This is my second time visiting Okinawa, and there is one place where I’m very hesitant to go…
Ramen Danbo at Nahama Makishi Ten.
Because I still remember the last time I went…
It was also a hot October day.
I stood in a long line… waiting for an hour… and came out disappointed.
No, it wasn’t because the flavor was bad.
(it was actually pretty delicious)
It was because:
Long wait = overly high expectation = easy disappointment
And there’s a great parallel for your BFCM, too.
Most e-commerce brands start their BFCM promo in early November… drag it all the way through November… and try to maintain the excitement through December so that they can connect with the Christmas holiday season.
THAT IS TOO LONG.
The longer you run your promos, the more it drains your audience.
In my experience, it’s typical to see the normal (full-price) sales drop by over 50 percent after a long promotional period. And the longer you run the launch…
…and the more frequently you’re doing sales events
…then the longer it’ll take to recover.
(sometimes, you even hit a tipping point and lose full-price shoppers forever)
On paper –
You are doing well.
25 percent of all your annual revenue in one month.
In reality –
These are ALL discounted sales. This means you are only liquidating the cost of inventories… not making much margin.
However, you’ve sacrificed your full-price (or full-margin) sales in the long term.
To be continued…
– WYH
P.S. – This is also why I always plan my clients’ promo with a few strategies that drive sales after the event. I want customers to come back and buy — even without discounts.