Today, most large, medium and small companies involved in the sale of goods and services periodically provide discounts to customers. This is an effective way to attract attention and increase demand, thanks to which you can significantly increase sales and bottom line - despite the fact that goods / services are sold at reduced prices.
Discounts, promotions and sales
According to economic terminology, a discount is a marketing tool designed to encourage customers to make purchases. In fact, this is a unilateral reduction in the cost of goods / services on the part of the seller. It is also customary to call a discount the difference between the initial cost and the one that is valid at the time the promotion / bonus is provided. For example, if a store discounts 15%, then this number will be called a discount.
As a rule, by discounting the cost of a particular product, the seller never drops below its cost. The buyer is guided by the price that was indicated in the price tag, and this is a deliberately overestimated value. Thus, the seller does not act to his own detriment, even in the worst case (if the action did not work), and in the best case, he increases profits.
The promotional policy is recognized as effective all over the world and is used by representatives of large, medium and small businesses. Food, electronics, clothing, sports equipment, building materials stores - all, one way or another, use a system of discounts, which can be:
- Simple (not dependent on secondary factors).
- Cumulative (per turnover).
- Seasonal (for T-shirts in winter, or for jackets in summer when there is a minimum demand).
- For regular customers (so that they do not go to competitors).
- For faster payment (the faster it goes, the lower the price tag).
- For the volume of purchased goods (wholesale is cheaper).
- For new products (for the purpose of their additional advertising).
In total, there are about 40 types of discounts: dealer, offset, bonus, collective, holiday, special, subscription and so on. All of them are conditionally divided into 3 large categories: sales, logistics and marketing. The former are intended for concluding commodity-money transactions, the latter for improving cash and commodity flows, and the third for structuring distribution channels and establishing business relationships with business partners.
Statistics show that only significant discounts can attract the interest of buyers. Thus, a discount of 3 or 5% is not enough incentive to increase demand. In order for it to grow noticeably, it is necessary to drop at least 12-13%. In this case, it is desirable to use contrasting / borderline price values so that the difference is noticeable to the naked eye. Thus, the offer "5100 instead of $5300" does not look as attractive as "4900 instead of $5100", although in both cases $200 is discounted.
Interesting facts
Discounts, in one form or another, have existed at all times - since the moment a person mastered trade: the exchange of goods and services for conventional units (money). It does not matter where and when the product was sold: in a modern hypermarket or in a medieval bazaar. In both cases, the stale or perishable product was sold/sold cheaper, and this is an objective law of reality. Only today, unlike ancient times, there are detailed sales statistics, from which very interesting facts follow:
- Up to 93% of all consumers use coupons/codes at least once a year to purchase goods/services at reduced prices.
- If buyers are offered two options: a 30% price reduction or a 30% increase in volume, the vast majority will choose the second option.
- Only 30% of buyers place orders to become owners of goods. And 70% do it to solve a specific problem / task (buying food to satisfy hunger, medicines to heal, clothes to go out).
- Spam actually works and, according to statistics, more than 70% of respondents respond to promotional offers that come to their email.
- The free shipping promotion is deservedly the best. So, in two cases with the same product, the buyer is more likely to agree to a price tag of $500 with free shipping than a price tag of $250 and paid shipping for $250.
Discount is an effective marketing tool, and this is clearly seen in the statistics of grocery hypermarkets. So, the bulk of buyers not only tend to fill the baskets with goods with red / promotional price tags in the first place, but also, in principle, come to the store only because of them. If there were no shares, the average buyer would either refuse the purchase or postpone it to another day.
