Running a sale is a tactic used by almost every merchant to generate more revenue. These sales and discounts provide shoppers with the much-needed incentive to purchase from that Shopify store. And it works— 93% of shoppers use a coupon or discount code throughout the year. In this guide, you can learn exactly how to set up a successful time-sensitive discount campaign, including best practices to ensure higher conversions.

Steps to Take For a Successful Discount Campaign

Step 1: Choose the kind of discount you want to set up

First, you need to pick the kind of discount you want to set up on your Shopify store. There are 3 types of discounts you can choose from:

1. Percentage discounts

This is the most common type of discount. Shoppers can get a percentage off their order or the price of the item when they avail of a percentage discount. Depending on how the merchant has set up this discount, they can either add a coupon code during checkout, or the discount is added to the cart automatically.

2. BOGO

BOGO stands for ‘Buy One, Get One’. It is a way of encouraging more sales of a product by offering customers another item of the same type, free or for a reduced price. With this deal, shoppers can get more items than they would actually have to pay for.

3. Volume discounts

Volume discounts allow you to incentivize bulk buying by allowing shoppers to get a discount on their order if they buy in large quantities. Discounts like buy 5 items and get 20% off or get 30% off for an order worth $40 fall within this category.Read about the different types of volume discounts you can set up.

Step 2: Create your discount

You can easily set up discounts using the Volume & Discounted Pricing app and set up discounts based on your specific preferences. When setting up your discount, ensure that you’ve specified which products shoppers can avail the discount on.You also need to add an expiry date on the discount. We recommend setting the discount live for 2 to 3 weeks so that you can promote it and maximize views and customers to use the discount on their order.

If you are setting up the discount on 1 or 2 discounts, you highlight this by adding a countdown timer on the product pages. This way, shoppers who are interested in that product will take quicker action to purchase the product before the offer expires.

Best Practices to Set up Effective Time Sensitive Discounts

1. Enable email marketing

Email is one of the best channels to use to promote your discount campaigns. 75% of consumers search their inboxes just to look for relevant discounts. By sending your subscribers and customers an email about the discount, you can bring them back to check out your discount. You can enable apps like Klaviyo and ActiveCampaign to set up email marketing easily.You can follow these tips for a high-converting email campaign:

• Avoid using the word sale in the subject line so that your email doesn’t go to spam.
• Add the discount code and ensure you highlight the discount expiry.
• Show a few of your products to make it easier for the shopper to clickthrough.
• Add a CTA button at the end of the email to take shoppers to your store.
• Send a reminder email 3 days before the discount expires.

2. Send promotions via Facebook Messenger

With 1.3 billion users, Facebook Messenger is one of the most popular platforms. Ensure that you reach a wider audience by setting up Facebook Messenger marketing with apps like Recart.Once set up, store visitors will be more likely to subscribe to your promotions. You can easily send messages directly to your shoppers about the discount, allowing them to open your store and start browsing right away.

3. Set up an SMS campaign

SMS messages have a whopping 98% open rate, with a 209% higher response rate than phone, email, or Facebook. If you are looking for a marketing channel, especially if you need to connect with a local audience, SMS is a great option.Apps like SMSBump allow you to start sending SMS campaigns right away since your customer details will be synced up. You can send a crisp message about your discount and add a link to your store for your customers to start shopping immediately.Ensure that your SMS message is short and crisp and contains all the details about the discount— how much shoppers will get off and when the discount expires.

4. Send web push notifications

Some shoppers are skeptical of sharing their details with a store. This is where web push notifications come in. They are safe since they don’t require any personal information, only permission through the browser. Merchants can then start sending short notifications that have high visibility.Shopify apps like PushOwl and Firepush allow merchants to start sending web push campaigns easily. When crafting your web push message about your time-sensitive discount, don’t forget to add a CTA button to lead the shopper to your store easily.

5. Share on social media

You can’t deny it— social media platforms are great at helping merchants amplify their sales and promotions. Inform your social media audience about your discount, whether it’s on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest, using hashtags to make your post more discoverable. You can also share the discount within groups and subreddits where discount hunters are waiting to find the perfect deal.

6. Run retargeting and remarketing ads

Ensure that you are seeing a high engagement rate for your time-sensitive discount by setting up smart retargeting and remarketing ads. With ads set up on social media and search, you can tap into audience interest in your store and incentivize them to come back and make a purchase.Grab some inspiration for the kind of ads you can run through this blog.

7. Use the announcement bar to inform shoppers

Not all your store visitors will be aware of the discount you are running. You can maximize visible about your time-sensitive discount with the information on your announcement bar. Apps like Quick Announcement Bar allow you to add your discount within the announcement bar. Use the bar to add a message similar to this: “40% off storewide only for the next 7 days!”Such a message is sure to make store visitors aware of your discount, making them eager to shop from you.

8. Optimize your exit intent to make shoppers aware of the discount

One of the best ways to add more visibility to your discount promotions is with exit intent. When a store visitor is about to exit your store, they will be shown a highly prominent pop-up that informs the shopper about the discount, making them stay and browse your products for longer. Apps like Privy allow you to set up an exit-intent that is highly customizable. When setting it up, you must highlight the discount and make it clear that the discount is time-sensitive. Copy like “Next time you visit, you won’t be able to get this huge discount!” is sure to do the trick.

9. Optimize abandoned cart messages accordingly

Despite seeing the time-sensitive discount available on your store, your shoppers are sure to abandon their carts. To ensure you don’t miss out on this revenue, it’s crucial to set up and optimize your abandoned cart messages. Most marketing apps for email, SMS, Facebook Messenger, and web push allow you to set up automated abandoned cart messages to bring back your shopper to their cart.Ensure that these messages are optimized to remind shoppers about the discount so that they have a higher intent to come back. Highlight the high discount and the upcoming discount expiry to turn that cart into a purchase.

10. Don’t send marketing messages after the discount expires

Here’s a crucial best practice that many merchants forget to follow through on. Always ensure that your marketing messages regarding the discount aren’t sent after the discount expires. This commonly happens for ongoing campaigns and reminders you’ve set up. To ensure your shoppers don’t receive expired messages, pause any campaigns about the discount an hour before the discount expires. You should also edit the abandoned cart messages on your marketing platforms and revert them back to your original copy. Ensure that you check other reminders and messages you’ve optimized with information about this discount— transactional messages, back in stock messages, etc.

11. Keep new subscribers and customers engaged with weekly newsletters

Your discount campaign is sure to attract new shoppers who have previously not heard about your Shopify store. Ensure that you keep these new customers engaged with your store even after the discount expires.Set up weekly newsletters with a goal to bring them back to your store for more purchases. This way, you tap into your opportunity to grow your revenue.

Set up successful time-sensitive discounts on your Shopify store now!

We hope this helps you set up a smart and high-converting discount to incentivize shoppers to purchase more on your Shopify store. A well-planned discount promotion is sure to help you increase Shopify sales and boost your store’s growth.But, the first step in creating a discount promotion is having a well-build discount creation app. Shopify’s discount creation feature is great for your sitewide discounts but doesn’t allow you to incentivize bulk buying. This is especially important in this time as shoppers are hunting for volume discounts that allow them to get a discounted order when they shop big.Get started with the Volume & Discounted Pricing app and set up discounts to tap into your shoppers’ needs.