extent.
Example : Similarly, the Big Lots brand offers discounts and free gifts on customers’ birthdays. They let customers know that joining the loyalty program will give them more reasons to join their loyalty program. Different promotional methods are suitable for sellers of different businesses, and sellers should consider them carefully. If you have a good and effective promotion method, please leave a message below to share and discuss with everyone~
Statement: When reprinting this article, the title and original text must not be modified, and the source and original link must be retained. |
