Consumers are clearly hungry for deals, and this hunger is growing as retail websites and mobile platforms improve. Should you add fields for coupon or voucher codes to your web form or eCommerce checkout, though?.gif)
The mere presence of a coupon or discount code can increase shopping cart abandonment rates (more on that later). Mention the word "discount" and you risk driving your customer (whom you worked so hard to win through a variety of marketing tactics) back down the "digital high street" to see what other deals are available.
However, because coupons can be a reliable source of revenue, it is a matter of determining the best way to employ these discount strategies without jeopardising sales.
What are the strategic benefits of websites using coupons?Many e-commerce and online retailers run various types of promotions at strategic points throughout the year, from the run-up to Black Friday, throughout the Christmas shopping season, and beyond into the spring and summer sales seasons. This strategy has the potential to increase conversions and improve customer loyalty.
The following are the most common strategic advantages:Increasing incremental salesThe most obvious example is According to a recent study, 83% of shoppers said that coupons changed their purchasing behaviour, indicating that discount coupons can increase revenue.
Increasing brand awareness and customer baseDiscounts are appealing to more than just customers. They can also help you grow your social media followers and email subscriber lists, as well as encourage users to use your mobile platforms.
Offering a personal or timely discount at the right time can set off a chain reaction. Anyone who receives it can now easily share it with their friends by pressing a digital button. It's a low-cost way to get your brand in front of millions of people and increase awareness with little effort on your part.
Incentives improve the shopping experienceAs difficult as it is to believe, receiving a coupon is physically shown to be more enjoyable than receiving a gift. Another study found that using a coupon discount versus one advertised on a store website made shoppers feel 3.1x smarter. This positive reinforcement of the customer experience is always beneficial to loyalty.
Promo codes are an efficient method of tracking and measuring your marketing effortsBy assigning a unique discount code such as free coupon code to each advertisement or platform, you will be able to determine which advertisements and platforms generate the most traffic and conversions. You'll be able to fine-tune your marketing activity over time, using only the best performers. Use Unique Single Codes to determine where your ROI performs best for best results.
They can be an excellent way to gain trust and obtain dataIt's a great way to build trust with your customer base when discounts are given logically. If you're clever, you should be able to learn a customer's likes and dislikes over the course of their relationship if they trust you. As a result, the more personalised the discounts you provide, the better.
For example, if I just bought a new sofa from PepperFry, a PepperFry coupon code that gives me a discount on a warranty that covers stain removal and upholstery repairs is likely to lead to an extra sale and a happy customer.
Shopping carts are left behindAs previously discussed, the mere presence of a "discount code" field can cause severe FOMO, causing your potential customer to exit your sales funnel and go in search of a coupon. You've just reminded them that a discount code makes the shopping experience even more exciting. Ouch. They might even steal a code from one of your affiliates, resulting in a double hit to your margins.
Furthermore, if they can't find a code, they may abandon the idea of paying full price and abandon their basket at the digital till. The problem is exacerbated by the existence of discount code websites and apps designed specifically for this purpose:
Askmeoffers, CouponsABC, to name a few. It's not uncommon for the code you find to no longer work. According to Shopper.com, half of the time spent searching for codes was wasted because the customer did not find a valid one.
Negative brand association and lower perceived valueIf you use promotional codes and discounts too frequently, customers will never want to pay full price again. Many people have expressed similar sentiments about Myntra in recent years. They've offered a whopping 40% discount using
Myntra offers, sometimes even more, so frequently that many customers can't bear to pay full price for their products. Customers think, rightly or wrongly, that they are worth 40% less than the full-price items they advertise, which makes it hard for them to keep their high prices.
Sales that are delayed and less profitableIf you use discounts on a regular basis, you are inadvertently training your customer base to wait for your next round of deals. You understand that the goal isn't to eat away at your profit on every item you sell. It is best to reserve specific discount levels for specific times of the year (perhaps when your sales need a boost or you need to reduce stock). Alternatively, only reduce the price of items that do not sell well or quickly. Never discount items that fly off the shelf anyway. Always keep in mind that providing a discount has an impact on your margins, so be mindful of why you're doing it and what you expect to gain from it.
