As a retail business, you’re probably used to running promotions in order to drive traffic to your store. When we apply the same ideas to your website, it can happen in similar ways. You can market your discounts on social media, through email marketing and in print. However, what types of promotions are going to be the most effective for your business? Let’s explore some of the different types of discounts available, and that you’re probably accustomed to, then let’s explore some new promotions you may want to consider.
Percent Off %
The percent off promotions are typically effective for consumers in your brick and mortar store and can be equally effective for your ecommerce division. There are a number of reasons that you may want to use this type of discount and as it is rather traditional, you are probably familiar with how it has worked for you in the past. Some of the ways that percentage off discounts have worked in your store may also be effective on your website. It will be important to experiment a bit to see what you find most effective for your business. There is no magic bullet, but through iterative experimentation, you can find your strategy. Make sure that percent off discounts remain a part of your online strategy, even if it is just on specific skus from time to time.
Dollars Off $
Again, this is a promotion we are all familiar with, “Save a $1 on Dog Food!”. Your ecommerce platform should account for the need to apply discounts in terms of dollars off specific products and orders.
Spend & Save
This is always a great way to encourage larger sales tickets on your ecommerce sites. Customers will likely find other products on your website to be of interest. Yet, they don’t always pull the trigger and purchase the items. A good way to get the extra add on sale is to have a threshold for purchases that will provide people with a discount. For example, you may want to offer $10 off on purchases over $100.
If you choose to use this type of promotion, two things will be important for your website. The first thing you need to make sure you do is advertise this promotion all over your website. Don’t just put this on the coupons page, advertise it all over the site. It will be important for your customers to know about this if you expect them to take advantage of the promotion. The second website feature that will be important will be suggested products. Make it easy for your customers to know what other products on your website will pair with their current item. This way you encourage the upsells.
Free Delivery or Free Shipping
Customers love to receive their item without any additional charges. Look at this promotion from the point of view of your customer. Not only did you offer them an unbelievable convenience by allowing them to order from you without even going to the store, but now they can do so without any additional cost! This creates loyalty to your company and if you’re selling/delivering to people locally, then you are creating a convenience factor with your local customer base that others will struggle to compete with. To make this type of deal even better, combine it with other types of promotions. For instance, you may want to try something like, “Spend over $99 and receive Free Local Delivery.”