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Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Email marketing: when is a deal not really a deal?

In scanning my inbox this morning, I came across this offer: "Buy one t-shirt or cap and get another at 50% off". Not bad. If I was in a buying mood today, I might take a look but the retailer is one that is known for overpricing things anyway so I'm not exactly getting the warm and fuzzies. Regardless though, 50% is 50%.

It got me thinking about other types of offers though and even some of the ones they do. The idea behind a sale or an offer is to move business, right? No one is doing a sale unless they have some slow-moving product or need to generate some interest in what they're doing, at least for the most part. So why do retailers and others continue to offer 10% or 15% discounts? I view those as garbage and not worth my time. If I know there's going to be markup on a item and my incentive is only 10% less to purchase it, what's the point? Do I need the item or is it a luxury? If some sales are better than no sales, then why not discount at much as possible? 

When it comes to email, you only have a few seconds to grab someone's attention. Are you sure that your offer is up to snuff? Will it ultimately matter to the end user or will it be tossed to the scrap heap? 

People are often too afraid to deep discount for fear of 'conditioning the market'. But if you've got product that isn't moving anyway, what's the difference?


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Posted on Tuesday, May 13, 2008 at 9:35 AM in Industry News and Thoughts

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