Cross-Channel Discount Strategies

Discounts are a hammer that makes every problem in the business look like a nail. Businesses look at challenges like: - Excess inventory - Mediocre products - Low CLTV - Poor retention …and slap on the discount duct tape. The end result? Weak margin. A cheapened brand. And consumers who are conditioned to only buy from you if they get a hefty discount. We help retailers shift from one-size-fits-all discounts to targeted, efficient incentives. The exact playbook varies a lot by brand, but the approach needs to be both Technological (granular data in promo rules, and a wide range of incentive types) and Organizational (measuring marketers on margin & profit, and setting guardrails for offers). Some sample tactics include… 1️⃣ Shift to buy-more-save-more and bundle offers 2️⃣ Use 'challenges' for customers to work towards specific incentives 3️⃣ Require data capture (form, survey, preference center) to get a deal 4️⃣ Scope offers to specific SKU parameters, not entire categories 5️⃣ Don't show discounts too early or to high-propensity customers 6️⃣ Ensure marketers can use all customer, cart, and SKU data in offer rules 7️⃣ Make more offers 'final' (no returns on attractive deals) 8️⃣ Communicate non-discount value on item level (bonus points, gift with purchase) 9️⃣ Shift value prop to experiences & exclusivity with known users 🔟 Optimize promotions & loyalty program to get to break-even (e.g. 5th purchase, not 1st) But the goal is almost always to discount LESS, and to ensure that the remaining discounts are extremely efficient & targeted. Here are a few examples of what this discount discipline has meant for Talon.One customers: → Ecommerce company ($300m revenue) that decreased discount spend by 20% by switching to personalized coupon wallet → Clothing retailer ($1 Bn revenue) that increased promotions margin by 7.7% with shift to ‘buy more, save more’ playbook → Grocery delivery ($100m revenue) that decreased acquisition spend by 50% while ‘exiting’ customers who only buy with a hefty deal Is your business discounting itself to death? Send me a DM; happy to brainstorm ways to break the cycle.

"We plan Black Friday in January." That's what Jordan Nathan of Caraway Home told me when we chatted on our pod recently. I thought he was joking. He wasn't. But that was just the tip of the iceberg. Here are the surprising methods they use to crush Q4... While most brands consider Q4 a 3-month sprint, Caraway sees it as a 12-month marathon. January through October isn't just preparation - it's a series of deliberate experiments. Every promotion, every creative test, every audience segment is evaluated with one question: "How will this scale during Q4?" Jordan also shared his September ad spend budget and it shocked me. They deliberately run "inefficient" top-of-funnel campaigns two months before BFCM. Why? Because their data showed that customers need multiple touchpoints before converting during high-intent periods. Here's the offer structure that drove massive revenue recently:  → Base discount tied to AOV tiers  → Free gift threshold at $1000  → Same offers across all channels  → Early access for email subscribers The genius part: They don't just copy what worked last year. They test variations of their winning formula every quarter, measuring impact across channels. Their channel management with this strategy is also interesting. Caraway actually pulls back direct mail in Q4. Counterintuitive, right? But they learned that discount codes in mailers were conflicting with their site-wide sales. Instead, they front-load direct mail in Q3:  → 5M mailers monthly  → Focus on new customer acquisition  → Brand storytelling over discounts  → Regional testing for February rollout The most surprising insight? Their best-performing audiences weren't the ones everyone else was targeting. They found a segment of customers in Iowa that delivered 10X ROAS - a segment that barely showed up in their Meta audiences. This taught them something crucial: Success in Q4 isn't about following a standard playbook. It's about having the patience to find your unique advantages and the discipline to double down on them. The ultimate truth this chat revealed to me is that marketing success isn't about secrets or hacks. It's about understanding human behavior, testing relentlessly, and having the patience to let strategies compound over time. The moment you try to shortcut things is the moment you start losing money. Want to hear more? Check out the whole episode on our Chewonthis DTC Youtube channel. 

Before you set up a dispensary-wide discount, PLANT it: 🌿 Purpose: Define why you’re discounting (e.g., new customers, inventory clear-out, reactivating lapsed shoppers). 🌿 Look at Your Audience: Analyze the possible target segment sizes and their basket mix to ensure the promo aligns with shopping habits. 🌿 Action Plan: Choose the type of discount (BOGO, percentage off, bundles) and include cross-promotions to maximize basket size and product exposure. Don't be afraid to run different versions of the same promo tailored to the type of shoppers you see. 🌿 Notify Clearly: Communicate the promo consistently across all channels and create urgency with a limited-time offer. 🌿 Train Your Team: Equip budtenders with the knowledge to confidently promote and execute the discount. Like nurturing a real plant, follow up with post-purchase marketing and retarget users who didn’t convert. What are some of your must-dos before discounting? #retailmarketing