Effective discount pricing strategies for e-commerce stores

Effective discount pricing strategies for e-commerce stores Writer, editor, and translator. Experienced in blogging for marketing, translation, localization, and foreign languages with a degree focused on English Language and Literature from Boğaziçi University.


Discount pricing is a strategy for e-commerce businesses to generate more leads with a meaningful mindset. When applied correctly, e-commerce discount pricing strategies can help businesses gain and retain loyal customers. 

Pricing has the utmost importance for customers. Therefore, using the right pricing strategy for e-commerce is crucial to 

  • Scale your business, 
  • Increase sales, and 
  • Grow your profits. 

Do you want to keep your prices high and risk missing out on gaining more customers or do you want to lower your prices to be competitive and reduce your revenue? 

At that point, discount pricing strategies for e-commerce companies can help you plan your discount marketing and grow your business through the right approach. So, what will be the most effective tactic for successful e-commerce discount marketing?  

If you are interested in learning more about e-commerce marketing and discount pricing, there are e-commerce marketing courses that can provide you with the necessary knowledge. 

Here we have listed the most effective discount pricing strategies to guide you on how to offer a discount to the right customers at the right time. 

1. Address the targeted audience

Acquiring new customers is not as easy as it seems. You need to draw their attention by offering attractive discounts and promotions. Using an intelligent pricing strategy is critical to drive sales, profitability, and customer acquisition.

First of all, getting an all-inclusive plan is required to understand who you are targeting with the discount. In other words, you should develop a goal-oriented approach to reach more prospects by determining who your target audience is.

Customized offers and promotions to certain customers can also help you gain loyal customers in the long run. 

2. Decide what type of discount to be offered

To produce maximized profit for your e-commerce business, you should consider what type of discount will be more efficient to increase sales. There are several discount strategies to be offered on a service or product:

  • A percentage discount
  • A cash amount discount
  • A discount on the next shop
  • Multi-buy and combination offers 

You can reduce prices with a predetermined percentage discount or a specific cash amount discount. Or you can offer your customers a specialized discount if they buy from you again. This strategy can help you optimize customer retention. Another discount type is multi-buy and combination offers which mean buying several products at a special price. It can also make you sell more items at a time. There are a few e-commerce marketing tools to automate this process.

3. Pay attention to timing and scheduling

If you want to optimize customer engagement with discounts and promotions, you should pay attention to timing and scheduling your offers. 

For example, special days and events are perfect for offering promotions and discounts since your target audience will be most likely to buy from you on those days. Therefore, it is very crucial to schedule your discounts strategically to optimize your sales and profit.

Besides timing, you should also consider how long discounts run. Do you run your discount campaign for a week or do you offer a 24-hour flash sale with special prices? As one of the best e-commerce discount pricing strategies, timing and scheduling play an important role in maximizing customer engagement.

4. Offer discounts as rewards

Although the ultimate goal with e-commerce discount pricing strategies is creating more customers and increasing sales, you should also consider offering discounts to your existing customers. 

Incentive awards for your customers can encourage them to market your business by sharing your products on social media platforms or inviting friends to your e-commerce platform. For example, you can offer a 50% discount on their next purchase if they invite 3 friends or you can only ask them to subscribe to your e-mail list in return for special promotions and discounts. 

You can also promote your first-comer visitors to purchase your products by offering an initial discount which is valid only for the first purchase. 

Those discount pricing strategies are useful for brand loyalty and customer retention. Planning incentive awards and special discounts will encourage your target customers to buy from you once and again.

5. Use a visual contrast to show the markdown

As a powerful marketing strategy, you should show customers the original price and promotional price to make them see the discount amount clearly. 

Visual representation of the discount they receive will promote them not to miss out on the opportunity to buy the desired product at a special price. You should also use visual cues via size or contrasting colors to magnify the difference between the original price and sales price.

Emphasizing the markdown via visual contrasts attracts attention and has an influence on the subconscious mind to purchase without any delay. This is an effective discount pricing strategy for e-commerce companies. 

6. Encourage customers to buy from you

In the competitive marketplace, there are several equivalent companies providing similar products to the customers. Therefore, encouraging people to purchase your products is essential to gain more customers and increase your profits.

For example, a first-time customer discount or discount with a money-back satisfaction guarantee can be helpful for you to stand out among your competitors. You can offer a discount percentage or free trial for newly registered customers or assure them to get their money back if they are not satisfied with the purchased product. 

In short, your discounted prices should be competitive encouraging potential customers to choose your products. Otherwise, your products may fade into the background and you may not be able to reach the target audience to optimize your sales and revenue.

So what?

When e-commerce marketing and pricing are considered, discounts are undoubtedly critical since the price is one of the most significant factors for customers to make a purchase decision.

Constantly reduced prices are not efficient to gain a successful e-commerce business. Intelligent discount pricing strategies are required to ensure customer engagement and retention. You should employ the right discounting and pricing strategies to attract more customers and boost your sales. 

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