Forum Moderators: buckworks
We've had such a form on our cart the past year even tho we rarely issue coupons. However we're getting lots of questions from customers about it, such as "How do I get a coupon?" Not surprisingly, some buyers --especally large ones-- feel slighted. Perhaps we're even losing sales.
Therefore we just removed the coupon text box to see what happens. Any thoughts, experiences? As a shopper, how do you feel about coupon boxes?
If you are actively promoting coupons through various off-site sources; then the benefit would, I expect, outweigh that cost; but if like you say you rarely (if at all) issue coupons then i'd be tempted to lose it.
If I find a code I enter it and order.
If I find a better deal elsewhere while trying to find the coupon you just lost a sale.
If I can't find a coupon, something I need to order ASAP, and I can't find a better deal you just lucked out.
My suggestion would be to loose the coupon code box.
Freq---
When someone goes there, tell them what the coupon does, and that it has been added to their session
Never saw this before: owner regularly went around the place asking customers for their "dinner book" coupons... which almost everyone but us had! Coupons were for 50% off the second meal. I felt like the only idiot in the place.
Chances are it may alleviate a lot of slighted feelings and promote some forehead slapping ("Dang, I wish I knew about that BEFORE now!").
Of course, a possible downside may be that people will abandon the carts while they wait for a coupon in their e-mail.
Freq---
I like Moltar's suggestions. You can also try to hide the textfield in a link that says "If you have a catalog code, click here", then either use javascript to slide down a textfield, or pop up a small window that prompts for the code. People that have coupon codes are less likely to mind one more click, and people that don't have couple codes are less likely to think that they are "missing" out because they didn't enter something in that field.
I got paranoid within 24 hours and ousted the coupon box out.
What I do when I want to give certain customers a deal is tell them to mention it in the message field.
(never interrupt a man writing you a check)my Daddy used to say.:)
MM
Its a relatively small font ( arial 8 or 9)
I think I'm gonna do an e-mail campaign with a promo code for all past purchasers..encouraging them to share with family and friends...
Im starting to make coupons that are more targeted towards "similar products", but ive only done that for one type of product so far
Cause: Perceived inequity when shoppers don't have a coupon that is available to others.
A few weeks ago we removed our cart coupon box, which wasn't currently being used anyway. Sales which were weak before then have been better since. A few other changes were made so that we can't know for sure the reason for the improvement.
But the permanent coupon box is gone.
Is this evidence of the coupon code box? I don't know and probably won't be able to nail it down one way or another. I could just lose the box for a month and see what happens, but there is NO doubt at all that I get repeat sales by giving out the codes.
But i could be wrong
Appears that the cart box should be removed between promotions and perhaps coupon promotions should be kept to a just a few days. Moral: only show coupon box when absolutely vital.
The are many types of shoppers out there. Surprisingly, the best price/deal isn't the top priority for many. For other it is THE deciding factor. These people are often reffered to as 'Value Proposition' shoppers.
Always make these people feel like they are getting the BEST deal at your site - a coupon will entice these people to buy - a coupon box when they have no coupon WILL make them seek one out or at least scowl a bit.
We deal with this by making 'Coupons' a section of our site, there is a large nav tab called 'Coupons', there is a large, prominent, differently colored box on both the shopping cart AND checkout page called 'Discount Coupons', we have an email box that says 'sign up for coupons...', we use coupon codes in almost every marketing campaign, we give all of our affiliates codes to us, we put coupons in paid search ads, and we even have a coupons RSS feed! When you search an engine for OurDomain.com Coupons - we show up #1 (in paid and organic). Beside the coupons box is says "If you need a Perfume coupon, click here". This way, if someone wants a coupon, they WILL find one very very easily.
The coupons we offer are things that we usually offer anyway like free shipping over $60, $10 off any order over $100 etc etc, things that will hopefully increase average order values.
So now the question is... when you make coupons such a blatantly obvious and integral part of your site, what % of users actually USE a coupon? Naturally it will be different for everyone, but for our common consumer goods $60 average order site - it is less than 35% of checkouts.
You're saying that even when you publish the coupon code on your site and even when it's visible from the cart, only 1/3 of shoppers enter the code in the box?
We don't just publish the codes, we make them really really obvious.
Most shoppers are interested in fair prices, a secure 'feeling' site, available customer service(1-800 etc), and a user friendly shopping experience.
Our prices are great. Nowhere near the 'best' on the web, but great compared to retail prices.
There is a lot more going into online buying decisions than just price, make sure you address these propositions.
BTW - I'm not just talking out of my @$$ like many on these forums do. We did heavy testing and I am talking about a top site in our very competitive niche. We do over 10000 uniques a day and convert them at well over 6% (higher at Xmas).
Good Luck All!
[edited by: lorax at 12:51 am (utc) on Feb. 17, 2006]
I spent some time yesterday looking at your firm's blog which is a goldmine of ecommerce nuggets. Seems that many WebmasterWorlders have migrated to the Supporters Forum lately. I even shelled out the funds. That may be diverting some traffic from the main boards
That said, I think using an OTC-BB stock symbol is close to the line, too.
But do please stick around. I enjoy reading ("studying" is the better word) your posts.
[edit] email addresses cannot be posted [/edit]
[edited by: minnapple at 8:22 am (utc) on Mar. 23, 2006]
