Has "10% off" Discount Offer Died?

[Ashley_Price]

The last couple of times I did an offer with 10% off, I got no interest at all. So I wonder now if people still see this as a great way to get new business, or have consumers got tired of this, and would actually prefer "freebies" ("Get a FREE widget when you spend over £XX pounds")

This thought was further compounded this morning when I was in a bookshop and a woman was complaining that "15% off" wasn't enough of a discount on the books.

 

[Mike W]

The last couple of times I did an offer with 10% off, I got no interest at all. So I wonder now if people still see this as a great way to get new business, or have consumers got tired of this, and would actually prefer "freebies" ("Get a FREE widget when you spend over £XX pounds")

This thought was further compounded this morning when I was in a bookshop and a woman was complaining that "15% off" wasn't enough of a discount on the books.

The market's littered with so many FREE this and that, 80%, 70% and 60% offs that even 50% off nowadays doesn't often look great.

I think your freebie is seen as far more valuable than 10%.

p.s 15% isn't enough discount off books

 

[Ashley_Price]

p.s 15% isn't enough discount off books

Depends on whether you want to see the local high street survive I guess. Okay, generally I buy fiction and biographies from charity shops. I can wait, get it a lot cheaper and help a charity.

However, if it's a business book, or the sort that you rarely see in charity shops then I will buy it from the high street - I rarely buy books online, because I'm impatient and I want my book now. Like I bought "Too Big To Fail" on Saturday, got 15% off, and could start reading it that afternoon.

 

[Barnie]

it does us ok actualy, our items are more expensive and prices maintained,sometimes we use £50 off a £500 item instead of 10% occasionaly a free gift worth £50 is also used

 

[Andy777]

I'm sure it depends on business, items etc. but for us, 10% doesn't work too.

It's just too small discount, we now aim for 20% or even 25% BUT on limited range of goods. Or do massive 50% sales (everything must go) - these work best for us in terms of response/conversion rates. Almost no profit in them though as we're giving away products @ near cost price.

These days people are looking for something more interesting - like a free trial, free product, free DVD, tickets and stuff like that.

 

[directmarketingadvice]

The last couple of times I did an offer with 10% off, I got no interest at all.

If you keep doing 10% discounts to the same market, it'll fatigue.

An offer has to give people the idea that it's a closing window of opportunity. Lead them to believe that it's going to be repeated again in the near future and there's no motive for them to act now.

Steve

 

[MASSEY]

But in the same token i see larger discounts and all it leads me to generally think is it must be over priced in the first place.

 

[An Oasis]

BOGOF.

Co-op a bottle of Pims £16.99 or you can buy 2 for £20...

Does anyone actually think that there are discounts available? People are very cynical of "special offers" these days, as most are not really special.

 

[iArtist]

I find I can be lured into buying things I don't even want by a nice free gift, especially the ones Boots give for buying number 7 cosmetics! Funny thing is I neither use the freebies or the cosmetics I often buy from them. But they look so tempting......

Thus I would say yes..nicely presented freebies is still an incentive for the barmy bargain hunters such as myself.

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

10% barely has any selling impact because the prospect still has to pay for what you're selling. They get some money off, but they still have to fork money out, and people need to be persuaded to do that.

People mistakenly believe that a small discount has a strong enough impact to convert a sale. In reality, it's nowhere near enough. It can work to a degree if you couple it with other offers in an overall marketing message, but that's about it.

Plus, just how much is the 10%? In B2B, it's often a very small sum of money unless a sale is worth thousands of pounds. I've seen some businesses try to push a 10% discount on a £50 item. Do they really expect £5 to sway prospects from one business to the other?

Free items and offers work because of the perceived value - not necessarily the actual value. £20 is £20, but a free item can be many times more valuable to the prospect. The key is to assess the prospects, assess why they want to buy the original product and then offer something which will really play on their needs. If you do this, then a £50 free item could be worth £50, but a £20 item could be worth hundreds to them. Just imagine the impact of that.

However, if you do take this approach, never neglect the selling of the product being sold. So many prospects are caught out in the situation where they really like the sound of an offer, but they prefer the original product from another business. This is purely down to what has been said about the products in sales copy and marketing material. Offers like these should be used on-top of the existing marketing messages, and should never be used as an excuse to neglect the original selling points.

 

[dharm999]

We do an offer, did one on here in fact,where we guaranteed to save you money on your security costs, in fact at least 10%, got no interest at all. Dont now if it was the offer or that people just weren't that interested in security. Its seen as a necessary evil and something that you have to have, like insurance. Personally, depending on what it is, I would be interested in a 10% discount, particularly if the price before discount is already pretty good.