Well used, discount coupons and special offers represent an effective lever to develop the turnover of its ecommerce and retain its customers. E-merchants are faced with several questions: what type of special offers to offer, when and in what context to offer, what amount of discount to offer? Poorly thought out, an ecommerce promotions strategy can quickly become ruinous. Do you want to acquire new customers, retain your customers and improve the conversion on your ecommerce site by using coupons, promo codes and special offers? Check out of using coupons and specials to help you build profitable campaigns.
Should you offer coupons and specials to your customers?
Promotions have advantages and disadvantages. Ecommerce promotions have a direct and immediate impact on sales. This is the main advantage. They make it possible to acquire new customers, improve the conversion rate on the site and build customer loyalty. Moreover, promotional campaigns are relatively easy to implement.
On the other hand, promotions have an obvious impact on your margins. The margin on a product sold with promotion is necessarily reduced. This is the main disadvantage of coupons and other specials. Another drawback, often badly perceived: the potentially harmful effect of promotions on the brand image. Some customers may think that you have to sell off your products in order to sell them. Apple, which has an excellent brand image, is rather stingy on specials.
Because of these drawbacks:
Because of these drawbacks, you need to seriously think about what strategy to adopt. If you are positioning yourself as a premium brand or have structurally low margins, you shouldn’t overdo coupons and specials. On the other hand, if you have very comfortable margins, promotions can become a very important lever. Your promotions strategy should be in line with your overall branding strategy.
There are several formats of coupons and special offers as we will see in the examples. One of the main things is discounts. The tk maxx discount code can be based on a percentage: for example, “10% off your next beauty product purchase”. The discount can also be a monetary value: for example, “5 euros discount on next purchase”. Percentage-based discounts are the most successful. Very high (40%, 50%, 80% etc.), they allow you to get rid of products that you cannot sell. Discounts that have monetary value have a very effective psychological effect on customers, as customers feel like they are losing money if they don’t use it.
Another popular format is free shipping. In e-commerce, delivery is the most sensitive subject. Excessive delivery costs are the main factor in shopping cart abandonment, for example. Offering delivery is a very effective marketing technique to increase conversions on the site and entice customers to order..“We offer the XXX kit for all orders over 80 euros”. This strategy makes it possible either to get rid of products that you cannot sell or to inflate the average basket.
how to use coupons and special offers
There are several techniques for using coupons and specials in ecommerce, Here are :
# 1 Weekly or monthly promotions
This traditional promotional strategy helps generate sales. Often promotions are sent out at the end of the month or even at the end of the quarter. Memebox , for example, offers weekly discounts and coupon codes every month (see bottom of email).
# 2 pre-launch offers
Pre-launch offers help generate traffic and develop the interest of your target audience. They can be used as part of the pre-launch of a product or even the creation of your business. In the example below, Harry’s (an e-commerce site specializing in shaving products) is offering a free product to anyone who shared the brand’s link before its launch (via Facebook, Twitter or by email) . This original strategy enabled Harry’s to obtain 100,000 newsletter subscribers even before the site was launched.
# 3 Christmas, Valentine’s and school holidays offers
Christmas, New Year, Valentine’s Day, Easter: these holidays are often associated with peaks in e-commerce sales. Offering special offers at the time of these strategic dates will allow you to boost your sales. You can also use special offers during school holidays to increase your income. Julep , a brand of beauty products, has a habit of offering its customers coupons and promo codes during the holidays and school holidays.
# 4 Abandoned shopping cart re launch offers
In ecommerce, the cart abandonment rate is on average around 70%. In other words, 70% of visitors who start an order on the site leave the site before they have finalized it. Cart abandonment represents a considerable shortfall for e-merchants. Recovery strategies can be put in place to convert dropouts and encourage them to finalize their order. Email remains the preferred channel for the majority of e-merchants for basket reminders. The fact of offering a reduction coupon (free delivery, percentage discount, monetary discount …) has a strong incentive power and increases the conversion rate of your reminder emails. Birch box for example offers discounts of 20% valid for 24 hours.
# 5 Newsletter subscription offers
The newsletter is an essential marketing lever for building customer loyalty, promoting your products and developing your sales. More and more e-merchants are offering subscription to the newsletter on their site. Special offers can be used to entice your site visitors or customers to sign up for your newsletter. Bombay Hair, for example, offers 5% off in exchange for a newsletter subscription. The offer is offered in the form of a pop-up.
Also Read: Coupon Collecting Tips for Beginners to Save Money
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