5 keys to promoting brand e-commerce activities!

In order to attract customer traffic and thus ensure revenue, brand e-commerce companies can try to launch limited-time, limited-quantity, low-price flash sales. By offering the brand’s best-selling products as flash sales, customers are attracted to the mall and stimulated to consume under the brand.

At the same time, there is also an opportunity for customers to learn more about other products under the brand, thereby generating more consumption opportunities under the brand.

In this article, we will introduce in detail how to design flash sales based on brand e-commerce. What are the key scenarios and requirements for flash sales business based on brand e-commerce? What kind of solution needs to be provided?

1. Scenario: When the activity is warming up, customers are interested in flash sale products

For brand malls, when customers have corresponding demands, they may not necessarily think of coming to the brand mall to buy, so the brand mall may not be able to obtain this part of the customer traffic.

In order to attract customers to buy goods in brand malls, merchants have launched flash sales, selling flash sale products at super low prices at specific times, with limited purchases and on a first-come, first-served basis.

In order to ensure the effectiveness of the flash sale, as many customers as possible should come to the mall to buy the products when the flash sale starts, and the event can be preheated in advance.

Event preheating refers to promoting the event in advance before it starts, so that customers will be interested in and look forward to the event, and the event can reach a certain level of popularity before it even starts.

For example, you can send event tweets through the brand’s official account, or use the brand’s WeChat account to promote it in Moments, send WeChat messages, and other methods to inform customers of the event information.

In the promotional information, inform customers of what kind of event will be held and when, and what discounts they can get. For example, the first 100 customers can buy the brand's best-selling products at a super low price. Create an exciting atmosphere for the event to attract customers' interest in the event.

During the event warm-up, we informed the customers who might have purchasing intentions about the event. However, although these customers have purchasing demands, they may not necessarily be interested in purchasing products under our brand. Customers may also choose to purchase the same category of products under other brands.

In addition, there is a certain time gap between the event preheating and the actual sale of the event. Even if we let customers know the event information and generate interest in participating during the event warm-up, when the event starts, customers may not come to the mall to participate in the purchase because they remember the wrong time or forget about the event.

Therefore, in this link, there are two requirements: to stimulate customers' interest in buying flash sale products and their willingness to participate in flash sale activities; and, if customers are interested in buying flash sale products, when the activity starts, customers can be reminded to participate in the activity.

Requirement 1: Stimulate customers’ interest in flash sale products

Based on this demand, the following solutions are provided:

(1) When introducing flash sale products, emphasize the ultra-low flash sale price to attract customers to buy.

During the preheating period, we promoted the flash sale through WeChat public account tweets, WeChat Moments and other channels. The event information is communicated to customers who may have purchasing intentions.

These customers who are attracted by the event come to the mall’s flash sale page, hoping to learn more about the flash sale products.

At this time, we can highlight the super low purchase price of the flash sale products when introducing them.

Because customers have purchasing demands at this time, combined with the discounts on the goods, the selling price is reduced a lot, so for customers, the cost-effectiveness of the goods becomes much higher. You may even feel like you're losing out if you don't buy it, and you've missed out on the opportunity to get a bargain.

(2) Inform customers that flash sale products are limited in quantity and will be gone once sold out, thus increasing their willingness to buy

Based on the purchasing interest generated by customers, make them aware that the promotional products are limited in quantity and will be gone once they are snapped up.

Let customers feel that the low-price flash sale opportunity of this product is relatively precious. If they don’t grab it as soon as possible when the event starts, they may lose the chance to buy it at a low price. If they want to buy it again, they can only buy it at the original price.

This will strengthen customers' desire to buy and make them want to buy as soon as the event starts.

Requirement 2: Customers who are interested in flash sale products can be notified when the event starts

Based on this demand, we provide a solution: when there is still a long time before the event starts, customers can make an appointment for a reminder, and a message will be sent to notify customers before the event starts.

When customers come to the event page of the brand mall, they learn about the flash sale products, become interested in them, and want to participate in the purchase.

At this time, there are two situations: Situation 1 is that there is still a long time before the event starts, for example, it will start in 1 day; Situation 2 is that the event will start soon, for example, it will start in 5 minutes.

In the first case, because there is still some time before the event starts, these customers whose interest was aroused during the warm-up phase may not be able to come to the mall to participate in the event when it starts because they misremembered the time or forgot about the event.

Therefore, in order to reduce the probability of loss of these potential customers, these customers who are interested in participating are allowed to return to the mall to participate in the purchase when the event starts.

We can provide customers with a convenient reminder method on the event page, and remind customers at the appropriate time: the event is about to start, and they can come to the mall to prepare for the purchase.

For example, when customers are viewing promotional information before an event, a “snap-up reminder” service can be provided. If customers are interested in the flash sale product, they can select “snap-up reminder”.

If the customer selects "Start-up Reminder", then a short time before the event starts, for example 5 minutes in advance, the system will automatically send a subscription message to the customer to remind the customer that the event is about to begin.

In the second case, when customers are attracted by the event promotion information in the warm-up channel and enter the event page in the mall, they find that there is not much time left before the event starts.

At this time, you can put a countdown reminder for the start of the event on the event page to inform customers: the rush sale will start soon!

Strengthen customers' willingness to stay in the mall and wait for the event to start. In this case, there is no need to provide appointment reminder service.

2. Scenario: When the event starts, customers rush to buy flash sale products

After some warm-up for the event, many customers showed interest in participating in it. Be prepared to come to the mall to buy when the event starts.

During the shopping spree, there are three requirements: to strengthen the purchasing intention of customers who are still hesitant and stimulate them to place orders; to limit the purchase of flash sale items, that is, the number of flash sale items that a single customer can buy is limited; after the flash sale, take advantage of the opportunity of customers coming to the brand mall to encourage them to make more consumption under the brand.

So, how did these three needs arise? What kind of solutions can we provide?

Demand 1: Strengthen customers’ willingness to buy and stimulate them to place orders

When an event is about to start, some customers, who really want to grab the flash sale products and are worried that the popular products will be sold out immediately, will come to the mall early and prepare for the countdown to buy.

However, there are also some customers who showed certain purchasing interest and willingness during the event warm-up.

But I am still in a wait-and-see state, still hesitating and have not made a decision to buy.

Therefore, there is a demand here: the need to strengthen customers' willingness to buy and stimulate them to place orders and buy quickly.

Based on this demand, the following solutions are provided:

(1) Emphasize ultra-low flash sale prices to increase customer interest

When the flash sale started, some customers came to the mall and waited for the event to start, but they were still in a wait-and-see state and had not decided whether to place an order.

At this point, you can use the same solution as in the event warm-up phase mentioned above: emphasize the ultra-low prices of flash sale products. Based on the significant reduction in the selling price of goods, customers are stimulated. At this time, purchasing at the promotional price is very favorable, and it will be a loss if they do not buy it, thus strengthening the customer's willingness to buy.

(2) Display the remaining quantity and time to purchase to strengthen customers’ willingness to buy

After the flash sale started, customers placed orders for the flash sale products one after another. At this time, the remaining quantity of the flash sale products that can be purchased and the remaining purchase time can be displayed.

The remaining quantity of flash sale products is displayed because as other customers place orders, the number of products that can be purchased at a low price will become smaller and smaller. Customers need to be made aware that if they don’t hurry up and place their orders, the flash sale products will be snapped up by others.

The purpose of displaying the remaining purchase time for flash sale products is to let customers know that even if the flash sale products have not been snapped up by other customers, the low price discount will be gone as soon as the flash sale activity time ends.

Based on the remaining quantity and remaining purchase time, the scarcity of flash sale products is reflected. If you don’t buy them quickly, you will miss out on the low price discount, which strengthens the customer’s purchase intention and stimulates customers to place orders.

Requirement 2: There is a limit on the number of flash sale items that a single customer can purchase

When the event starts, customers will rush to buy. At this time, you also need to limit the quantity of each flash sale product that a single customer can purchase.

This is because the sale of flash sale products is subject to certain quantity restrictions. For example, only the first 100 people who place an order can enjoy the flash sale price. Customers who want to buy later will have to pay the original price.

After we attract customers who are interested in flash sale products, based on the premise that the flash sale products are sold in limited quantities, we will tell the customers: this product is limited to purchase and one person can only buy one.

Let customers feel that the opportunity to purchase this flash sale product is very rare. Even if I want to buy it, I can only buy one at most. There is no need to worry about the product not being able to sell. In this way, customers' purchasing desire is further enhanced.

At the same time, by limiting the purchase of flash sale items, we can also avoid situations where competitors may make malicious purchases or scalpers take advantage of the situation by reselling them at a profit. Let more customers with real purchasing demands participate in our activities and bring more subsequent consumption opportunities.

Therefore, there is a requirement here: the number of times a customer can purchase the same flash sale product needs to be limited.

Based on this demand, a solution is provided: purchase limit for flash sale items, that is, the quantity of each flash sale item that a single customer can purchase is limited. For example, customer A can purchase a maximum of 2 items of item a at the flash sale price, and the third item can only be purchased at the original price.

Demand 3: Based on the opportunity of customers coming to the mall, encourage customers to make more purchases under the brand

These customers who are attracted to the mall by the flash sale products, regardless of whether they ultimately manage to buy the flash sale products, all indicate that they have certain purchasing demands.

At this time, the brand can take advantage of the opportunity of this customer coming to the brand mall to recommend other products under the brand to the customer and create more consumption opportunities for customers under the brand.

Therefore, there is a demand here: after the flash sale, take advantage of the opportunity of customers coming to the brand mall to encourage customers to make more consumption under the brand.

Based on this demand, the following solutions are provided:

(1) After the purchase, recommend other products under the brand that are related to the flash sale product to the customer

Customers come to the mall hoping to participate in flash sales and snap up flash sale items. Based on customers' purchasing demands for flash sale products, it means that customers have certain purchasing demands for this type of products.

Therefore, regardless of whether the customer has successfully participated in the flash sale, we can recommend some similar products to the customer based on the flash sale products that the customer is currently purchasing.

For example, a customer wanted to buy snack A but failed to get it, but snack B is similar to snack A and may also meet the customer's needs. At this point, we can recommend snack B to the customer, and the customer may place an order to purchase it.

In addition, when customers purchase a certain type of goods, we can also try to recommend to customers other products that can be purchased together with this type of goods, in an attempt to convert customers to make more purchases.

For example, if a customer successfully buys snack A, we will recommend another product, drink C, which sells well with snack A. After seeing Drink C, the customer thought he could buy them together to try, and ultimately, he bought Snacks A + Drink C together.

Based on the opportunity that customers come to the brand mall, we recommend other products under the brand that are related to the flash sale products to customers, thereby bringing customers more consumption opportunities under the brand.

(2) At the same time, provide customers with additional limited-time discounts on these recommended products to encourage them to purchase more products under the brand

When recommending other products under the brand that are related to the flash sale products to customers, you can also provide customers with additional discounts on other products. For example, you could offer exclusive coupons for these recommended products, or offer a limited-time add-on discount.

Because customers already have certain purchasing demands, but may not have thought of buying here, or are hesitating whether to buy here. At this time, we attract customers to the mall through flash sales, and then provide some additional discounts. However, the discounts are only available for a limited time and may not be available later.

Promote customers' willingness to purchase other products under the brand at this moment, thereby bringing customers more consumption opportunities under the brand.

3. Summary

In the brand e-commerce flash sale business, there are two key scenarios: when the event is warming up, customers become interested in the flash sale products; when the event starts, customers rush to buy the flash sale products.

In the first scenario, during the promotion, customers become interested in flash sale products.

When introducing flash sale products, attract customers' interest and strengthen their willingness to buy by offering super low prices and limited purchase numbers.

When customers are interested in participating in an event, they can schedule a reminder for the event to start. Before the event starts, customers will be reminded to return to the mall to buy.

In the second scenario, when the event starts, customers come to buy flash sale products.

By offering low flash sales prices, remaining quantities available, and remaining purchase time, we can strengthen the purchasing intent of customers who are still on the sidelines and stimulate them to place orders.

At the same time, the scarcity of flash sale products due to limited purchases further strengthens customers' desire to buy. It can also avoid situations where competitors may make malicious purchases or scalpers take advantage of the price difference to make a profit.

After the purchase, regardless of whether the customer has grabbed the flash sale item or not, we can recommend products under the brand that are related to the flash sale item. Based on these products, some additional limited-time offers can also be provided, thus bringing customers more consumption opportunities under the brand.

That’s all. Thanks for reading~