Today, ecommerce is the most preferred method of doing business, gaining more momentum every day. This means that competition is relentless and making profits for online businesses can be a challenging task. In the pursuit of competitive advantage, online businesses often rely on significant discounting to stay relevant in consumers’ eyes. So, selling online without discounting is a far-fetched idea for any business.
Obviously, all businesses want to grow sales without price discounting. Many online business experts, however, do not promote selling without discounting. Instead, they encourage the use of coupons to penetrate new markets and make more sales. But what is the actual goal for your company? Are you interested in making more sales or making higher profits? If you answered the latter, continue reading!
For smaller companies, growing sales by relying on heavy discounting, offering coupons, and undercutting competitors may not be feasible. If you intend to make high profits, shoppers with a ‘no discount, no purchase’ mentality are not ideal for you. Offering products at inexpensive prices can also result in higher demand than what your business can handle effectively.
Imagine that the cost of a product is $14. This cost will affect demand and dictate the total number of sales for the product. If 1,000 products are sold, your business makes $14,000 of gross income. What is not determined though, is the amount of work it takes to make the same amount of gross income by selling products at a lower price. For example, selling the same product for only $10 means that this business would need to sell 400 more units to make the same amount of gross income.
Selling products in greater numbers results in an increase of labor in many other areas of the business. More sales means a higher demand for customer support to assist in exchanges, refunds, and general questions. Selling more products also increases the chance for mistakes, leading to customer dissatisfaction. With the spread of opinion so easily shared through social media, too many dissatisfied customers easily lead to a negative online reputation. So, here are five essential ways to sell your products without discounting!
The System That Cares!
Shoppers are more prone to pay higher prices if they believe that you provide a support system that stands by them if they face issues with their product after purchase. Keeping your word about what you sell and assuring customers that you will act quickly to fix their issues is very important for successfully selling at higher prices. This makes the consumer feel more comfortable about spending money on your products without the help of any discounts.
Focus on Product USP
It is integral that you focus on the USPs, or the unique selling points, of your products. Try to capitalize on attracting those shoppers who give preference to quality and understand its value. USPs can change depending on the target audience and product type.
Solve Challenging Product Problems
Letting your customers know the challenges you overcame, or pain points, during manufacturing or designing a product just for them is a very effective strategy to boost conversion rate.
Don’t Underestimate the Power of Positive Reviews!
Manufacturers and sellers know that shoppers rely on positive feedback. Positive customer reviews influence and reinforce the unique selling points of a product, a great practice that ultimately favors the seller.
Consider, for instance, this Sephora product page. Even though Sephora beauty products are considered more premium and costly than the competition, this product still boasts more than 4000 reviews, out of which nearly 3000 are 5-star ratings!
In this case, customer reviews reinforce Sephora’s stance of their makeup products being superior to the competing brands, helping them to sell without discounting.
Flatten Shipping Costs
If it is not possible for you to offer free shipping, then make use of the flat-rate method, which helps in eliminating the frustration of increasing the final order values. However, it is important to remember that products you list at a very premium price should carry free shipping.
Ensure an Efficient Path-to-Purchase
This includes providing an efficient, smooth-running system that makes the process of finding, adding, and ordering products easy. This is a very essential and effective stage to boost sales without offering discounts. Never give your customers too much time to ponder over their purchase, as it usually increases the possibility of cart abandonment.
Create a Sense of Urgency
It is a well-known tactic in the fashion industry to use plain and urgent messages. There are ardent fans that never miss opportunities to buy the latest apparel and happily pay a full price without thinking about discounts.
For example, there are special edition smartphones of popular brands that are priced even higher than the original model, but they end up generating good profits for the brand.
Create a Personal Bond with Your Shoppers
Make your shoppers feel like a part of a bigger family. Create a shopping environment to which they feel like returning again and again. Whether you are a brand that deals with similar products or one that offers a wide variety of items, making your shoppers feel that you care for them and understand what their money means to them can justify higher prices.
A meaningful and worthy shopping experience can definitely have more worth than offering discounts with a neglected attitude towards the shopper. So, it is important to incorporate the tool of live chat for support and sales or otherwise encourage people to get connected with you.
Use These Hacks!
The above ways are effective in making higher profits by selling products without discounting. It’s not always necessary to push coupons and discounts to raise sales. Consider relying on these tactics to see growth in your profits.
