There is a four-letter word guaranteed to move your eyewear stock and bring in new customers: SALE.
People love them – and not just during big annual events. The positive feeling that grabbing a bargain can provide has a universal, constant appeal.
This is why customers appreciate discounts and promotional offers all year-round. Knowing this, you can effectively move your eyewear stock and grow your business. A clever discount strategy not only makes customers feel positive about your business and their purchases but can help potential customers choose your products over competitors.
Discounts can make it more difficult for potential customers to directly compare products to other brands. According to a study from the Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance, customers are less likely to search in situations where discounts are being offered.
So, how can you rock your sales strategies with an effective e-commerce discount campaign? Here we outline how online eyewear specialists can:
- discount prices,
- set the right goals,
- measure their success,
leading to both responsible discounts and profitable sales results.
During all these periods, customers have a buying mindset. Like Zenni Optical or Coastal on Labour Day, you can also win a share of that spike in business.
Step 1: Preparation is key
There are many effective ways to offer discounts, but the first step is prep work. Without this, your discounts may end up harming your brand or cutting into profits.
Discount pricing can, for example, lower perceived value. Double-blind studies using prescription drugs, over-the-counter health products, and other products have shown that in the buyer’s mind, the product or service can be perceived of lower quality.
So, how do you guarantee that your discount pricing will benefit rather than hurt your business? Simple! Always have a good reason for a discount, such as:
- New Year,
- Valentine’s Day,
- Black Friday,
- seasonal holidays
- ...
During all these periods, customers have a buying mindset. Like Zenni Optical or Coastal on Labour Day, you can also win a share of that spike in business.
However, unless you plan to always compete on price, there must be for a specific point to each sale along with specific rules. Otherwise, you’re likely to attract bargain hunters rather than loyal buyers and that will add little to the business.
Also, sales should not be used too often. This can harm the business in the long term if customers begin deferring on buying your products and wait until the seasonal discount to get a better deal.
![[FBx]-CTA-Image-eyeglasses](https://www.fittingbox.com/hubfs/%5BFBx%5D-CTA-Image-sunglasses.png)
Allow your customers to try glasses online and drastically drive more conversions
Step 2: Know your eyewear sales strategy
The second point is to set firm objectives and know the different online sales strategies that can reach them. Objectives can be:
- acquiring new customers,
- gain repeat customers,
- strengthen customer loyalty,
- reaching out to influencers,
- remove old inventory.
Your objective will determine the type of discount you offer, how you’ll market it, and which customers you should aim to reach. Below are typical strategies and suggestions on how to achieve them.
1. Acquiring new customers is best approached using a limited-time fixed, reduced discount that enables a potential new customer to try your products NOW with lower risk on their part.
2. Increase sales by volume means that, regardless of how many customers buy, they pay less per item as long as they buy a larger amount of that item. Because customers benefit from buying more units per order, volume discounts are a good option if you want to clear inventory or increase the average value per order.
Plus, bundles enable you to link less popular products with stronger selling ones. Some products may have benefited from being marketed more extensively, so ,therefore, sell more. Now is an opportunity to entice customers to try your other products by being pulled in the wake of your leading products through a combined discount.
Oakley, for example, is currently offering $50 off eyeglasses frames with lenses plus free overnight shipping. One-click has the entire deal added automatically to your shopping cart.
Bundling discounts, however, means careful thought as to which products will be bundled together to sell best. A good source of inspiration is looking at the items that customers have purchased together in the past.
Step 3: Protect margins
There is no point in having a rip-roaring sale if you are hurting profits. Calculate if your discount will still allow you to profit from each sale, and how much that profit will be. You can keep margins intact by keeping marketing costs low by only approaching existing leads, such as email subscribers, existing customers, and social media followers.
You can also segment offers so they only reach dormant customers or first-time customers, rather than repeat buyers. Plus, offer upsells in addition to the discounted items to increase your profit per transaction.
Step 4: Make the discount terms clear
Where many otherwise well thought out campaigns often fall down is in clearly stating the terms of the promotion. The terms of the discount have to be transparent to have the maximum effect on sales.
Check some tools you might need for your eyewear ecommerce website
Step 5: Test, test, and test again
After establishing the objective and implementing the strategy, you need to measure results to see if you have hit, are close to or even exceed your targets. How have sales of your products increased? How have your less popular products performed after a discount in comparison to your popular ones?
If the strategy hasn’t quite worked the way you wanted, no problem! The only way to success is to test how your audience interacts with diverse types of promotions and discounts.
To do this, start with small campaigns of unique codes equipped with various discounts. Besides, divide your current audience into groups and offer only one type of discount at a time per group. This way you have a test group versus a control group, which means you will then be in a better position to assess results. More tests mean more certainty about what will work in the future.
According to a study from Business Insider, high shipping costs are the top reason why shoppers abandon online shopping carts.
Step 6: Add eyecatchers
There are additional several eye-catching ways to offer discounts. For example, one is free shipping. Studies show that free shipping can increase sales, and this is also a great way to limit cart abandonment. According to a study from Business Insider, high shipping costs are the top reason why shoppers abandon online shopping carts. You can also recoup some of these lost buyers with a special blast that may draw them back.
Yet, packaging and delivery charges can hurt low margin businesses, so you may need to think carefully before offering such a discount. Eyewear businesses like Mister Spex, offer free shipping and returns because it is built into the margins, but if this isn’t the case with your business, you can offer shipping above a certain threshold, such as $25. You can also restrict free shipping to a specific location or period.
Sometimes, a discount doesn’t cut the deal. But if you offer to buy one, get one free (BOGO), (or other freebies) you’re sure to attract more interest – particularly from impulse buyers. A study in the Journal of Marketing found shoppers prefer to get items for free, rather than at a discount – because they find fractions difficult to understand, while “free” is always understood.
Of course, the required purchase can always be higher depending on the width of your margins, such as Buy 2, get 1 free for frames that have been clogging up the stockroom far too long. ClearVision Optical is a past master of this type of approach and while it is not quite BOGO, Glasses.com is offering 50% off a second complete pair of glasses if your old pair breaks.
Other eye-catchers are flash sales that create urgency and hype for a limited time and coupon codes that you can use to move overstocked product or as a baseline for complimentary products. Even a birthday gift, can still be a surprise that your customer will remember and appreciate.There are no universal rules that guarantee sales promotion success. Yet, discounts are a tried and proven way for companies to generate business. As these six steps indicate, planning, consistency and consideration of the customers' desires and needs can assure you, success in your online eyewear sales strategy.
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