You have many tools available to you as a small business owner. These tools can help you welcome new customers and turn existing customers into loyal clients. Some of the most important tools are actually the easiest to use. Let’s take sales as an example. You can offer many sales campaigns on your eCommerce site, including discounts, free shipping coupons, or even a 2+1 deal. A sale is always a win for customers. But a good one can also benefit you. Online sales can help strengthen your brand, increase revenue in slow periods, connect you with customers and reward loyalty. You can have a sale for any reason, at any time. Customers will appreciate a “just because sale” just as much as an “perfectly timed one.

Here’s a guide on how to create a great sale on your eCommerce site.

01. Plan a Time

Sales are often associated with holidays for most people. Customers expect discounts during special holidays, such as Christmas, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day and Father’s Day. These are great times for all, big and small, online or offline. Why is it that holiday spending is so high? It all boils down to tradition and guilt. It’s easy to shop online because of the notion that people spend money at this time of year. To keep up with the competition and boost your business, it is important to prepare your store and create a holiday sale.

However, this doesn’t mean you should limit your sales to holiday seasons. Sales are more than just holiday periods. Customer love to be rewarded, and it doesn’t matter what season. Some people view sale shopping as a form of sport or competition. The more successful the deal, the greater the reward. You can still benefit from a sale at any moment, if you add that to your fear of losing out on money. You can and should run sales throughout the year. This is independent of holidays. You should create an identity around the sale by giving it a name, such as “Not to Miss Sale”, “Catch Me If You Can”, “This Weekend Only”, and others. To make your sale more appealing, you can add the following:

Beware:too Many Sales can Damage Your Brand and Make It Look Cheap. Some may believe that your business is trying to sell more inventory, or using tricks to attract clients.

02. Choose a direction

Decide what kind of sale you want to hold and create a plan. You will need to determine the sale’s duration (24 hours? 3 days? A whole week? Customer reward. Consider what your customers need to feel confident and committed to buying from you. Here are some options:

• Coupons – Providing a simple coupon is quick and easy for both sides.
• No shipping charges: You’ve all been there. The shipping fees push the total to a level that is beyond what you want, and you give up on your online shopping dreams. To alleviate this feeling, offer a free shipping coupon. This is crucial as 9/10 consumers believe that free shipping is their number one incentive to shop online more.
• Discount price : These can be in the form a dollar amount or an arbitrary percentage. Customers will enjoy the excitement of seeing the price drop to something they like.
• “Buy one, get two”: This is the deal! This coupon is great for customers who want to grab attention.
• Discounts on specific products or collections – The best thing about creating coupons in Wix Stores, is that they can be applied to multiple items or collections simultaneously. This makes it easy for you and your customers to save time and not have to look through every item or collection.
• Get a discount with a minimum order. This is a great incentive for your customers. A coupon can only be used when the minimum order amount has been met. You might offer a $10 discount for orders $50 and more. To reap the benefits, customers who reach the $50 threshold can use the coupon code. You may also be eligible for free shipping or a discount.

03. Make a sale for your online store

Once you have decided on your sales campaign, now it is time to put it into action! For each sale type we have described, the process can be simplified in Wix Store Manager. Here’s an example of how to apply a flat percentage discount on an entire collection.

1. Select “New Collection” from the “Collections” section of your Store Manager.
2. Change the name to “Sale” or any other fancy name you choose.
3. Add your items to the collection. You’re done for now with the collection. However, you can always come back to it at any moment and add/remove objects.
4. Navigate to the “Promote” section in your Store Manager. Click “Create Coupon” to set the coupon’s name, code, and expiration date. You can then apply the coupon to any of your items individually or to your entire collection.

 

04. Prepare Your Website for Sale

These are just a few ways you can draw attention to your sale directly from your website.

• Create a dedicated page for your sale. Simply click on the Pages icon to the left of the Editor to add your page. It can be designed however you like. Once you are done, click the Add icon to add Wix Stores product galleries to the page. Set the collection for your sale items.
• Add a banner to your website. This is one of the best ways to let people know you have a sale. Simply add a full width strip at the location where you want to place the banner. Then, add a text box to tell them. You can make banners big or small. A small banner should be placed at the top of each page, or in the header of your website for maximum exposure.
• A lightbox: Inform your visitors about your sale by creating a lightbox reminder. This will be displayed on your page after a set amount of time. A button can be added directly to your sales page to allow them to choose to benefit from the savings immediately. Be gentle with the lightboxes. Too many lightboxes will be more harmful than helpful.
• Countdown You can add a countdown on your sale to really make it stand out. You can do this with the Wix countdown clock. It is easy to add it to your website and easy to delete once the clock strikes zero.
• Ribbon for the discounted products. literally means “sale. To add a ribbon on your items while filling out the product information, make sure it is placed across the top of each product photo.

05. Clarify the Details

When you promote your sale, be clear about what it is, how it works, when it starts, and when it ends. A new page may be added to your website to clarify any details. You don’t want a customer feeling that you are trying to conceal details. A complete FAQ Page is the best way to accomplish this. Not only can you answer simple questions about the sale, but also any terms and conditions, as well as the return policy. You can make them feel more comfortable sharing their bank card details with you the more they are exposed to it.

06. Promote the sale outside your website

After you have updated your website with the details of your sale, and clicked “Publish”, you will want to spread the word. You can post the products on social media and announce the sale. A sale banner can be posted on your Facebook page. It should include an attractive image and brief text that explains what customers can expect. You can be creative in your sales marketing. You can host a Facebook live, contest or other activity that revolves around your campaign. You can encourage customer engagement via social media by offering discounts to those who answer questions, post photos, or do other activities. The excitement generated by sales is high. Any way to make it even better will encourage people to buy.

Important: In order for your sales campaign success, it is important to have a consistent message across your website, blog, and social media channels. You don’t want clients to be disappointed or angry about the “25% discount” promo code that isn’t on your pages.

07. Email to Past Customers

Email marketing is responsible for 30% of repeat online purchases. Customers will feel valued and welcomed when they receive email communication. Send an invitation or discount that is only available to your subscribers. Send an email to your customers offering a discount or promotion for a sale. You can also make your customer a VIP member and offer them free shipping. Wix Stores will add your customer’s email to your Contacts section. This makes it easy to contact them whenever someone buys from your store. You can easily create a beautiful newsletter with Wix email Marketing to inform your customers about your sale. Sending an email with a coupon code to your loyal customers could be a great way to let them know about the sale before it goes live.

08. Keep it going

It’s not enough to just make a sale and then forget about it. It is important to remind people multiple times. You don’t have to remind people every day, but you can send a simple reminder once a week via all your social media channels. You can convey urgency as you get closer to the end of the sale and remind last-minute shoppers about last-minute discounts. Send a “Last Chance To Save!” email. Send a “Last Chance to Save 50%” email, and place a similar banner on Facebook and your website’s homepage. Buyers can feel the gentle pressure of running out of time and make purchases.

source https://www.wix.com/blog/ecommerce/2018/02/how-to-create-sales-campaign-ecommerce-website