News
Driving Lower-Funnel Performance on Amazon Through Holiday Promotions
By Justin Flones
November 2023
Promotions and discounts are on the rise at Amazon, up 144% YoY in Q2 of this year according to Amazon’s earnings report. As brands look to fight price inflation, draw in new customers, or sell through seasonal goods in times of peak traffic, they are leveraging Amazon’s many promotional vehicles to entice shoppers. The steep discounts, upwards of 30% off, pre-approval, and unit sales potential required to secure a position on Amazon’s Deals pages are prohibitive for many brands who are not able to compete for that high-demand real estate.
While marquee deals like Deals of the Day, Best Deals, and Lightning Deals can drive awareness, detail page traffic, and elevated unit sales for brands that are approved to participate, there are other self-service promotion types that drive better lower-funnel outcomes for margin-conscious brands and can be turned on quickly, just in time for the holidays!
Coupons
Coupons are conversion-driving promotion vehicles, meaning they are designed to increase conversion of traffic on product detail pages, but they do not necessarily drive new or incremental traffic. Paired with Sponsored Ads activation, however, Coupons can drive higher click-through and conversion rates on sponsored traffic as coupon details display in the search results page, encouraging clicks and ultimately conversion.
Social Media Promo Code
This promotion type is available only to Amazon’s 3P Sellers and allows brands to create a custom promotional code that can be shared with the brands followers on Social Media. Customers receiving that coupon code can add it during checkout, limiting the exposure of the discount. Leading brands will set up unique promotional codes by social media channel to measure the engagement and effectiveness of each channel in driving qualified traffic to Amazon. Each custom promotional code will be accompanied by a custom landing page featuring only products on promotion where that traffic can be directed.
Percentage Off / Price Discount
Percentage Off deals do not require approval and can help a brand compete during tentpole events, with more flexibility in the required discount amount. Price discounts are also highlighted in search results with “Save x%” messaging near the item price. 1P Vendors fund these deals as a dollar or percentage off each unit sold, with an upper bound on total budget.
Buy X, Get Y
Buy X, Get Y promotions can help encourage basket building or bundling of like items. Brands with complimentary products can encourage conversion by offering accessories at discounted prices when purchasing a promoted item. These deals are less visible than other promotion types but can be used to drive specific basket-building behavior.
