Research conducted by RetailMeNot indicate that 67% consumers make unplanned purchases at a particular store after receiving a discount.
Discounts chosen appropriately for the situation allow retailers to attract a large number of consumers in a small amount of time. How to plan seasonal discounts well so you don't miss any opportunity? Learn 10 ideas and practical tips.
Discounts, gifts, rebates, promotions - do not necessarily involve losses on the part of sellers. On the contrary, most often allow the company to increase revenue, as well as attract new customers, collect a good number of contacts to the base, or build a good brand image that cares about the consumer.
What are promotions and seasonal discounts?
Promotions are discounts, shares, percentage, amount or in-kind concessions that consumers receive as an incentive to store at a particular store. Examples of promotions may include percentage or amount discounts on specific products, freebies on selected items, or a gift certificate for subsequent purchases.
Seasonal discounts can be called promotions that are available at a specific time. Very often they refer to an upcoming event, holiday, birthday of the company.
Why plan for seasonal discounts?
One in five shoppers admit that they happen to purchase an unnecessary product under the influence of promotions and favorable prices. This follows from the report Promotion Monitor, prepared by ARC Market and Opinion. This means that Discounts are able to significantly increase conversions, and the store can sell several times more products.
Survey conducted in 2018 by RetailMeNot, indicates that 67% buyers made a purchase they did not plan to make, based on a coupon or discount they received.
Through promotions you are also able to acquire new consumers and influence the decision to buy from your store. The same survey proves that 4 out of 5 shoppers decided to make their first purchase at a particular store thanks to a discount. Show your new consumers that you care about them by offering them the opportunity to buy your products cheaper.
Discounts will also help with products that go unnoticed by customers and expose you to losses. Just apply a discount to those specific products or add them as a freebie to an order over X zloty - you don't have anything left in stock, and the customer feels appreciated.
In conclusion, seasonal discounts are worth introducing because they increase:
- Sales
- Customer loyalty
- Brand awareness
- Customer engagement
- Customer satisfaction
- The number of repeat purchases
- Number of new customers
How to plan seasonal discounts?
To make sure you don't miss any great seasonal discount opportunities, it's best to sit down with your calendar well in advance. Review it for days, holidays, occasions and events that can be related to your industry.
Remember that these do not have to be events that apply to all industries. World Cat Day can be a great opportunity, to introduce promotions for cat products at a pet store. An auto parts store, however, should not celebrate the occasion.
10 ideas for seasonal promotion
Learn 10 suggestions for introducing promotions in your store.
- Birthday of the brand
Allow yourself to celebrate together with your customers. This is one of the best opportunities to introduce promotions. There is a small chance that it will coincide with promotions at your competitors - after all, we celebrate birthdays at different times.
- Christmas and Easter
This is an opportunity to make gifts for loved ones or for yourself. The downside is that many companies are preparing offers for their customers during this time. This doesn't mean you have to fall behind by forgoing the introduction of promotions. Think about how your offer will stand out.
- Unusual holidays
Boy's Day, Cat Day, Tree Day. As an inspiration and source of ideas can help calendar of unusual holidays. Tailored to the industry, they can achieve super results. Customers always enjoy unexpected promotions for them.
- Black Friday
One day is not enough? Extend this opportunity to a whole weekend or even to a week! This period is also very competitive, but the traffic in stores during this time is increased, so don't pass up this opportunity.
- Subscribe to our newsletter
It may not be a seasonal promotion, but it is effective 365 days a year. A discount for first purchases, or maybe a recurring discount? Guarantee no spam - this will encourage a large part of the audience.
- Time change
At one of our clients in the beauty industry, we used this opportunity to promote a regenerative facial serum. These types of events can also prove effective in promoting certain industries.
- Change of season
This is an ideal opportunity for both seasonal and year-round products. For seasonal products - to also sell outside a given season. For year-round products - to increase sales.
- New Year
New year, new you. This is a good opportunity for all customers, no matter what industry you're in.
- New product launch
Promotion will, in such a case, both increase sales and awareness of the product. It is worth taking the opportunity to sell and advertise the item and brand.
- Cleaning the warehouse
An ideal opportunity to get rid of unprofitable products, as well as brand promotions. This is where a series of discounts for each additional product can work great, e.g. for 2 products - 5% discount, for 3 products - 10%, for 4 - 15%, etc.
Tips for introducing promotions
- Offer real value - The rebate/discount/gratis should be valuable enough to motivate your customer and convince them to buy.
- Test different forms of promotion - Perhaps free shipping will be of interest to your customers?
- Create a need - Convince the customer why they need your product specifically, and only after that encourage them with a promotion. The other way is harder.
- Test - Something different will work on customers from different industries, different brands and from different corners of Poland and the world. Test forms of promotion and see what works for your industry.
- Remember profitability - calculate potential profits and keep in mind that this promotion must pay off first and foremost for you.
Promotions, discounts and rebates
Opportunities for promotions are plentiful and can prove to be the perfect tool For your e-commerce business. Using them at the right time, not forcefully and at the right intervals (otherwise your customers will be convinced that the promotions on your site are fake because they keep seeing them) will allow you to maximize profits and get more customers.
We hope our tips will help you take advantage of various opportunities to make thoughtful promotions. Remember to make each opportunity fit your business model, as well as to the industry in which you operate. Good luck!