Offering Seasonal Discounts? Here How to Do It Right

For example, it’s common knowledge that consumers are chasing steep discounts on normally full-price products during ​Black Friday and Cyber Monday​. By contrast, Small Business Saturday is focused on supporting local retailers, where consumers are often willing to spend more.

Targeting different consumer priorities in this way enables your business to better capitalize on seasonal opportunities.

Promote new seasonal product lines

Seasonal promotions are also commonly leveraged to drive sales for new or “in season”products. These types of offers don’t usually come in the form of seasonal discounts; instead,brands use a “first look” or “first to know” type of promotion to market and sell new seasonal items.

Clearing last season’s inventory

You can also use seasonal sales as an opportunity to clear out last season’s merchandise. By having a discount on these slow-movers or using them as freebies or gifts, you could drive sales while making room for fresh and in-season merch in the process.

Engage customers over the short- and long-term

Seasonal holidays and events provoke a range of emotions — excitement, joy, celebration, and yes, sometimes stress and anxiety. As a retailer, empathizing with your customer is the key to attracting shoppers in a very crowded marketplace.

Discounting techniques, especially when paired with compelling seasonal messaging, allows your brand to better resonate with the mood of your customer base.

It’s also important to note that these discounts can drive sales and engagement long after the season is over. Seasonal discounts can reel shoppers in, but they also pave the way for continuous engagement over the long term

When implemented correctly, discounts can drive future purchases. ​Research by Optimove found that the likelihood of developing brand loyalty and getting subsequent orders from newly acquired customers “is significantly higher when the discount claimed on the first offer is between 5% and 20%.”

How to implement seasonal discounts

Now that we’ve covered the basics of seasonal discounts, let’s look at the best practices to implement when running these promotions.

Know what holidays,seasons, and periodic events are best suited to your business

Fact: ​not all holidays are alike.​ While some occur on a fixed day each year (such as Fourth of July, Halloween, or Labor Day), others revolve around annual seasonal events (such as the back-to-school season where student discounts are eagerly sought after).

As a business, it’s important to know which holidays are worth tailoring seasonal discounts for and which are not.

For example, Valentine’s Day is easily going to be one of your biggest sales opportunities if you’re a florist or jeweler — but not so much for a sporting goods store. Similarly, anyone selling confectionery is going to do well during Easter or Halloween, but their sales may be relatively slower during Cyber Monday.

You should also be mindful of public events in the realm of sports (Olympics, World Cup),politics (elections), or pop culture (blockbuster movies, entertainer tours). These events can influence your sales and discounting strategy.

For instance, if you’re a casual apparel retailer and sell team shirts, you could run a seasonal promotion or discount on those select items.

To effectively keep track of all relevant holidays and events, be sure to create a seasonal discount calendar based on your industry.

Think about which seasonal discounts are appropriate

While discounts help to drive interest in your offerings, they can reap lackluster results if you don’t have the right products on sale or don’t come up with a relevant (e.g., seasonal) hook.

For example, store wide percentage discounts are easy to implement and result in high conversions, but they may not have as big of an impact as seasonal offers. Why? Because they aren’t targeted at consumers’ seasonal purchasing decisions.

It’s for this reason that we see deals on grills or outdoor furniture in stores like Lowe’s or Home Depot in the lead-up to Memorial Day. This holiday is seen as the start of summer, and so is a great time to prime consumers for summer retail spending — especially when there are personal finance options available.

By selecting seasonal items that are likely to perform well, you can boost your revenue without devaluing the rest of your offerings.

Pro tip:​ Use off peak times to test which discounts work the best. Do your customers prefer percentage discounts or free shipping? The best way to find out is to test these offers during slower periods, then implement the winning offers when peak season rolls along.

For best results, use a promotions analytics solution to get the right data. Thrive, for instance,offers capabilities that enable you to test and analyze your discounts and offers to determine the best ones.