An article in today’s CNN Money declares that internet daily deals to be dead. Consumers are suffering from an epidemic of discount fatigue and are turning away from coupon and affiliate sites.
I don’t think consumers have reached a saturation point with online bargains; the real problem with that these promotions is that they’re too institutionalized.
Multichannel merchants take few risks and rarely offer any real bargains to their customers in cobbling together a calendar of promotional campaigns in nice, neat little 72-hour time spans. Smart bargain shoppers know that the really great scores in retail are the result of things that can’t be planned, and might be triggered at any time various conditions: An unexpected inventory glut. A scramble to move product to make room for a sudden change in trending. A downturn in a retailer’s sales necessitating a push for quick cash flow. A chain going out of business.
These patterns that are obvious for experienced retail marketers to see – that most web specials are just teaser deals with a portion of excess margin fat trimmed off their price points – are also intuited by lay consumers who realize that these deals are nothing special, and eventually stop responding.
On the other hand, if your merchandising department can be nimble enough to offer some really dynamic deals you can avoid affiliate marketing altogether and keep your customers hungrily awaiting your next email blast or coded text message. By dynamic I mean extreme clearance/sample sale-level discounting – 70% discounts, irresistible two-fers, etc. The best approach to promotional discounting is to keep it strong and keep it real.
Even if you have to bleed a little red to pull it off, it could be worth trying if your daily deal and loyalty programs will end up holding the interest of your customers to the point where they’re visiting your site (or store) more than those of your competitors.
