According to industry estimates, there are currently over 26 million eCommerce sites across the globe. With such fierce competition in the market, how do you stand out? Running the right promotions can make all the difference! In this comprehensive guide, we’ll reveal a solid list of ecommerce promotion ideas to help you attract, engage, and keep customers coming back.
Along the way, we’ll also introduce you to powerful tools to help you run these promotions with ease. Ready to learn? Then let’s dive in!
What Are E-Commerce Promotions?
Ecommerce promotions are strategic marketing tactics online store owners use to encourage customers to take action–whether it’s a purchase, newsletter sign-up, or engaging with your brand in other ways. These promotions can take many forms, depending on your unique goals. Common examples include discounts, free gifts, limited-time sales, or loyalty programs. The goal is to craft an offer that customers can’t resist!
Key Benefits Of Running E-Commerce Promotions
When done right, ecommerce promotions can offer several key benefits for your store. Let’s walk through some of them below:
1. Great tool for customer acquisition
One of the most challenging aspects of running a successful business is acquiring new customers. Running welcome promotions for first-time shoppers can help nudge them to make that first purchase.
By offering a a welcome discount or special perk, you make your offers more enticing to first-time buyers. In fact, according to an industry study, 80% of customers reveal that they’re more encouraged to make a first-time purchase with a brand if they find an offer or discount.
It’s also a great way to make a positive first impression, increasing your chances of building a long-term relationship with new customers.
2. Helps boost sales
We can’t miss out on mentioning this benefit! Promotions are a surefire way to give your sales a quick boost, as they encourage customers to take immediate action. This is especially true for promotions that create a sense of urgency, such as limited-time offers, flash sales, or limited buy-one-get-one promotions. The fear of missing out (FOMO) element can encourage customers to complete their purchases before the offer expires.
Additionally, online promotions provide opportunities to upsell or cross-sell your offerings. For example, you can bundle complementary products together and offer them at a discounted price. This can help you increase average order values and provide your customers with more value.
3. Improve brand visibility
Online promotions are also amazing tools to create buzz around your brand, thereby increasing your reach and impact. Referral programs or partnerships with influencers, for instance, can help expose your brand to relevant audiences in your niche. This exposure can improve your brand’s visibility and drive traffic to your website, introducing your business to potential customers!
With better reach comes the chance to build your brand’s credibility and recognition, both of which are important factors for long-term success.
7 Powerful Ecommerce Promotion Ideas For Store Owners
Now that we’ve explored some of the benefits of running promotions for your online store, it’s time to look through your options. We’ve got your back! In this section, we’ll dive into a solid list of ecommerce promotion ideas that will you attract customers and drive growth for your business.
1. Limited-time offers
Limited-time offers can come in many different forms, including percentage-off discounts, dollar-off deals, or even product category discounts. They’re one of the most versatile types of offers you can run, and you can tweak them depending on your business goals. For example, you might offer a limited-time 20% off exclusively for slow-moving products, allowing you to move inventory faster.
What makes limited-time discounts so effective is that they tap into customer’s fear of missing out. The sense of urgency can drive them to make quicker purchase decisions. This brings us to our next strategy…
2. Flash sales
Flash sales take the urgency of limited-time offers to the next level by offering them on incredibly short windows–like for a few hours or for just one day! Typically, these promotions offer deeper discounts. For example, if you typically offer a 15% discount on regular promotions, you might want to raise it to 20% during a flash sale.
These sales are designed to create a frenzy, enticing customers to shop before the time runs out. The thrill of getting an unbeatable offer in such a short period of time creates a gamified experience, encouraging shoppers to act quickly to grab the deal.
PRO TIP: Leverage visuals like countdown timers or stock quantities left to create a sense of urgency. You can also use plugins like Advanced Coupons to create coupons that activate only during a particular date and time to automate your flash sale.
3. Free shipping
Offering a free shipping incentive is a powerful incentive in the ecommerce world. Shipping costs are one of the top reasons for cart abandonment, and easing this burden for customers can encourage them to complete their orders.
According to industry insights, 84% of customers have specifically made a purchase because of free shipping. What’s more, 30% of shoppers are willing to increase their order size if it qualifies them for free shipping. To avoid hurting your margins, you can set minimum order requirements before customers can qualify for free shipping.
Alternatively, you can offer shipping discounts rather than offer free shipping. With plugins like Advanced Coupons, you can create shipping discount coupons that apply a percentage or dollar amount off shipping costs. This provides your customers value while helping you manage your business’ shipping expenses.
4. BOGO (Buy One Get One) promotions
BOGO (Buy One Get One) promotions are a classic customer favorite–and for good reason! Giving a product for free (or with a discounted price) creates immediate value for customers, enticing them to add items to their carts. They’re also highly versatile and can be tweaked to match your current business goals.
For instance, you can run the usual “Buy One Get One Free” deals, or opt for variations like “Buy One Get One 50% Off”, or “Buy Two Get One Free”. These are excellent ways to promote slow-moving inventory or encourage customers to try something new in your store.
PRO TIP: Leverage plugins like Advanced Coupons to easily craft Buy One Get One deals. With this plugin, you can create any variant of BOGO deals and set specific cart conditions to control when it applies. For instance, you can set a minimum spend or limit the deal to certain product categories.
5. Loyalty programs
We can’t miss mentioning loyalty programs in our list of the best ecommerce promotion ideas! These programs work by rewarding your customers for every purchase, giving them reasons to keep coming back to your store. Like most of the strategies in this guide, loyalty programs can be customized to suit your unique business goals.
For example, you can create a loyalty program that offers shoppers points for every purchase, which they can redeem as discounts for future purchases. Plugins like WooCommerce Loyalty Program make setting this up a breeze. With this plugin, you can reward customers with loyalty points, define which actions earn points, and track customer points using an intuitive dashboard.
Alternatively, you can set up a tiered loyalty rewards system, where customers can unlock better perks as they purchase more. Check out this example below:
6. Gift cards
Gift cards not only provide your online store with an additional revenue stream–they’re also amazing for customer acquisition and retention!
Selling gift cards allows your existing customer base to introduce your business to friends and family in a way that’s thoughtful and personal. Recipients of the gift cards are likely to visit your store to use the card, giving you an opportunity to capture new customers. What’s more, they’re incredibly popular during peak shopping seasons like holidays, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and other special occasions.
PRO TIP: WooCommerce store owners can leverage plugins like Advanced Gift Cards to easily sell and manage digital gift cards in their stores.
7. Contests and giveaways
Running contests and giveaways gamifies the customer experience–it attracts attention, encourages engagement, and improves brand awareness. You can run contests or giveaways that encourage shoppers to tag, share, or follow your social media accounts. Likewise, you can collaborate with influencers in your niche to reach the most relevant audience.
Aside from improving your brand’s reach, these types of promotions are also excellent ways to gain valuable customer data. When customers enter your contests, you can collect useful information like email addresses, helping you grow your email list. Check out this example below:
PRO TIP: You can use plugins like RafflePress for WooCommerce store owners to easily set up and manage customer giveaways.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best way to market my small business?
Use a mix of online and offline marketing efforts to gain initial exposure and traction for your store. Building a strong online presence is key, so make sure you set up a professional website that is SEO-optimized for your industry. Then, you can expand your reach through social media, email marketing, and collaborating with influencers. Running promotions such as flash sales, limited-time discounts, or contests can help attract customer attention and encourage them to purchase.
What are the basic promotion ideas for new startup?
You can boost initial sales by offering exclusive discounts for new buyers. For example, you can offer percentage off coupons or free shipping deals to encourage those first purchases. BOGO (buy one get one) deals are another effective option. To create buzz and generate excitement, you can run contests and giveaways that encourage customers to share, like, and tag others.
What are some digital marketing ideas?
Email marketing is a powerful digital marketing tool, as it provides a direct and personal way to communicate with customers. You can run giveaways and contests to build an email list, where you can send tailored promotions and product updates to keep buyers engaged.
To attract organic traffic and improve your brand’s reach, it’s also crucial to invest in content marketing. Share helpful blog posts, videos, or guides to build trust and educate your audience. Make sure that your content is SEO-optimized to improve search engine rankings and allow customers to find you.
Lastly, you can leverage social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok to connect with your audience and share relevant updates. These platforms allow you to engage with customers, creating meaningful interactions that build trust with your brand.
Conclusion
Running strategic promotions can help you stand out in today’s competitive marketplace. With the right promotions, you can engage customers, encourage purchases, and keep them coming back. In this comprehensive guide, we covered seven effective ecommerce promotion ideas for your business. Let’s quickly recap them below:
- Limited time offers
- Flash sales
- Free shipping
- BOGO (Buy One Get One) deals
- Loyalty programs
- Gift cards
- Contests and giveaways
Tools like Advanced Coupons make setting up these promotions a breeze in WooCommerce. With this powerful plugin, you can extend the default WooCommerce coupon functionality and craft advanced deals like BOGO, shipping discounts, URL coupons, and more!
We hope this list of ecommerce promotion ideas helped you out! Got questions for us? Let us know in the comments.
