Market to New Clients
Offering a deep discount to your client base can be risky as it can potentially lead to a loss of revenue, but when you focus your attention on clients you have yet to attract there is little to lose. By offering a discount for new clients, you open the door for more potential. Upon receiving the discount for your product or services, should they like it, you will have incurred a new recurring customer, so it is a win win for both client and business.
A Customer Loyalty Program
Customer loyalty programs have become a common thing and no matter what size business you have, offering a loyalty club can be an excellent way to drive sales without losing out on sales. Reports show that over 76% of shoppers enjoy customer loyalty programs and actively try to achieve their loyalty goals. Incentives can be as little as a 10% discount or a small token of appreciation. The point is not always what the prize is, but the goal of actually achieving enough loyalty points to get it. Those that are close to the goal already will likely make a purchase to put their account over the loyalty limit and those that have yet to place an order will be more willing to get started on their loyalty reward journey.
Offer Free Shipping
Shipping costs can be significant at times. If you look at online stores today, they have free shipping promotions on a variety of items. Free shipping is highly attractive to customers and it is more psychological than anything else. The human brain likes to streamline things and when making purchases, even if shipping is just a small fee, the mere fact of adding it on can turn potential buyers off. If you want to work this notion to your advantage in your business without losing money, add the shipping to your product cost or provide free shipping when a certain amount is spent in the store. You will be surprised how many customers buy another item just to receive free shipping.
Percentages is More Powerful than Monetary Amounts
If you want to give your clients a discount, consider how you promote the discount and how it is worded. Savings on discounts can be depicted in percentages and monetary discounts. Monetary discounts are a certain dollar amount off the product. This type of discount is popular and is an easy way to manage how much you are getting off from a product, but it is not nearly as effective as employing percentages into an equation. Customers are generally more attracted to a 10% discount as opposed to a $5 discount even if that percentage is not as much as the monetary discount. The reason is again a psychological one and it is something you can take advantage of when giving discounts to your clients.
Abandoned Carts Can be Reduced
We have all been there. You are online shopping, filling your cart with everything you can want and then you notice the total of your entire purchase. Instead of taking items back out of your cart, you simply close the window. This is an opportunity that online businesses can significantly take advantage of by offering a small discount to that particular customer. It is reported that up to 60% of shoppers have abandoned a cart and not returned for the items. However, upon closing the window, a popup ad strategically placed at this juncture can sometimes entice the customer to continue shopping. With a discount of as little as 5%, you can bring many of those customers back onto the site.
Referral Marketing
Referrals are how you gain clientele. Loyal customers lead friends and family to your site just because they love your products, but this can also be rewarding for the customer. By adding referral marketing to your business, you can entice your current customers to refer friends to your site and, provided the new client makes a purchase, the loyal client receives a small discount. This type of strategy allows for growth while providing loyal customers with discounts without losing out on revenue.
You will have to provide some type of discount to potential and current customers alike, but strategies surrounding those discounts do not have to cost you your company’s revenue. It is about working smarter, not harder for online sales. You can grow your business smarter with these discount strategies that do not lose your revenue.