SMS marketing for retailers: 5 top discount strategies to engage shoppers

Increasing retail activity with SMS discounts

Have you ever ended up buying more than you needed of something whilst it was at a lower price point just to ‘stock up’? 

According to a study by Pyschology Today, shoppers prefer to buy products with coupons even if it means spending more money overall – and 93% of all shoppers in total use discount codes throughout the year. As a society, we love a bargain – and that’s why offers work! 

With open rates of 98%, the fast and direct nature of SMS makes it the perfect channel for reminding customers that you’re there and giving them a reason to visit your store, click your link, or place an order.  

The do’s and don’ts of SMS discounts 

Whilst customers are keen to see what kind of discounts you’ve got, it’s important to strike the right balance between creating opportunities and cheapening your usual offering.

Here’s our top do’s and don’ts lists for hitting that SMS marketing incentive sweet spot: 

Do’s 

1. Include personalisations when offering discounts as a reward for being an active/loyal customer or when treating customers on their birthday.

2. Create a tiered discount scheme with increasing levels of money off to turn more one-time shoppers into loyal customers.

3. Make the most of every seasonal opportunity (view our marketing calendar for 2024 if you’re stumped!) 

4. Be discreet! Offering discounts to your SMS list of loyal customers or abandoned cart shoppers etc will make them appear more exclusive!

Don’ts 

1. Be a repetitive discounter – this can cheapen the value of your normal offering, especially if you’re a high-end retailer! 

2. Alienate your loyal customers by offering so many constant discounts that it seems as if your usual price is over-inflated or a rip-off. 

3. Damage your reputation against market competitors by discounting so much that you’re seen as the ‘cheap and cheerful’ option, rather than known for product quality and reliability.

5 types of discounts to send to your list

Now that we’ve covered the why and how of discounts, let’s look at the what. Here are five classic discount offers to experiment with. 

1. The Buy One Get One Free (BOGOF)

An absolute backbone for UK retailers, the BOGOF does exactly what it says. You offer a product at the regular price and give away a second identical product for free. 

66% of shoppers have rated this type of discount as their favourite, and from the same group of shoppers 93% of these have taken advantage of a BOGOF deal before.

If you have excess stock to shift, especially if you’re selling products with a sell-by-date, this type of offer is perfect! It’s smart, and it makes the pennies stretch a bit further for customers. Even though the incentive itself is simple, you could get more creative with promoting it via a multichannel strategy. Email and bulk SMS often form the double act for getting offers seen and used! 

Ready-made templates to get you started: 

Hey [NAME], have you seen our BOGOF deal?. Buy one [PRODUCT] and have another on us. But be quick because stock is limited. Shop now: [LINK]

OR

(a cross channel approach)

Buy one [PRODUCT] online and you can pick up a second in-store for free. Yep, you read that right. Here’s the link you need: [LINK]

2. The first-time discount

A great offer to grow your subscriber list is the tried and true first order discount. This is one of the best ways to hook those who are just browsing your website into becoming paying customers.

It also offers a lot of flexibility and means you can experiment with different discount sizes like 5% off and 10% off. You could even explore money-off options (£5 off) and track key SMS marketing metrics to see which one gives you a higher engagement rate.

Our top tip if you’re going to do this is to send your first-time discount code with, or as an immediate follow-up to, your welcome to our subscriber/newsletter list SMS.

Ready-made templates to get you started: 

Welcome to Fast Fashion! Thanks for signing up. Use this code [CODE] at checkout to get [X]% off your order. [LINK]

OR

Hi [NAME]. Looks like you’re missing your new outfit! Here’s a special promo code to get £[X] off your order! 🤩 Just use [CODE] at checkout by [DATE].

3. The flash sale

Often the one with the biggest price slashes, Flash sales offer a discount for a limited time (no longer than 72 hours) and tap into the fear of missing out (FOMO). This creates a buzz and gets customers to act quickly. 

Just like with BOGOF It’s an effective tactic if you have excess inventory to shift, but it’s also great for pushing one-time transaction shoppers as well as loyal customers to splash some cash during a dry sales season!

You could even reward SMS subscribers by giving them an early access link to shop on the sale an hour before everyone else.

Ready-made templates to get you started: 

Hey [VIP rewards member]! Our big [X] hour sale starts tomorrow, but you have early access an hour before👌 Get in there first and grab [Y] off. [LINK]

OR

Woo! Our biggest event of the year is live until MIDNIGHT. Use code [CODE] to unlock your [Y]% discount now. [LINK]

4. The tiered discount

So this type of offer works in tiers, meaning how much you get off your shopping basket is determined by its value. Tiered discounts target new and existing customers.

For example: 

• Get 20% off when you spend £50+
• £50 off your first order (when you spend £150 or more)
• Get a £5 in-store voucher when you spend £40
• Get free shipping on orders over £20

This offer encourages customers to splash more of their cash, if they want to unlock the discount then they’ve got to buy enough to cross that first threshold. It’s a really effective way of boosting your average order value (AOV) too.

And it’s simple to set up really, the higher the AOV, the bigger the offer. You could look into your data and see what your average customer spends to work in an offer that reaches this amount or just above it! It’s got to be tempting but still profitable for your bottom line. 

Ready-made templates to get you started: 

Spend more and save more! Use the code [CODE] at checkout to get [X]% off your next order over £[X].

5. Personalised discounts 

This is where you can really stand out to your subscriber base! Personalised discounts are offers you send that are tailored to specific groups on your SMS list. They can be based on things like demographics (age, gender, etc.) interests, purchasing activity, location, and website patterns.

All this information comes from customer data you collect in SMS surveys or from order history.

For instance, if you’re a fashion retailer, you can send different offers to female and male subscribers. Or, if you’re part of a regional chain, you can send one offer to customers in London and a different offer to customers in Glasgow. 

Or, as a common example: celebrate their birthday. 

Segmenting discounts can give customers more value through a personal experience with your brand. It also prevents serving up a choice overload as you can suggest products they’re likely to be interested in. 

Ready-made templates to get you started: 

Happy birthday, [NAME]! Here’s your present from us. Get [X]% off your next order by using this code [CODE] at checkout

Hey [NAME], it’s been a while since you ordered [PRODUCT]. Need to replenish your stock? Use this code and get [X]% off on us [CODE]. [LINK]

The 101 of SMS discounting

Finding the perfect balance for discounting through SMS marketing all depends on selecting the right offer type for your brand and combining this with something that your customers will find tempting! The goal is to push less active customers or loyal customers into boosting their AOV by picking up more than they usually would. The right product to discount depends on what customers like, how they buy and/or what you need to move.  

For example, if you know that customers buy in bulk, a money off or percentage discount will save them money or large orders. But if they tend to buy single items, a BOGOF deal will prove a better motivator.

It’s always a good idea to analyse the data of your previous SMS campaign performance before crafting your text message, what did your customers respond to last time? This way you can experiment with types of offers, personalisation, and duration in a way that will help you grow your ROI from incentives over time. 

If you’d like to start experimenting with SMS marketing incentives to boost customer loyalty and drive AOV in an upwards trend, please get in touch with our friendly team here at Text Anywhere.