The Problem: “If you build it, the will come!” — but will they stay and push the submit button. The reality is that the majority of people going to your shopping cart will leave without purchasing. Some may “believe” they will return but don’t always. So what can you do to change shoppers’ behavior to induce them to purchase or contact you to request more information.

The Solution: Engage shoppers with on-site promotions to influence their decisions. Everyone has a Pavlovian response to promotions. It’s been imprinted into our visual and subliminal DNA to react or at least pay attention to a deal. Here are a few ways to change consumer behavior, increase conversion and boost sales.

Promotional Incentives:

1. Dollar Discounts or Percentage Off
Everyone wants to “pay less” for a purchase. Call it our competitive nature or simple greed. Never-the-less, it works because it is a real value promotion. Saving money is always an incentive to buy. Discounts can be for specific items or across the board.

2. Limited Time Offer
If you run a discount, nothing works better than a “limited time offer”. It creates a sense of urgency and perception of a lost opportunity if you don’t act NOW! People that are still on the fence with a $ discount or % off may just take that leap of faith and buy it.

3. Free Shipping or…
We have a client whose cart was being vacated too often which led to increasing frustration. Their products were fantastic and in demand, yet too many consumers weren’t pushing submit. Through our social media marketing analysis and consumer feedback, we determined the shipping was just too expensive for the purchase (had to be shipped 2nd-day air as items were perishable). We solved the problem by offering the customer “flat-rate” shipping – so they could feel comfortable purchasing more product without added cost. While it wasn’t the “ideal” free shipping, it worked like magic! Value is almost as good as free.

4. Promotional Caveat with Purchase
Another incentive to purchase is to offer your customers an added gift, such as a BOGO or buy 5 get 1 free, depending upon the type of products you sell. 5. Tiered Promotions An effective way to increase your customer’s purchase is by creating a threshold, such as offering a dollar discount or free shipping if the order is above a certain dollar amount (i.e. $75) or a percent off (i.e. $20% off $100 or more).

Takeaways:

1. Promotions get people’s attention and drive visitors to your website and cart. There has to be real value to the promotion for it to be effective. Advertise your promotion through social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; via email; and PPC ads on Facebook.

2. On-site promotions keep shoppers on your site and prevent them from “shopping around” for better deals. If the incentive is credible, they don’t want to waste their time saving a literal nickel.

3. Promotions can create a sense of urgency to buy now, especially coupled with a limited time offer or limited quantities.

4. Promotions help with upsell using the threshold concept of “buy more, get more.”

5. Once customers buy and are happy with their purchase, they are more likely to return to buy more at a later date. Keeping them in the loop on future savings will keep you on top of their mind and wallets.

Final Thoughts:

Everyone knows promotions work. However, they must make economic sense to your business. You don’t want to “cheapen” your product so you must find a formula that works best for your bottom line. We always test and track. The consumer will provide the answers as long as you are listening. Best of luck!