Issue 118: Getting off the Discounting Drug 💊

Every so often, we’ll ask the latest iteration of ChatGPT to write an intro and an outro for this here newsletter. First, we do this to try and save ourselves some time. After all, banging out 2-3 lines of both intro and outro can be exhausting.

Second, we do it to reconfirm to ourselves that ChatGPT simply can’t capture the enthusiastic, friendly, snarky, bit sarcastic, cynical, both-sides-of-the-door-in-The-Shining kind of vibe we got going on here.

Yep… Still irreplaceable.

| TWEET OF THE WEEK

Understanding Your Discount Dependency:

Before making any changes, it’s crucial to understand how deeply ingrained discounting is in your current strategy. Start by analyzing your sales data to determine what percentage of your revenue comes from discounted sales. 

This gives you a clear picture of the challenge ahead and will help measure the impact of reducing discounts.

For example, if 40% of your revenue is driven by discounts, you can’t simply stop offering them overnight without a significant impact. Instead, use this data to plan a gradual reduction, allowing your customers time to adjust.

Enhance Your Value Proposition:

One of the best ways to move away from discounting is to enhance what makes your brand unique and valuable beyond price. 

While at OLIPOP, it meant explaining why a “soda” should cost 4x a can of Coke, which starts with functional benefits and the fact that it’s not bad for you.

If you sell skincare products, this could include superior product quality, exceptional CX, the founder story, or exclusive features that put you ahead of the rest.

Think about the brands you love that don’t rely on discounts. What draws you to them? 

Often, it’s the unique value they offer that goes beyond price. Aim to create a similar perception for your brand.

Utilize Bundling and GWP:

| YOUTUBE UNIVERSITY

My $1 Million Per Month Ecom Infrastructure

| TOGETHER WITH SARAL

Stop Wasting Money on Actors – Get Real UGC That Converts 🤌

Most eCommerce brands get User-Generated Content (UGC) wrong. Instead of real content, they hire actors from marketplaces. That’s not UGC. That’s Actor-Generated Content(AGC). It looks fake and fails to connect with consumers.

SARAL’s ebook shows why ‘AGC’ is bad for your brand and how to get real, authentic UGC with influencers.With a simple 5-step playbook, you’ll learn how to save $5k/month by ditching actors and getting genuine influencer content that converts.Check out the free ebook to get practical tips and insights on:🔎 Finding influencers in your niche and city

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| QUICK SHOTS

• Jon Ivanco: This is a "top performing" popup for signup rate…

• @DylanAnder: This "More Payment Options" is a default for most Shopify themes. GET RID OF IT. It's an outbound link and gets users further away from purchasing.

• @RyeMcKenzie: It may be tempting to cross the line… You may get away with it once… You may get away with it twice… But eventually you will have to pay the piper. Exhibit A: HiSmile class action suit 👇

• Preston Rutherford: On the 10 year journey to Chubbies’ IPO, the realization that changed how we invest marketing resources was this --> Increasing ROAS decreased our growth.

• Ishan Soni: We discovered a way to get $10k/mth in free PPC spend. [Video]

| HERE FOR THE MEMES

| AND IN OTHER NEWS…

| GET LINKED

THE DEFINITIVE STATE OF ECOM REPORT:

Over the past 2 weeks I met with 100+ founders in NYC and SF. These 100+ brands represent BILLIONS in GMV across all of ecom. Here is what is really happening in ecom in 2024...

1- Sales

This is what you all care about the most lol On average, most brands are flat, while spending less YOY. It is a profit first year. Everyone is trying to generate free cash and get out of the funding hole (more on that later) But it is a tale of 10 cities

Maybe 10% of brands are growing A LOT (50%+) The fastest growth is all in supplements or classic CPG. They are also spending the most and still have a path to raise money. 40% of brands are shrinking, between 10-33% YOY. That means 50% of brands are slightly down, flat, slightly up, or slightly growing.

Big range in there, but not a lot of spend growth happening. What people are doing is cutting agencies and people. 20% of brands have reduced head count by at least 10%.

2- funding

| YOU’RE HIRED

Brand

• 🆕 E-Commerce Manager (Cozey)

• Creative & Content Marketing Manager (Ash & Erie)

• Email & Ecom Marketing Manager (Ash & Erie)

• Senior Digital Marketing Manager (Glade Optics)

• Front-End Engineer (Neurohacker Collective)

• Direct-to-Consumer Demand Planner (Beekman 1802)

• Brand Manager (ResBiotic)

SaaS

• Content Marketing Manager (Talkable)

Got a job you want us to list? Let us know.

| THE OUTRO

Okay, okay… So the bots aren’t tak’n arr jerrrbs anytime soon. Looks like it’s back to pushin’ that ol’ grindstone like only a carbon based life form can do.

Until next time! ✌️

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