You might not think it, but discounts and promotions are an important part of your business. You can dramatically boost sales using discounts.
There is no denying that everyone loves a good sale. In fact, it was estimated that in 2020, more than 80% of U.S. consumers used a coupon or discount when making a sale.
With the fierce competition, especially in the wine industry, coupons, discounts, and promotions have become an essential part of any sales strategy to boost sales. To some, it may seem detrimental, but the addition of sales and promotions goes far beyond just discounting your product. These discounts can offer several benefits to your business and your customer.
It Builds loyalty
Many customers tend to stick to a particular brand, store, or winery if they are rewarded for shopping regularly. In some cases, this loyalty-program comes in the form of a stamp-card. In this case, you can reward your loyal customers with a discount coupon.
Promo codes are an excellent option here, which you can provide specifically to your current customers as a reward for being a loyal, wine-buying customer. Your customer will feel valued while you boost your sales using discounts.
It Attracts New Customers
In addition to rewarding current customers, you can use promo-codes as incentives for new customers to buy your wine.
To appeal to new customers, offer them a special discount (or even a free gift) with their very first purchase. Be sure that when you do sign them up, that you take their details. These details can serve as an excellent opportunity to market your wines, make sales and reward them later for being loyal customers.
It leads to Major Sales
Many businesses have their reservations about offering wine at discounted prices. While there are both upsides and downsides, there is no denying that it leads to sales.
Inmar found that in 2018, customers redeemed more than 2.8 billion coupons. So while you might sell the wine at a slightly smaller profit-margin, the stats don’t lie; customers will absolutely make use of this.
It Gets stock Moving
The use of promotional codes and discounts serves as an excellent opportunity to get stagnant inventory moving. While the wine industry rarely has an issue with “old stock,” it does offer the chance to get specific wines or vintages moving.
The most effective method to lead customers to this inventory is with a banner or pop-up on your online store. This targets the customers who were already on your website and already prepared to purchase your wines.
Types of Discounts and Promotions to Use
When offering special discounts or promo codes, there are several different options to use. These options create great diversity and allow you to use what best suits your winery.
1. Bundle Discount
Bundle discounts essentially offer clients a discount when several products are purchased together. In terms of wine, this could be a particular mixed-box of wines or any wine-accessories you offer. By doing this, you create a sense of value instead of merely discounting your product.
This is one way of getting your dormant-wines moving as you’re able to focus on wines that are not as popular.
2. Free Shipping
In today’s era, ‘free shipping’ almost sounds more appealing than a simple discount.
When introducing free-shipping, however, it is essential to note what those costs would be to you. Free-shipping is not always viable to your business, especially when the wines they purchase are below a certain amount.
In many cases, businesses only offer a free-shipping when customers spend a certain amount to ensure the costs do not outweigh the income.
3. Volume Discount
Volume discounts are widely popular in the wine-world and are beneficial to both your customer and your business. Strictly speaking, the more they buy, the greater their discount. This is an excellent way to get your inventory moving and increasing large quantities of sales. These types of discounts work exceptionally well to boost sales on Black Fridays or around holidays like Christmas and Easter.
4. Buy One, Get One Free
The buy-one-get-one-free is essentially a 50% discount – which is a significant amount to most customers. You can use this option to sell slow-moving wines by promoting that particular wine. Alternatively, you can offer the opportunity to buy one wine while getting a different kind of wine free. The latter option allows customers to choose the wine they want, while you get to sell the slower-wines as the ‘free’ wine.
5. Referrals
Our previous article about The Impact of Referrals and How to Utilize Them highlights how powerful incentivizing referrals can be.
By incentivizing customers to spread the word and recommending your wines, you are able to gain access to a large market of potential customers. In fact, 71% of people say that they are more likely to decide to purchase based on a friend’s referral.
Significant brands worldwide have seen the value of this and added the referral system to their website. You can add this feature to your site too. The system tracks these referrals and essentially rewards customers for helping spread the word about your wine. This has become increasingly easier for your customers to do, so make sure your winery Ups Their Social Media Game.
6. First-time Buyer Discount
There is no doubt that first impressions are everything. And considering how challenging it is to get customers to buy wine they have never tried, a first-time incentive works exceptionally well.
You can either offer them a discount, a special promo-code, or a voucher for their first purchase.
7. Email-subscription Offers
If you’re prone to target your customers with emails and you’re able to do that successfully, we highly suggest that you offer customers an incentive for giving you their information. There is nothing more powerful than direct marketing (primarily via email), so use it whenever possible.
If you’re not using email marketing yet, consider incorporating this into your marketing strategy. If you already do, be sure to read up on 5 Authentic Ways to Improve Your Click-Through-Rate.
8. Birthdays and Special Occasions
Coupons and vouchers for birthdays and other special occasions have proven wildly successful. This is a powerful tool to show customers that your winery values them while still making sales.
If discounts and coupons seem like a far-fetched idea for your business, this is the one area where you should definitely consider offering vouchers or special discounts.
There was a study done in 2012 where researchers noted something extraordinary. Individuals who received a $10-voucher experienced a 39% oxytocin rise and were considered 11% happier than those who didn’t receive a voucher.
How to Add it Quickly and Efficiently To Your Site
Adding these discount features is as simple as clicking a button. With Troly’s team, you simply have to add this feature with a few simple steps.
Troly is focused on helping wineries grow their business using state-of-the-art software and tactics. If you would like to know more, request a demo and see how you can take your business to the next level.
While many businesses believe that promotions or discounts could potentially harm their brand, the evidence is clear: customers actively seek out these discounts. It’s time to set aside the old mentality and embrace the power that these strategies hold for your growth, sales, and marketing strategy.
