Discount Rules: How to Move Inventory Faster with Lightspeed eCom

Discounts are great for attracting new customers and increasing the cart value of existing customers. A great discount might convince an inactive customer to start buying again, encourage existing customers to add a few more items to their cart, or effectively liquidate your outdated stock. When done right, discounting maintains an item’s profit margins above your minimum threshold and increases its sales volume.

So let’s talk about how you can set up Discount Rules for your Lightspeed eCom online store. Lightspeed eCom offers four types of discount rules, each of which is useful in different scenarios.

1. Segmented discount rules
2. Upsell discount rules
3. Bulk discount rules
4. Combination discount rules

You have the flexibility to set up just one rule or have multiple discount rules running at once. Keep reading to learn what discount rules are, when to use them, and how you can set them up in your Lightspeed eCommerce shop.

1. Segmented discount rules

Segmented discount rules are perfect for making a discount applicable for a specific segment of customers or products. They’re especially useful for turning first-time shoppers into recurring ones, rewarding your loyal customers (the ones who spend the most over a set timeframe or shop the most frequently), or boosting a struggling product’s sales.

Lightspeed eCom has three different segmented discount rules:

• Discounts for Product Categories
• Discounts for Customer Groups
• Discounts for Returning Customers

2. Upsell discount rules

The objective of upsell discount rules is to increase the amount a customer spends by offering a discount when they spend over a certain amount.

When you set up an upsell discount rule, you specify the amount a customer needs to spend before the discount is made available to them. The end result is that your customers add more products to their cart to secure their discount.

These are the two most popular upsell discount rules in Lightspeed eCom

• Discount for orders over “X” value
• Free shipping for orders over “X” value

3. Bulk discount rules

The goal of bulk discount rules is to increase the volume of products you sell per customer by offering an additional product or free shipping for every “X” products they purchase.

Try setting up any of these three bulk discount rules to increase your average cart size

• Buy “X” products > get free additional products
• Buy “X” products > get free shipping
• Buy “X” products > get a discount on the lowest priced product

4. Combination discount rules

Combination discount rules are when you offer a discount once a customer meets a series of customizable conditions. The final discount rule is an example of a bulk/segmented discount rule.

Set up combination discount rules to increase your eCom store’s cross-selling potential

• Buy “X” products from “X” different product categories and get the lowest priced product for free

Now that you know each of the discount rules available in Lightspeed eCom, let’s dive into how you can set up discounts in your online store.

Who doesn’t love a good discount!?

How to set up discount rules in Lightspeed eCom

Discount rules are very easy to set up within Lightspeed eCom.

In your Lightspeed eCom Back Office, go to Marketing > Discount rule > Add discount rule.

Give your discount rule a specific title so that you can easily edit or discontinue offering it. For example: “March 2019 – Free shipping after $50.00” clearly states both the rule and when it was initially launched, making it easy to track down and edit when the time comes.

After giving our rule an appropriate title, select the type of discount rule. After saving your discount rule, you’ll be able to configure it. Read more about configuring your discount rule here.

You can limit the number of discount rules each customer can apply simultaneously by enabling the stop after discount rule function, which can be found on the discount rule configuration page. When stop after discount rule is enabled for a particular discount, no other discounts can be applied once that one has been used.

The do’s of discounting

Mention an expiration date on your discount

Adding a sense of urgency to a deal will increase the likelihood that your customers act quickly to capitalize on the savings it offers. If a deal doesn’t have an expiration date, your customers might put off making a purchase because, in their minds, there’s no rush. You might lose that sale altogether.  

How to set time limits in your discount rules

Within the Back Office, go to Marketing > Discount rules and then click on the discount rule you want to modify. At the bottom of the configuration page, you will find the Period setting.

Choose the right discount type

You shouldn’t apply the same discounting strategy for low-priced and high-priced products. When discounting low-priced items, consider using percentage discounts rather than fixed dollar amounts. Conversely, when discounting high-priced items, use fixed dollar amounts. Why? Because the perceived value of a 10% discount on an item valued at $10 is higher than a $1 discount. Sure, it’s ultimately the same thing, but one sounds like a bigger discount. Similarly, a $50 discount on a $900 item sounds more appealing than a 5.5% discount. Again, they both share the same value, but one looks more enticing for customers.

For more information on the psychology of discounts, check out this article from Entrepreneur magazine.

The don’ts of discounting

Sacrifice too much profit

Yes, discounts can boost your sales, but remember that having them run for too long will result in you losing profits from customers who were otherwise willing to buy at full price. There are also some pretty terrifying long-term ramifications to perpetually discounting products.

Consistently having discounts can make customers think you lack confidence in your products, which sets a bad precedent and ultimately lowers your shop’s perceived value. The result is that they never buy your products full price or, worse, find somewhere else to shop with a higher perceived value.

For more information on the risks associated with prolonged discounting, read this solid article from HubSpot.

You’re all set!

There you have it — everything you need to set up your own discounts on your Lightspeed eCom store. Just remember to discount responsibly and never sacrifice your shop’s perceived value for a short-term sales boost.

Check out our resources page if you’re looking for more help setting up your discount rules in Lightspeed eCom.  

Happy discounting!