Big changes for special deals website

Nowadays consumers have unlimited access to all the information they need to buy online at the best prices. To make the most of partnerships with sites promoting deals, discounts and other promo codes can be a really profitable strategy for boosting revenue on your online retail sites.

The figures speak for themselves: good deals play a key role in the buying process

A study carried out by Kwanko on a selection of the group’s online retailers in the fashion, high-tech, household and health and beauty sectors showed that good deals play an important role in the purchase process. Conversion rates reach 7% with a discount voucher, versus 0.2% without.

This “good deals” study, was carry out from September to November 2015. It revealed that good deals are involved in 46% of conversion chains. They are found twice as often in the high-tech sector compared, for example, with the beauty sector.

Discount vouchers also have a significant influence on average spending. For example, for household and high tech goods and services, we see an 11% increase in the average spending when internet users have a discount voucher, versus a 10% decrease when they don’t. Lastly, it is in the beauty sector that the availability of discount vouchers leads to the highest conversion rates.

A strategy in which brands play an important role

Nonetheless, for sales to take off it isn’t enough just to set up a promo code or discount voucher. Offers still need to meet consumer needs and the brand still needs to create a real dialogue with potential customers. The brand has to tell them a story. This story, created for and “by” the customer is designed to get them to make a purchase once they have a genuine idea of the benefits of the product or service offered.

Although in the past good deal sites were essentially just directories of promotion codes that didn’t really promote content and brands, they have now become real content marketplaces, with their own promotion and editorial strategies. This means that the endless lists of good deals found on ma-reduc.fr, Savoo.fr, cuponation.fr or moins-depenser.com now provide consumers with all the information they need to make smart purchases. They also provide descriptions of goods, promote goods according to selected periods and sectors, and offer special selections of deals… These sites are also marketplaces for your main audiences that enable advertisers to reach thousands of internet users.

Strategic partnerships

Acting as offer aggregators, deal sites today are genuine audience marketplaces, implementing promotion and partnership strategies specially designed for premium media and bloggers. Figaro.fr, equipe.fr and parisien.fr have for example become privileged promotion resources for deal sites.

In a similar vein but with a more polished editorial line, some deal sites, such as Cuponation, have set up partnerships with bloggers, such as soisbelletparle.fr, meganvlt.com and Noholitaen. On these pages, tips, ideas and trends, enabling readers to be first in line for offers, discounts and new products.

Three rules for creating a better deals strategy

Rule no.1: focus on visibility

For the brand, of course, but also for your deals. A promo code isn’t enough to make your good deal successful. It also has to be widely promoted, and to do this it needs to be on the main audience marketplaces. Such as some specialist sites already mentioned, which have a “promophile” audience of many millions of online buyers.
It’s also worth making the most of peak online sales periods, such as Black Friday and seasonal sales, flash sales, private sales, and brand anniversaries, etc. Every occasion should be announced, promoted and commented on in as many different media as possible. If you don’t do it, your competitors will!

Rule no.2: Get talking and get your message across

I always recommend our advertisers to work closely with our publishers in order to create their own promotions. This enables you to make the most of changes in seasons and special occasions:

• Promote exclusive promo codes for special events (mother’s or father’s day, Valentine’s day, etc.)
• Offer special discounts for new customers (and not just for new customers!)
• Set up a loyalty system to increase average spends (special discounts on the second or third item bought)
• Define seasons for highlighting products and different categories of products
• Depending on your activity, product trials and competitions can also be great opportunities to promote special offers

Rule no.3: Motivate your publishers

The best way to promote sales is undoubtedly through the network of publishers connected to your brand through an affiliate marketing platform which, like Kwanko, enables retailers to widespread promotion of their offers.
Publishers are your ambassadors and they often come up with great ideas for selling your products and services. Giving them access to special incentives should motivate them to dedicate their best promotions to your brand. If you don’t, it’ll be your competitors’ offers that will appear first when users search for your brand on the internet…

The changing world of good deals
Deals, promo codes and discount codes are no longer just “simple discounts” giving the final push at the end of the conversion process. They now play a decisive role in online retailers’ marketing strategies.