@fatbobfan I'm going longwinded in my explanation, apologies in advance - its been a very, very long day and I'm not self editing efficiently
Current promotional tool options:
Send offer
Order discount
Multibuy
Coupon
Sale Event + Markdown
Sale Event*
*I think this is part of using rrp strike through pricing if you sell branded goods at an rrp discount.
My understanding of promotion stacking:
Send offer is a definative offer (with the exception of sales within the EU for VAT registered sellers). The amount you send is the final offer to buyer and amount they'd pay. Within the EU the buyer does not pay the VAT element within your sent offer.
Promotions that stack....Order discount, +,Multibuy, +,Coupon,+,Sale Event + Markdown,+Sale Event*
Multibuy stacks with everything but Multibuy gets priority in visibility over order discount ( so the buy 2, by 3, buy 4 of same item shows as a priority over buy 2 from this group of products type disount. I chose to switch off multibuy for many listings as I feel order discount is a better incentive for my customers)
Coupon does not stack with other coupons - this is seller or ebay coupons - send an offer can't then use a coupon, ebay promotional coupons can't use a seller coupon as well, stock group coupon can't be used with other coupon. There is one coupon code box. Only one code can be used on checkout. Coupons have no listing time restriction so are good for listings that are new or have been sold similared and you want to boost. I don't find coupons generate lots of sales - they give a slight sales boost to my kind of stock but do increase listing views - its one of those little boost options and all the little bits stack up to generate sufficient interest to generate sales. They're also great with newsletters to remind customers you exist.
Sale Event + Markdown items need to have been listed more than 14 days with no price or postage setting changes. Sale events and coupons stack. So does multibuy + Sale, So does Order discount + sale. (It can get expensive) You can send offers to buyers for stuff on sale. You can put a coupon in addition to a sale event for an extra discount. You can send a private coupon (possibly of higher value than the standard coupon) to nice buyers who for example have left good feedback in addition to the sale price or to newsletter groups. The low hassle repeat buyers cost less to administer so keeping them happy and being repeat customers stacks up well (for me). I also like the psychology of rewarding nice.
Sale Event* As I sold a reputable brand at a discount I have this option - I don't know if its mainstream eBay. I have something called rrp strike through pricing where the rrp shows with a line though it all the time against my standard sale price. This has no time limit. It stacks with everything. Its one of those I think having this set gives a little boost options.
@fatbobfan wrote:
Thanks @ojewellery
Is the following correct on your procedure above? 10% coupon sent and when they show interest you send them 5% discount and the system allows/you tell them to use the code as well?
I run a sale event + markdown and then send offers (these can't be used with a coupon)/ run a coupon in parallel, create a private coupon and send in a newsletter, create a private coupon and use send offer to buyer from order history.
@fatbobfan wrote:
Thanks @ojewellery
Question - Is there a tool to specifically target coupon watchers only or do you put ut a generic 5% incentive to all elegible
I use send an offer to people who've watched and if its that time of month send a private coupon with a newsletter. I have occassionally used the send coupon option from orders page but its a bit slower than the mass sending of the other options. I am slightly more hesitant of heavily discounting to unknown buyers. Good happy repeat customers have a very low overhead. Customers who've impulse purchased something that seemed like a bargain but wasn't what they actually wanted can be a PITA (Pain). You can run a public available to all banner header coupon in addition to a sale event + markdown (maybe last few days or second week of a want to get shot of certain stock lines sale event)
Regarding return on sales and whether they'd have purchased anyway. We will never know.
A family member, who runs a successful online business, was talking to me about promotions a while ago. They run promotions all the time. They were saying customers add stuff to basket and check out a day/ a week / a month later. If they go to checkout and no promotions show, they almost always don't check out. If there are still promotions (even vastly different to when they added to basket) they proceed to check out. We want browsers to convert to shoppers. To get browsers we need visibility. To get visibility we need to use the boost tools available. All the little bits, using all tools that are available and stack up for us increase our potential for getting visibility. I have been thinking about my mentality as a customer. Sometimes I'm not ready to checkout, even when the offer looks good. I might revisit and if said item is supposed full price I might feel negatively towards it but if its on offer, albeit not the same offer, and the timing suits me better - I may well hit that buy button.
