Among dozens of considerations merchants of all type need to take to heart, one of the most impactful is offering reduced pricing either as part of a sale even to all or even to selected loyal customers. This has become a problem for many ecommerce vendors, especially. Discounts are well known to be magnets for new and existing buyers; in fact, for online commerce, they are a driving force in the skyrocketing rate of revenues year after year.

For larger e-sellers, discounts are a staple and a primary marketing tool. Giants such as Amazon use them to produce maximum revenues on a marginal basis, meaning they may profit more on the sheer number of sales, even if they take a loss on each individual transaction.
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But when is and is not a good time to slash prices? Here are some important factors to evaluate, broken into two categories -- advantages and disadvantages:


The Yes Effect, or why offering sale prices is a great idea:

1. AOV, or Average Order Value
   How much revenue are you generating for each customer on checkout? This figure offers a useful tool for overall assessment on the typical sale. If you bundle a variety of products together, it helps generate sales for categories that are experiencing a dip in revenues. Ecommerce big players adopt this strategy frequently.
   
   
2. Long-term loyalty discounts
   Retain long-time or just somewhat regular customers by rewarding their repeat purchases with discounts. This is on balance a good way to encourage continued loyalty. And it’s not limited to product discounts. Also consider perks such as “Buy one; get one half-off” or “Receive a logo T-shirt with each $50 purchase.”
   
   
3. Kickstarting a client base
   Offering discounts right off the bat is a great way to look attractive to new buyers. Provided you are in a position to follow through, benefits such as free shipping are tried-and-true methods of luring up to 70 percent of shoppers who are first-time visitors.
   
   
   

The No Effect, or why sales pricing may backfire:

1. More harm than good?
   Some e-tail analysts say that regular deep discounting can be a self-inflicted fatal wound when customers begin to suspect they are a false representation of your usual prices. Overdoing discounts is a pattern seen in jewelry stores offering half-off gold chain sales and never change that policy over a period of years, for example.
   
   
2. Stay in the black
   Profit margins suffer when an item is discounted too heavily, as customers may expect that price to hold over time. If you continue it, your bottom line suffers. If you don’t, buyers may look elsewhere.
   
   
3. Offer good stuff
   Quality control changes everything. If your products don’t meet the standards buyers come to expect, they will see the discount as a manipulative tool to peddle inferior goods. This is especially true with respect to products offered with no warranties.
   
   

The basic points to be considered in contemplating a regular discount program require a careful study into your inventory, your current profit figures, your reputation going into the program, and whether you feel confident that it’s a positive business model that will serve you years down the road. Proceed with caution, but don’t be shy about proceeding if it all adds up.

The old adage goes something like this: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” We’ll back off of the hyper-dramatic element therein, while still making a solid point. And here it is: Attempting to ramp up your practical and technological upgrades can be a colossal failure for an ecommerce store if it is not prepared to make certain that it’s functional.

Countless blogs—including ours—eagerly advocate for trending technology as a method of padding your bottom line. It’s simple to discover a new strategy that uses tech concepts to make your site more noticeable and competitive, and even simpler to share it as a fabulous way to help you sell. The downside of this unfolds when the execution goes south, and disappointment ensues.
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This blog post represents a reversal of our typical entries, for good reason. It’s equally important to avoid errors as it is to take advantage of popular, accelerating trends.

​Here are some examples, pulled from past suggestions we and others have made:

• MOBILE SHOPPING and MOBILE PAYMENTS
  At some point, these will be standard elements, as conventional as opening a brick-and-mortar store. For now, though, there are considerations that should be acknowledged with respect to ensuring your online store is providing seamless access without interruption, including a compromised interface that translates to poor visual presentation and makes prospective buyers immediately turn away. If you wish to place an emphasis on tailoring your store interface for smart phones (which are a fast-growing method of consumer buying) make sure you have either the personal expertise to make it work, or the resources to hire someone who does.
  
  
• CHATBOTS and REAL-TIME COMMUNICATION
  Offering instant access to live support is a golden opportunity to rival the level of service available in physical stores. But if your app is not functioning correctly, leaving a customer in limbo, it may lead to their vow of never visiting your store again.
  
  
• OUTREACH MARKETING
  It is never inherently wrong to incorporate personal interactions following either a sale or an inquiry. Emails, text messages, social media direct messaging– all of these can be invaluable tools for establishing a close buyer-seller relationship. That said, too much may be too much. Not everyone enjoys this level of communication. Always ask in your first outreach, in a careful, conversational manner, whether your marketing messages are welcomed.
  
  
• VISUAL AUGMENTED IMAGERY
  Online commerce increasingly is embracing the strong impact of video in addition to still images. Capturing the attention of potential buyers by providing them with a near-living example of how your products will suit their tastes and needs can be powerful. But if your technology or application is not up to par, it can distort what you sell and turn them off forever.
  
  
• REWARDING LOYALTY
  Not that loyalty programs are a newfangled strategy for endearing buyers, but e-commerce merchants developing them need to be careful to avoid overselling. Your reputation as a relatively new source for shoppers can quickly deteriorate if their first attempt to participate is unsuccessful due to an unforeseen factor that makes it impossible to follow through. The trick is to be judicious with reward offerings, updating them incrementally as you gain the confidence in your ability to deliver.
  
  

Now that you know what not to do, you can gain confidence in what you can do, and plan carefully with a strategy going forward that is aimed at growing your store and your reputation in a sustainable manner.

The dizzying pace of futuristic strategies to enhance your online store has a somewhat new entry, and you might want to pay attention. Enter “augmented reality,” or AR, to the mix of methods for capturing and keeping a customer base devoted to revisits. This is a proven hack to showcasing the best of your product mix.

The definition of augmented reality is an overlay of computer-generated imaging over an authentic environment. In lay terms, it means AR picks up on an element in the real environment, then inserts objects related to it using varying levels of interactivity.
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Sound complicated? It may, but as with any emerging technology, there is plenty of help to get you started. First, evaluate how useful it will be to your business. If your products are heavy on design (as opposed to strictly functional and generic), AR can make them come to life for potential buyers. All smart phones are equipped with AR-capable functionality. Beyond this, the visualization customers experience will put into context how the product will work in their everyday world. This is an ingenious invention.
 
Let’s talk numbers.

• With respect to ecommerce, augmented reality catapults buying decisions in a manner that once was reserved for onsite shopping. Experts estimate that customers are 11 times more likely to make that purchase when an AR “try-on” is available.
  
  
• Almost one-third of retailers are already at one stage or another of implementing an augmented reality feature.
  
  
• 55 percent of customers surveyed say they want to access interactive content when pointing their phone at a product.
  
  
• 75 percent of customers surveyed expect retailers of all types to offer an AR experience in the future.

​The perks of augmented reality are obvious. Whether you sell fashion, sporting equipment, home goods, or gardening tools, the ability to craft a moving image of how your products will appear in the real life scenario is invaluable. Furniture sellers may allow potential buyers to superimpose a sofa into their living room using AR over a smart phone, which saves them the trouble of imagination. You get the idea. It’s the next-level boost for remote commerce that is sorely needed.

But there are restrictions, naturally. Smart phone viewing scales down the actual size to virtual size. Though phone users are accustomed to this adjustment, it’s not perfect as a way to present your products. Counter this by getting tutored on a more streamlined, effective presentation.

Cost is another issue, as many e-tailers are budget-conscious. Complex apps for AR can be spendy. Consider this as part of your deliberations, taking into account the importance and likely success of capturing buyers through virtually real imaging.

There are other drawbacks, but also other definite pluses that aren’t mentioned here. Your best bet is to research, research, research. Start here for a comprehensive primer on how to make this technology work for you.

If augmented reality is not for you now, it may be in the future as your online store grows. Keep in mind its robust features and potential, and continue to study AR as its technology advances. But if you’re ready to take the plunge, there’s no time like the present.

Happy Independence Day, America! 

Photo by Erwan Hesry on Unsplash