Scarcity effect – anyone who has ever signed up for emails from retailers will know how tempting limited time offers and promotions are. Global shopping events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday are based on this principle and help to increase brand sales by creating a sense of urgency that appeals to consumers’ fear of missing out on a good deal.
Minimum spend threshold for free delivery on online purchases – with as many as 87% of UK consumers having bought something online at least once the internet is becoming a vital platform for any brand. Paying for delivery is so unpopular that many people are prepared to buy more items than planned just to qualify for free delivery.
Celebrity endorsement – the importance of social media in people’s lives is growing and brands routinely use influencers to promote products on their own channels to their millions of followers worldwide by projecting a lifestyle consumers aspire to.
Targeting products by gender or category – marketing a product specifically for women can work wonders for brands as consumers are tempted to buy the more expensive version even though it differs from its generic equivalent only in packaging.
Psychological pricing – retailers have been using prices ending in .99 (just below a higher round price) for a long time and they work by skewing consumers’ perceptions of value. These effects are so strong that in 2009 a study by Manning & Sprott showed that when comparing two pens priced at $3.99 and $2 respectively, the one costing $3.99 sold 44% more than the cheaper one.
Brands need to be on the lookout for more opportunities to increase sales. Far from being solely rational, the decision whether to buy more is made in the consumer’s subconscious which is the emotional battlefield for your brand - talk to us to tap into consumers’ subconscious today.
