100 or more million dollars in probably 10 hours – that’s the revenue which most of the
The Fundamental Question
This raises the most controversial question related to the entire business model of eCommerce – ‘How could online stores afford heavy discounts and sales’? The online giants are accused of predatory price, which means sales of goods and provision of services, with an aim to minimize competition and eliminate competitors. However, it becomes a problem if the seller is dominant in a particular market. Otherwise, selling products below the cost is not illegal to stay ahead of the competition.
Discount Drives Demand
In the literal sense, discounts and sales drive demand. You can make the buzz of your brand with the right discount and sale strategy. The customers can be given a surprise discount code during any of their special events. Merchandisers bundle products and offer enormous discounts in exchange for buying in bulk. This helps push up an average order volume and draw a good percentage of shoppers.
Advantages of partnering with discount coupons
Discount coupons and cash-back offers are a great way to gain a larger market share and build competitive advantages. Many smaller companies practice affiliate marketing to garner brand recognition and cost-effective channels for customer acquisition and retention. Moreover, coupons and discounts are useful for retailers who are new, local, or too small to compete with large e-tailers in driving traffic.
Types Of Offers
There are several types of discounts and offers at your disposal. Depending on your business requirements you may opt for…
- Percentage –based discounts – It is one of the popular methods to offer discount in the form of small incentive percentages like 5% or 10% off, large discounts like 20% or 25%, massive discounts like 50% to sell merchandize that isn’t running properly
- Free gifts – A free gift with a purchase is a great way to provide value to your customers and make them extremely satisfied. This incentive, if used strategically can increases average order size or get rid of old products
- Free shipping offers – So far shipping costs is the primary reason behind shopping cart abandonment. However, offering free shipping is an excellent way to fight cart abandonment and maximize conversions. However, if this is used in conjunction with minimum order size, it can help increase the average order value.
- Money value discount – Offers based on money value can be well positioned as a credit. This makes the shoppers feel that money spent after shopping is worth its value.
Discounts and Sales win new customers and boost sales
Your ways to implement different types of offers involve:
- First time shopper offer – If you offer a gift voucher or discount to the first-time shoppers, they’re more likely to get converted to frequent buyers.
- Gift registry – Registries are usually set up for birthdays, weddings, house warming and practically everything that can be added as a gift. Universal gift registry allows customers to add products from your website to their registry.
- Holiday offers – Christmas, New Year, Cyber Monday or Black Friday- they are the big days to make revenue with holiday offers.
- Buy-back – Buy-back method allows customers to sell their second-hand products to you for a reduced price. You may then consider selling these items or use their value towards a trade in.
- Gift certificates – Gift certificates provide opportunities to advertise and promote your business with wallet-size billboards. Customers are already pre-paying you for services that another person will receive later. This means 100% cash is yours until the certificate is redeemed.
- Social offers – Exclusive offers given on items in the social networks are a great way to build relationships with those who follow you and also make potential customers to follow and subscribe to your social channels.
- Birthday/anniversary offers – Customers are more likely to provide birth and anniversary dates in return for special offers. They use the discounts on their birthday/anniversary and treat themselves. In short, you’ve a strong customer database and enticements to increase conversions.
- Early bird offers – If you sell items that have in-built limitation period such as insurance policy renewals or a personalized gift for a birthday, early bird offers act as incentives for customers to purchase the products instantly.
- Gift card – Gift card discounts are a huge advantage in the holiday season. They provide an easy solution for the indecisive gifters and can be delivered instantly for the late shoppers.
Low pricing is seen as a benefit of successful competition. Multiple retailers are offering the same discounts at the same time. Most importantly, online merchants have adopted the discounted price strategy for a limited period of time, ranging from a day to three days. Even in a brick and mortar market, clearance sales and deep discounts on limited occasions is a usual part of the trade.
Customers are hyper-empowered with more shopping discounts than ever. They prefer shopping online because of the better deals and discounts online stores are offering. Given the boom in online shopping, turnover at deal sites has grown rapidly.
Images: “Discount coupon/Shutterstock.com“
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