We found that most of our shoppers do not like using Coupon Codes for a discount on the total purchase because it means that they either have to figure each item before it is placed in their shopping cart, then keep track of the total as they are shopping, or they have to go through the trouble of starting the checkout process multiple times to get to the end where they enter the coupon code (or codes) to find out what their total is. Sometimes the total would be higher than what they expected or budgeted so they had to go back and remove items from the cart -which they found kind of disappointing. Or they might have found that the discount was so great that their total was now just under $75, which meant they had to pay the Flat-rate shipping fee...or add something else to the cart, re-figure the discount code, and hopefully fall just over the $75 total so they got Free Shipping. All of this figuring and re-figuring was tiring, frustrating, and sometimes disappointing to our shoppers.
Another issue was trust. Our regular shoppers who we have gotten to know over time, trust that when we say 25% off, they will actually get 25% off at checkout. Not like with some online stores that say you get 25% off, but once you get to checkout the discount is lower, or not at all, because of certain restrictions written in the tiny print. It seemed that new shoppers to our site didn't really trust that they would receive the full discount so they kept going through the checkout process to verify that they did in fact get the full discount, then they would go back to shopping. We noticed that most of the shoppers that we had created a relationship with in the past, usually only went to checkout once...at the end...because they already knew that we were honest and had no fine print that might reduce or eliminate the discount when they got to checkout.
This was all proved by the extremely high number of abandoned shopping carts by our shoppers since we began the store sell-out about 2 weeks ago. We could see the shopping patterns in our website stats tracking that clearly laid out this scenario being played out time and again. So frequently, that we were concerned that there was a glitch in our system that was causing these shoppers a problem...nope, it was our Coupon Code process that was causing the issues. Most shoppers want to know what the Sale Price of each item is before they put it in their cart. They want to know while shopping, when they have reached the $75 minimum required to get Free Shipping. They want to enjoy the process of shopping at these deeply discounted prices without needing a calculator nearby.
So yesterday we deactivated all coupon codes and I spent at least 9 hours going through our website changing each and every product listing to reflect the sale price for each product! Now when you are shopping in our website you can see the original price and the New Sale Price! As you add items to your cart you can see your shopping cart balance. You will instantly know how much everything is going to cost you before going through the checkout process (entering billing and shipping addresses, telephone, email, shipping preferences, etc.) You will instantly know when you have crossed over in the threshold of FREE Shipping.
Yes, it was a tremendous amount of work, but our valued shoppers are worth it! The results (shown in our stats tracking) prove that it was worth it. Our abandoned cart issue is back down to the normal range. Now shoppers are browsing the store, placing items in their cart, making quantity adjustments as needed, then when they have purchased everything they need and want, they just check out in one quick moment. No need to keep going back to adjust the cart value up or down because they have seen the running balance all along the way. I think this gives the shopper more control over their spending, not to mention confidence that they are getting the prices that they expected.
So...No More Coupon Codes!
~ You will see the Exact Sale Price listed.
~ You will be able to check your total each time you add or update your shopping cart. No hassles!
~ You will know the instant that you qualify for Free Shipping because you will see when your total goes over $75.
~You will be able to stay within your budget without the need for a calculator or pen & pad.
So go browse the store...
EVERY SINGLE ITEM
has been Marked Down!
Mark Downs at 30-75%!
If you find something in the store that has not been marked down, let me know! I am only human and might have missed an item or two...we do have over 700 product listings and most of those listings have multiple variations within each listings.
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