Waiting for the holiday season to arrive by offering discount deals is a thing of the past. It’s time to strategically plan your move that can boost your brand engagements throughout the year. business sales promotions are things that an eCommerce business cannot overlook.
About 93% of shoppers use discount codes throughout the year. In addition, marketers can expect around a 50% increase in production with just a 30% discount on a specific product.
As horrific as the year 2020 went, it became important to keep the customers bonded strongly with brands and for that many companies started offering discounts. Around 60% of online shoppers stated to have found discounts important during COVID-19.
Reportedly, 80% of coupon redemptions are expected to happen through smartphones. Whereas 80% of millennials are more inclined to try the discounts offered by new brands. The success through discounts and coupons is unignorable. But what’s the reason behind it?
The Psychology Behind Business Sales Promotions
In simple words, discounts make customers feel special. It makes them feel valued by the brand which, in turn, strengthens their bond with your business. This makes discounts an effective tool to inspire brand loyalty.
A study by Claremont Graduate University showed that discounts had a direct impact on people’s health, happiness, and stress levels. The research demonstrated that coupon recipients who receive a $10 discount experience a 38% rise in oxytocin levels and are 11% happier than those who shop at full price.
Discounts have also proven to be effective for attracting new customers. When you give an offer to a new visitor, even if they want to make a purchase or not, upon getting the discount it increases the chances of sales. Brands are using newer ways to attract and engage their customers. They have divided the audience into different categories: new visitors, retained customers, loyal clients, and surfers. There are strategies for each one of them.
Apart from this, discounts and deals invite new experiences. According to the statistics, around 80% of customers reported to have tried a new brand just for trying the discounted offer. In this way, discounts create a different psychological impact on different people. Some feel smarter when using coupons while others just want to save money.
Why & How Business Sales Promotion Offers Have Became Popular In The Year 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed the marketing and advertising demographics. Back in the year 2020, the global health emergency put nationwide lockdowns all around the world. As people were asked to stay inside their homes, the businesses shifted online with eCommerce witnessing a huge boost.
In the second quarter of the year, eCommerce sales reached $211 million, witnessing a 44% increase compared to 2019. People who were suffering from financial difficulties had no other choice but to actively look for discounts.
The unprecedented rise of eCommerce coupled with financial uncertainty made the perfect environment for digital discount codes to rise in popularity. For the first time in history, digital coupons overtook paper coupons as more discounts were being redeemed online than in-store.
From offering free samples to using promo codes at the checkout, several techniques were used that gave a boost to the overall sales funnel of brands. Online stores that effectively utilized discount marketing actually witnessed growth in this period.
Deals And Discounts eCommerce Stores Should Offer
There are many ways to give business sales promotions. You need to select those that fit your business model. You have to carry out comprehensive research to analyze the preferences and behaviors of your audience to determine what works for you. Here are some of the ways discounts can be promoted with digital content.
Coupons
Downloadable coupons are accessible through multiple platforms. You can offer these coupons via email, post them on websites, place them at the checkout corner and even deliver them through social media posts. You can offer mobile-only coupons to your customers who have never been there in your online stores. In this way, you can make them opt for the change.
Buy One, Get One
With Buy One, Get One, or BOGO deals, customers can be incentivized to spend much more than they had initially planned. Customers who are looking to buy in bulk will almost always be enticed by this deal. In recent years, stores such as Publix and Kruger have put their own spin on this concept by advertising 50% offers as BOGO offers.
Discounts For Visitors
As you have read that marketers have divided the audience into different groups this helps them to strategically plan to offer discounts. For instance, Fastrack recovered 53% of their customers by offering discounts to visitors right at the moment when they were about to navigate off the site. The lightbox pop appeared in front of them with an interesting tagline announcing the discount.
Free Shipping
Abandoning shopping carts has been a common issue encountered by many businesses. Some brands offer an automatic business sales promotion discount at the time of checkout this comes as a surprise that ensures a potential sale.
Apart from this, other brands also offer promo codes or deals to be utilized only at checkout. For instance, Cosmetic Capital received an increase of up to 300% in daily lead generation by offering free shipping to customers. Not only this, they even set a timer to create a sense of urgency in their customers. The fear of missing out combined with a good offer always yields impressive results.
Seasonal Discounts
Discounts are important throughout the year. However, special offers tied to a certain event never fail to create a buzz around your product. Businesses that aren’t that generous in other times of the year offer doorbuster deals on Christmas, Black Friday, and Halloween. Along with maximizing sales, seasonal discounts are also good for reducing inventory.
Things You Need To Consider
Discounts can make or break a brand. It can be a reason for its success and can also break it down by creating a poor image in the eyes of its audience. It all depends on how well you have created your strategy. If you have offered enormous discounts, it can create an image that you don’t have confidence in your products and that’s why you are selling them off aggressively.
If you truly want to reap profitable outcomes through your promotional campaigns, using discount deals and coupons, you need to follow a few things:
- Do not offer a discount on poor-selling items
- Build your email list to reach out potentially
- Incentivize customers to keep them involved
- Measure all of your channels effectively
- Give a boost to your referral program
- Add a time restraint
Get this right and you would have the formula to design a potent coupon marketing strategy.
Conclusion
Giving discounts to customers is a marketing strategy that goes back decades and is a great conversion strategy. Building a strong clientele sometimes requires businesses to be a bit more flexible with their prices. However, you need to stay connected to your market and keep a check on your customer’s preferences. Prioritize your customers to make your brand prosper. When organized with a proper plan, discounts could be an important tool in your marketing arsenal.
