How to play and case analysis of limited-time flash sales in the community

Limited-time flash sales are a marketing application tool for products. In addition to coupons, they are also another marketing method commonly used by merchants. But the essence is the same, which is to use promotional means to create price advantages for products and attract more members. The purpose is to boost the overall sales of the store, thereby influencing more users to make purchasing decisions.

1. The impact of flash sales

First, let me talk about my understanding of limited-time flash sales. On the surface, there doesn’t seem to be much difference between limited-time flash sales and limited-time discounts. They are both related to time and are also discounts on product prices.

But after deep thinking, you will find that limited-time flash sales emphasize the low-price stimulation brought by timeliness. With seconds as the unit, the transaction speed is very fast, and short-term flash sales are particularly obvious.

Limited-time discounts focus more on the discount strength brought by the offer. The time will be slightly longer than flash sales, and it is on a first-come, first-served basis, and will end when sold out, so there are still certain differences between the two in essence.

The short-term limitation will give users a stronger sense of urgency, making them feel that "this opportunity is not to be missed".

At the same time, the limitation on quantity can arouse the user's desire to buy. This is because in the user's mind, the shorter the time and the smaller the quantity, the more precious the product is.

It is very likely that users do not have a strong purchasing demand for this product.

However, due to the atmosphere created, users will eventually make a purchase because they don’t want to miss this opportunity.

Whether online or offline, many activities will have slogans like "last XX pieces", "limited time XX minutes", and similar slogans. The subtext behind them is that the quantity of the goods is limited and there will be no more after that. If you want to buy it again, you may never be able to buy it again.

This type of promotional method is more likely to attract users' attention. The purpose is to make users feel that the product is scarce. If they miss it, they will no longer have it. If they want it again in the future, they will need to buy it at a higher price.

In consumer psychology, this is called the "scarcity effect."

Before consumers trigger a purchasing behavior, they are actually extremely hesitant in their hearts, wondering whether to buy or not. So we need to use this method to help consumers overcome their resistance.

This in turn influences the user's purchasing choices and allows consumers to consume without any worries. This is also one of the common tactics used by offline store sales staff.

Therefore, I believe that the core of flash sales lies in the scarcity atmosphere created by time and quantity, which in turn produces a scarcity effect and ultimately affects users.

2. Setting the details of the flash sale

The consumption decisions made by users due to flash sales will not only be affected by factors such as limited time and limited quantity, but also by some reference value factors.

This includes visual interventions such as numbers, font sizes, and colors, which affect users' consumption decisions.

The setting of these details is particularly important for flash sales. Simply put, it is to influence users' perception through product details.

01. The impact of numbers

Usually people will compare the original price with the current price and encourage users to gain satisfaction from the difference. The bigger the difference, the stronger the sense of satisfaction, and vice versa, the weaker the impact on users.

However, the setting of the difference does not necessarily mean the difference in the actual sales amount. A common practice is to influence the user through their illusion of the numbers.

For example: the original price is 219, and the current price is 199. Although it seems that there is only a difference of 20 yuan, the difference is actually very large. 199 gives people the feeling that it is in the range of 100 yuan, while 219 yuan gives people the feeling that it is in the range of 200 yuan.

Usually the last digit ends with 9, and the real change in price is the first digit. This is because the numerical intervention creates the illusion of low prices for users, while also maximizing the profits of merchants.

02. The impact of color

Through people's perception of color, they mistakenly believe that the current price has certain advantages over the previous price.

In many cases, discounted products are marked in red fonts, and through "visual emphasis" people are led to form the illusion that the price is reasonable, prompting users to have the psychological effect that the product is very cheap.

The first impression created by human visual senses, the elements with stronger appearance contrast are more likely to catch the user's attention.

At the same time, because people have formed an inertial perception of the color red, they believe that red means promotions, which means things will be cheaper than before. This is also the term "user habit" that we are familiar with.

Of course, different regional cultures will also produce different cognitive differences due to different user groups.

3. How to operate limited-time flash sales

Flash sales can be divided into "long-term flash sales" and "short-term flash sales". Long-term flash sales are usually more common in online operations, and different products will be sold in different time periods.

The time limit is usually around 2 hours, and this type of flash sale is actually not particularly noticeable to users.

01. Long-term flash sales

Because the time period is long, users have time to consider. They will think: There is still such a long time anyway, let me think about it, whether I will regret buying it, whether I can use it after buying it, whether I will have it next time, and whether I can buy it next time.

After a long period of hesitation, the probability of eventually giving up the purchase will be greatly increased.

In fact, if we observe carefully, we can find that the sales rate of goods in this type of flash sales is not particularly fast.

Usually there will still be some left when the time limit expires. Although the number of products set up for flash sales is not particularly large, the actual effect will still be very slow.

Although some platforms will filter out products that are about to sell out and display them separately to reflect the scarcity of the products.

But the time period is there after all, especially for those platforms with a small user base and low activity, the effect of long-term flash sales is far inferior to those of short-term flash sales.

On the other hand, long-term flash sales may sell better than ordinary goods due to their price advantage. After all, there is still a price difference, but this type of flash sales is essentially not much different from limited-time discounts.

02. Short-term flash sales

Short-term flash sales are more likely to appear in WeChat communities, and the emphasis is on "speed", but it should be noted here that at least 25%-35% of order transactions come from product selection.

The quality of product selection directly affects the effect of flash sales, so it is useless to only emphasize speed.

Combining what has been said above, grasping a few key factors will make flash sales truly perceptible, prominent, fast, and impactful to users.

So when I was working on flash sale products in the early days, I would discuss the activity plan with the operations staff and tell them that they must grasp these key points.

• Time limit: Try to keep each flash sale within 10 minutes, 5 minutes, 1 minute, etc. You can adjust and optimize it again according to the actual transaction data until you find the optimal critical point (this is actually the same as the data review of coupons);
• Limited quantity: The limited quantity here should be set within the controllable range of cost. Even if there is room for profit, do not set too much, because the smaller the quantity, the more it can reflect the scarcity of the product. This is the same reason why some people must buy limited edition shoes or cars when buying them.
• Details: Details here refer to the price setting of the product. At the same time, you also need to know the principles of product design. Otherwise, you will know the results but not the reasons, and you will really be working on functions instead of product design.
• Product selection: It needs to be set according to the operational indicators of the product itself and the user groups to be targeted. Different categories of products have different focuses.
• Stimulation: By limiting time, quantity, and creating a short cycle, the activity becomes more stimulating and reduces the user’s thinking time.

Because short-term flash sales are based on social networks, finding the right user group is the key.

Therefore, we hope that the people who join the group are users who are truly interested in flash sales. If we invite users who are not sensitive to prices and activities, it will be meaningless even if we invite them to the group.

Precise delivery can be carried out based on existing channel resources. I will not go into details here.

Once there is a certain user base in the community, it is necessary to start warming up the activities to prevent users from missing out on the flash sales in the group.

Therefore, it is necessary to inform the community of the time of the flash sale in advance, as well as broadcast a countdown one minute before the start of the flash sale, to lay the foundation for creating an atmosphere of scramble.

You can also introduce and describe the product within the group to fully mobilize people's imagination, paint a vivid picture in their minds, and concretize the usage scenarios and price advantages of the product in the minds of consumers, creating an immersive feeling.

At the same time, you can combine the form of sending red envelopes to help the group be active. By sending red envelopes before the event, you can create a scenario where the amount of the goods can be deducted. Coupled with the advantage of flash sale prices, it is more conducive to increasing the transaction rate of goods.

It should be noted that when the flash sale period expires, even if the goods have not been sold out, the goods must be removed from the shelves to highlight the popularity of the flash sale goods.

After the event is over, you will not be able to create another flash sale event for the product at that time for a period of time. The purpose is to let users know the scarcity of this product. If they don’t grab it this time, they will have to buy it at a higher price next time.

Because many users are in a wait-and-see state, they will see whether there will be more flash sales after the end of the sale. This is the hesitation that arises in users' thinking.

Ultimately, you miss the opportunity to buy at a low price because of your hesitation. What we want to tell users is that your decision is wrong, you can't hesitate, and you must place an order decisively.

If the user sends you a private message, you must also adhere to the rules of the event at this time. Even if there is still stock of this product for flash sale, you must firmly resist selling it again after the event.

If it is to be sold, it will be sold at the original price, highlighting the authenticity of the social media flash sale.

By the time the next activity starts, users will have learned their lesson. Therefore, no matter what activity you do, you must not be blinded by the immediate benefits. You must have your own principles so that you can generate greater benefits for subsequent activities.

Therefore, the community flash sales we did at that time were able to achieve a transaction rate of between 60% and 75% almost every time, and we would get the event data for a review after each event.

Based on the activity values ​​and the transaction data generated by the product selection, further adjustments will be made until the value of the activity is maximized.

IV. Conclusion

This article mainly explains the main influencing factors behind limited-time flash sales, and as product managers, we need to know the principles behind them.

Only in this way can we understand the core value behind each demand, which will help us make more correct decisions, and most activities are supported by marketing tools.

Therefore, we should not only know the facts, but also the reasons. This will help us influence users' cognition through detailed product design.

Participating more in operational activities with operations staff and analyzing each operation method and strategy will help improve our thinking ability and enhance business sensitivity.

Author: Yukun Product Notes

Source: Yukun Product Notes