How Online Coupons and Discounts Can Grow your Ecommerce

Ecommerce business owners have to take care of too many things at once: they have to manage various day-to-day operations, make sure that all customers get their orders delivered, etc. Given that ecommerce businesses also need to deal with various tasks associated with their website, there’s no surprise that they are constantly looking for new methods that would help them increase their revenue.

One of the most popular tactics that enable businesses to attract new customers and to increase sales is the use of coupons and discounts. If you think of using discounts and coupons, it’s certainly a great idea. However, you should also make sure to use them properly. If you choose the wrong approach, coupons and discounts may also backfire and damage your profits. Therefore, we decided to help you use these tactics properly.

Consumers like tempting offers, and for many of them, discounts and coupons are an integral part of their regular shopping experience. According to research, as much as 97% of people say that they’re interested in deals when shopping, and 92% of them say that they are always looking for promotional offers. A well-designed campaign will certainly attract new customers to your business, you just need to understand the specifics of discounts and coupons as marketing tools so that you can come up with a winning strategy.

What will you find in this article?

Discounts vs. Coupons
Advantages and Disadvantages of Discounts and Coupons for Ecommerce
Best Ways to Use Discounts and Coupons
#1. Abandoned cart coupons
#2. Monthly or weekly deals
#3. Referral coupons and discounts
#4. Retargeted ads
#5. Newsletter signups
#6. Discounts for in-store purchases
#7. Exit discounts
#8. Loyalty program rewards
#9. Influencer campaigns
Final Thoughts

Sounds good? Let’s dive in!

Discounts vs. Coupons

First of all, let’s figure out what coupons and discounts are. These two terms are often used interchangeably, even though they refer to different things. Both coupons and discounts enable customers to buy products or services at a lower price than when making a regular order. However, these are two different mechanisms so you should also approach them differently, without confusing these concepts.

Coupons are intended for individual buyers. Usually, they include shareable codes, and businesses often use coupons to reach a specific audience. After your potential customers find a coupon code, they can enter it during checkout and get a certain discount. Thanks to this approach, companies can better understand their customers’ journeys, knowing where a certain customer found the discount.

Although discounts may also be intended for a specific segment of your audience, they are usually used by all customers who decide to purchase something. These are eCommerce promotions where certain products are sold at a lower price. For example, a company may offer a 10% discount for a certain product on a particular day.
Now that we’ve figured out what the difference between coupons and discounts is, let’s think of why you need them in the first place, as well as why you should choose the right methods when using them.

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Discounts and Coupons for Ecommerce

Discounts are so popular for a good reason – they actually help businesses increase their sales. However, when using discounts and coupons, you should understand that there are no guarantees. Your campaign may work perfectly, or it may leave you frustrated and disappointed if you don’t plan and implement it properly.

Advantages

• First of all, coupons and discounts increase conversions. According to statistics, ecommerce businesses that use discount codes are eight times more likely to make a sale. The reason is that consumers don’t want to miss out on an opportunity to purchase something at a lower price. As much as 67% of consumers claim that they’ve made an unexpected purchase after getting a discount. Thanks to discounts, you can offer additional value, making your prospects much more likely to convert.
• Not only do discounts help you increase conversions, but they can also help you boost the acquisition process. Discounts and coupons can help you gain new customers. According to statistics, 80% of first-time customers note that they’ve made a purchase because of a discount. Trans to discounts, ecommerce businesses can eliminate some risk factors that stop their potential customers from actually buying their products or services. Discounts also give you a great opportunity to demonstrate that you care about your customers more than your profits.
• Discounts can also help you increase customer retention. If you want to have more loyal customers, you can thank your customers for making a purchase and reward them with a discount so that they’ll have a solid reason to come back. Consumers always appreciate discounts, in fact, 61% of consumers call unexpected discounts and gifts the best way of interaction between companies and customers. No matter what campaign you’re working on, we recommend that you always think of your existing customers first.
• Another great thing about discounts is that they help businesses minimize losses. You can use discounts to sell products that otherwise would remain unnoticed by customers. For example, when a new car model comes out, the previous model always drops in price. Grocery stores also use discounts to sell products that approach an expiration date. No matter what products you sell, if some of them remain ignored by customers for any reason, you can try to sell them using discounts.

Disadvantages

As you can see, the benefits of coupons and discounts for ecommerce promotion are hard to overestimate. However, you should also choose the right tactics if you want to achieve your goals. Here are some problems that you may face if you don’t use discounts and coupons carefully, and some features of discount campaigns that you should be aware of.

• First of all, when you sell your products or services at a lower price, your profit margin decreases. Therefore, you may not be able to make as much money as you’ve planned. You should make sure that this inevitable loss will bring you more benefits, both immediately, and in the long-term. For instance, you can immediately benefit from the increased conversions that might compensate for a temporary decrease in profit that you get from a particular customer. Your customers may even spend more because of the discount. We recommend that you treat discounts and coupons like investments that can bring you considerable profit in the future if you lose some money now.
• Another important detail to keep in mind is that your discounts may attract the wrong type of audience. When using discounts, you risk that they will bring you customers who won’t actually be valuable for your business. They might simply purchase something because they’ve seen a discount, and never return in the future. Therefore, we recommend that you create precisely targeted campaigns for a clearly defined audience. For instance, you should make sure that your copy speaks to the right audience so you need to choose experienced writers. For example, you can check out the best professional writing services on writing services review websites like Best Writers Online and Online Writers Rating.
• Although discounts and coupons enable you to increase conversions and customer engagement if you use discounts too often, the perceived value of your products or services will decrease, damaging your brand image. If consumers see your products with discounts all the time, they will inevitably conclude that they are not worth the original price. When your promotion expires, customers will likely feel discouraged from purchasing your products at their full price.

Best Ways to Use Discounts and Coupons

As you can see the drawbacks of discount and coupon campaigns will be easy to avoid if you use them properly. Here are some of the best ecommerce promotions ideas that will help you use discounts and coupons to your advantage, maximizing their benefits.

#1. Abandoned cart coupons

Abandoned carts are a very common problem among ecommerce stores. A great way to decrease the number of abandoned carts is to send emails that remind about an abandoned cart and offer a discount. You can even automate the whole process so that every visitor who changes their mind can get a discount and possibly make a purchase.

Example of an abandoned cart coupon.

#2. Monthly or weekly deals

Many businesses offer discounts on a regular basis. For instance, you may offer monthly or even weekly discounts. This way, you’ll be able to reach your monthly or weekly revenue goals or to meet your sales quota.

#3. Referral coupons and discounts

Your existing customers can get referral codes. Referral discounts are also a great thing if you want to attract customers on social media. This way, people who follow you on social media platforms will get a reward. Besides, referral discounts enable you to expand your audience and to get more prospects, especially if your followers share your posts with their audiences.

Example of referral coupon

#4. Retargeted ads

You can also use retargeting campaigns to display certain ads to people who have already visited your website so that they can receive a coupon code and become your customers.

#5. Newsletter signups

If you need to grow your email list, a great way to do it is to offer incentives for signing up for your emails. Not only will this help you get more subscribers, but it will also help you get contact information of people who are interested in your products so that you can build long-term relationships with them and eventually turn them into loyal customers.

Encourage your customers to sign up for the newsletter.

#6. Discounts for in-store purchases

If your business goes beyond ecommerce and you have a brick-and-mortar shop, you can encourage people to visit it and make a purchase by using coupons and discounts. Coupons will help you get more local customers for your physical store so that you can increase your offline sales.

Example of discount for in-store purchases

#7. Exit discounts

Given that discounts are a great tool when you’re dealing with your customers’ doubts, you can use them when people want to leave your website. A nice discount might change their mind and turn them into customers. You can also combine a discount with an email subscription form so that you can keep building relationships with these prospects and send them your marketing emails or other discounts.

Example of exit discount

#8. Loyalty program rewards

You can use discounts and coupons to reward customers who have reached a certain milestone in your loyalty program. For example, you can offer a discount when your customers spend a certain amount of money on your products or services, as well as when they sign up for your loyalty program. You can also use discounts as birthday or anniversary gifts so that your customers can see that you care about them. Such discounts are very effective when it comes to increasing customer loyalty.

Use the loyalty program reward to increase customer engagement.

#9. Influencer campaigns

Another great thing about coupons is that you can use them as a part of your influencer campaign. You can offer referral coupons so that influencers from your niche can share them on social media. This way, you will not only attract more customers but also increase your credibility.

Final Thoughts

Many companies that have used coupons wanted to increase their revenue, but not all of them managed to achieve their goals. Coupons and discounts are powerful tools that can help you attract more prospects, convert them, and turn your existing customers into loyal customers. However, you should know how discounts and coupons work and have a well-planned strategy. We hope that our tips will help you use coupons and discounts to your advantage, attracting more customers and increasing your ecommerce business revenue in no time.

Author bio:

Aaron Swain is a writing specialist. He is passionate about marketing and SEO. He expands and improves his skills throughout the writing process to help and inspire people.

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