When it comes to growing your Shopify store and driving up your success rates, there's one tactic every business owner goes to – improving and increasing your transactions. And there is a great way to accomplish this using Shopify promotion apps.
Sales are the bread and butter of your store, and you need them to survive and thrive.
Of course, improving your sales is usually easier said than done, but when you have the right tools, you can see a dramatic improvement.
Tools like Shopify discount apps.
Today, we're deep diving into the world of these apps, teaching you how to manage and automate your promotional campaigns, making it easier and faster to boost your sales.
We'll include the five top promotional apps and a deep understanding of each, so you know exactly what you're aiming for and how to do it.
Let's get right into this.
#1 Use Gamification Strategies to Engage Shoppers
You've probably seen apps like ‘Spin the Wheel' when shopping online.
The little roulette-like wheels pop up every now and then, asking you to spin by promising the chance to win something enticing that makes your current online shop all the sweeter.
The chances are you haven't been able to resist, and you go ahead with your free spin to find out what gift you've won.
This is the power of gamification, and apps like this have become increasingly popular among savvy shoppers.
It's an innovative and exciting way to save money while shopping in-store or online. Shoppers can spin a computerized wheel with various discounts, such as ‘a coupon code for 25% off your purchase,' ‘Free Shipping,' or bulk discounts when purchasing certain products, all for a chance to save on their cart total.
The benefit of these automatic discount promotions is that it keeps customers engaged and incentivizes them to make purchases—win or lose! Who doesn't like to feel like they're taking home something extra?
It's been proven repeatedly to reduce cart abandonment, increase sales and subscriptions, boost conversion rates, prevent invalid emails in your signup form, and enable you to collect as much info as you want.
Statistics show that this method can increase conversions by as much as 11%, so it's worth looking into.
Of course, Spin the Wheel is a smart way of doing this, but it's not the only one.
Apps like Gameball offer a ranking system that allows shoppers to gain XP every time they take action, whether making a purchase, using a discount code, or adding something to their basket. As they gain XP and level up, they'll unlock rewards that keep them returning for more.
Long story short, offering gamification in a store is an excellent way for retailers to increase customer loyalty and revenue while making the shopping experience a lot more fun!
Best Shopify Gamification App: Spin the Wheel Discounts
Email Pop-Up Spin Wheels is a five-star app that allows you to add a Spin the Wheel reward game to your store. It's free to get started, includes a seven-day free trial of the premium tier, and is specifically designed to help you build your email and SMS list.
That's ideal for helping you grow to trust and connection among your customers, ultimately ensuring you have everything you need to increase your conversions.
#2 – Gift Bonuses to Your Shoppers
Everyone likes it when they get something for nothing.
Not only does this add to the thrill of shopping, but it also boosts customer satisfaction and encourages them to keep coming back for more! It's like a cherry on top of an already delightful experience.
Shopping as we know it today has become a lot more interesting with the convenience of offers of gifts to make us feel like we're getting something extra.
It's like signing up for a new phone contract and getting a discount on a new iPad. Booking a holiday and receiving free transfers to and from the airport.
Or ordering a pizza that comes with free garlic bread.
Tasty!
Offering gifts to your customers is a great way to make your already good deal tremendous and helps create a sense of loyalty and appreciation.
Shopify discount apps like Rise AI: Gift Cards, Gift Box, and Cart Upsell allow you to give away gifts or coupon codes at the checkout stage. This encourages customers on the fence about purchasing from your store to commit to going all the way.
That little bit off could be all it takes.
If you want to take it a step further, apps like rewards and referral programs can help you encourage customers for their loyalty by giving them points whenever they make a purchase. They can then use these points to redeem rewards such as discounts or free products.
Top tip: A common example of offering a referral gift would be giving someone a $5 bonus when a friend or family member signs up via their referral link!
These types of rewards programs are proven to increase customer satisfaction, increase repeat purchases, and keep customers coming back for more.
So, offering gifts is worth considering if you're looking for ways to enhance the customer experience and retention rates while boosting sales.
Best Shopify Free Gift App: Free Gifts at the Cart
Free Gifts at the Car is an all-in-one Shopify app that automatically helps you manage gifts and rewards. With a 3-day free trial and premium tiers available (along with a 7-day free trial), you can offer outstanding free gifts and free shipping options based on cart conditions in minutes.
With easy self-installation, customer progress tracking, custom upsell and cross-sell options, and tons of automated features, there are a few easier ways to offer discounts and improve sales.
It beats using a bulk discount code generator and running everything manually!
#3 Run Giveaways & Contests
Looking for a great way to get people talking about your business?
Run giveaways and contests!
Giveaways and contests are an excellent way to grab attention and keep it. They go beyond simply sharing your message, allowing you to engage directly with your audience. You can use them as rewards for loyal customers, incentives for new customers, or even just as fun marketing material.
The statistics are clear, with over 34% of new customers being acquired through contests and Instagram accounts running contests growing 70% faster than average.
From simple quizzes to complex campaigns, running giveaways and contests can help boost the social awareness of your brand.
Top Tip: Don't be afraid to get creative – there's no better way to show off the personality of your business than by offering cool rewards!
Then, when you start coupling these techniques into your social media and content strategies, getting people excited about what you're offering, and increasing your engagement, conversion rates will start to grow automatically.
Of course, you'll need to take your time thinking of a great prize.
A prize that gets people excited and wanting to join in.
You could opt for the simple product or something bigger. Some large companies will even go as far as to give away large sums of money or even cars.
Just think about what kind of people you want interested, what your ideal shoppers will be interested in, and make sure you're doing what you can to ensure that only people who are legitimately interested in your brand will want to get involved.
The problem with giving away cash prizes and so on is that it attracts people who are only interested in the prize and have no actual interest in spending money on your store. Design your giveaway or contest to minimize the risk of this happening.
Best Shopify Giveaway and Contest App: Giveaway Ninja
Developing a giveaway or contest is easy with Giveaway Ninja.
All kinds of engagement are covered, including referral programs, giveaways, contests, and sweepstakes, and it's been proven to grow your social media followings, increase referral traffic, drive conversion rates, and help you earn more customers.
The discount app makes things effortless, including a simple five-minute setup that installs simple social actions and runs everything based on a purchase-only basis. This means entries will only count when someone has already made a purchase (for example, $1 = one entry) and allows for embedding to your own custom landing page.
Also, this app integrates with:
And there's a 7-day free trial, so you can figure out whether this is the discount app for you!
#4 Offer Free Shipping Discounts
The tried-and-tested promotional strategy that's been around for decades.
The classic free shipping technique.
However, it's not only a great way to increase sales, but in many cases, it's essential.
Research shows 80% of shoppers will actually abandon their carts if they don't receive free shipping, and conversions can improve by an average of 50%.
Creating an offer of free shipping on your entire store can be a great way to drive sales.
Customers often don't consider the cost of shipping in the sales price when making purchasing decisions, so providing this service can be the deciding factor in whether or not they decide to buy from your store.
And given that many people now prefer shopping online from the comfort of their own homes, free shipping gives them additional convenience. If you're selling to wholesale customers, this could also give you the edge needed to become their go-to store.
Both B2C and B2B customers will be thrilled when they find out that their purchase comes with no extra cost added on top.
Whether it's offering free shipping on orders over a certain average order value or every order regardless, customers get excited when they hear they're eligible for free delivery! Set up your free shipping system today, and you'll see more buyers soon.
Top Tip: Create flash sales and offer free shipping alongside these promotions to make your deals irresistible to your customers!
Best Shopify Free Shipping Discount App: Hextom: Free Shipping Bar
If you think setting shipping prices to zero is enough to qualify as a free store, think again.
This discount app is one of the most highly rated in this niche. Hextom creates an incentivizing process where shoppers must add items to their shopping basket to reach the free shipping milestone, where those discounted prices will unlock.
There's no seven-day free trial here but a free plan that you can take advantage of indefinitely.
Once installed, a progress bar is visually displayed on your store page, giving customers a clear understanding of what they need to do and how far they have to go to get the discounted pricing.
With many other features, including advanced targeting, geolocation and device tracking, bulk discounts management, and the ability to schedule sales to ensure you're covered on special events like Black Friday, this is the next level of free shipping.
#5 Run email marketing and SMS promotion campaigns
There's no doubt that sending out marketing campaigns through email and SMS is one of the most effective ways to ensure your message reaches the right people at the right time.
Email marketing lets you easily segment different audiences and personalize messages to get their attention. At the same time, SMS promotion campaigns will reach customers directly on their mobile phones with immediacy and charm.
Both promotional strategies have distinct advantages and, when used in tandem, are sure to get your message across.
And that message could be whatever you want, from offering multiple discounts, announcing storewide sales, or sending a coupon code, all in just a few clicks!
So, run these campaigns and see an increase in sales.
It's that simple!
And don't believe for a second that email marketing isn't worth it. It's still regarded as one of the best marketing tools around.
Even in a world seemingly dominated by social media, email marketing campaigns still outperform social media campaigns by 60% and boast that 66% of online consumers made their purchase because of an email marketing message they opened.
Best Shopify Email Marketing and SMS Promotion App: Omnisend Email Marketing & SMS
Over 80,000 eCommerce stores use this as the be-all-end-all for email marketing on Shopify. Using landing pages and pop-ups (all created and managed through the app), you can sign people up on your store, grow your subscription lists, and get those conversions coming.
Everything you need to build or create your own newsletter is here, or you can use the given templates to get going immediately. What's more, there's 24/7 support and SMS and push notifications supported, meaning you can market and boost sales in a way that works for you.
The free plan allows up to 250 contacts to get you started, with a tiered discount subscription of up to $59 per month as and when you're ready to upgrade.
Shopify App Store Promotion Apps Wrap-up
Though it may seem small, giving your customers a little extra can go a long way in engaging them and encouraging them to buy from you, and creating customer-brand relationships.
Whether you use them to entice new customers or improve customer retention, the key features of the best Shopify apps for promotion will help you grow sales and turn potential customers into lifelong customers.
By creating a more interactive online experience using Shopify discount apps, you can set your business up for success if you're looking for ways to improve your eCommerce business, check out the following posts for inspiration.
