One of the most important aspects of an ecom brands marketing campaign is the offer itself.
What are you offering in exchange for your customer’s cash?
Your offer isn’t just the product that’s going to solve your customer’s wants, needs and desires. Your offer involves other attractive elements that make up a solution so irresistible, that your audience just has to buy it.
In today’s post, I want to talk about six ecom offers that you can implement into your marketing today that can boost your sales conversion rate.
Let’s dive right in…
Offer a Percentage Discount
This is perhaps the most obvious of all the offers mentioned in the post today and certainly one of the most common promotional offers you see online. The reason for that is because this type of offer simply works time and time again.
I was reading an article on Conversio some time back and read that 57% of shoppers said they would not have made a first-time purchase from a new retailer without a coupon. This tells us that if we’re not offering some form of percentage discount, we could be alienating over half of our potential customers.
With a percentage discount, you can choose to offer a certain percentage off from a specific product, or off of an entire order. To grab the attention of your potential customers interest, offer between 10-15% of a discount on their first order.
Offer a Monetary Value Discount
Next up and certainly one of my favourite types of offers is to promote a monetary discount. So instead of offering a percentage off the value of the order, offer a monetary value of 10 – 20 euros/dollars etc.
What I like about this offer is the psychology behind it. When you offer 20 euro as a discount, the customer feels like they’re getting “free money” rather than just saving it. I read a study on Entreprenuer.com that a dollar value discount can generate up to 170% more revenue and have up to a 72% higher conversion rate than a percentage discount.
I’ve noticed an increase in client’s conversion rate when it comes to promoting this offer on both paid advertising as well as marketing through email.
BOGO – Buy One Get One
No doubt another popular offer to present to your target market. There are a few ways you can offer this. “Buy one get one free” is one way you can attract your prospects into a purchase by offering the same product for free if they make a purchase. Just be sure your margins are healthy on the product.
To encourage a higher transaction value, make sure you have a good upsell/cross sell process in place. Another example of a BOGO discount is “Buy one, get one 50% off,”. Or how about something along the lines of “Buy two X at full price, receive the third for only X”. Be sure to calculate your margins on this along with upselling/crossing to encourage higher transaction value.
This deal format encourages customers to buy additional items and spend more than they may have originally planned.
Offer Free Shipping
Shipping costs are a big deal with your prospects. It’s one of the biggest contributing factors to whether or not an online sale is closed. So it makes sense to offer free shipping where possible to your customers. I’ve mentioned this in other pieces of content in the past, but high shipping costs are one of the main reasons that shoppers abandon their carts before completing checkout.
Many online stores offer some form of free shipping to encourage customers to complete purchases. Having your customers meet a minimum purchase value to activate free shipping can also help boost average order value. Offering free shipping as a limited-time discount can also be a great strategy to incorporate into your marketing.
Offer a Free Gift
Another offer you should test out is the idea of offering a free gift with a purchase. It’s a great way to boost sales. It’s also a good way to move inventory that isn’t selling on its own by offering it as a gift. The gift can either be a surprise or a known item. Studies have shown that offering a mystery gift with a purchase is more likely to prompt people to buy than ruining the surprise.
Offer the free gift when a customer meets a minimum purchase value. As an added bonus, you’re likely to receive free advertising. Studies have also shown that customers who received a free gift from a purchase, talked about it 20% more than those who paid for the item.
With this type of offer, you boost sales and can gain free advertising. Not a bad return for your efforts.
Offer Payment Installs
Last up on the list is to test out offering a payment plan for your customers. Think of this offer as store credit. It’s typically used for higher priced goods and/or high order values. I see this a lot with apparel brands, where they allow their customers to make multiple payments over time on their purchase, rather than paying everything up front.
Allowing people to pay in installments widens your net to more potential customers by meeting the needs of shoppers from all walks of life.
If you browse the web and come across high ticket items (think kitchen appliances for example), you’ll see this type of offer on their website. They’ll include payment plans where their customers can choose installments that meet their needs.
