6 Ways to Cater to Cost-Conscious Customers

Customers Want to Be Smart Shoppers

With inflation rates slowing and consumer spending on the rise, the peak season forecast is looking strong for brands with an expected 4.8% uptick in retail sales. But if marketers want to take advantage of these trends, they need to realize that consumers are also becoming increasingly selective with how they spend their hard-earned money. 

Reigning in the free spending exhibited following the height of the pandemic, customers now have their eyes on making their money go further and are seeking the best value from every purchase. And in the sea of promotions and sales throughout Cyber 5 and the holidays, marketers have to do more than simply cut their prices if they want customers’ attention and business. 

To engage even your most cost-conscious customers, here are six quick tips you can apply to your upcoming campaigns.

Maximize Price Drops and Promotions

Every customer loves a sale, but in a sea of deals and promotions, brands need to cut through the noise quickly to convey why a customer should shop now.

Take Dick’s Sporting Goods. Up to 50% off is already a pretty sweet deal, but their marketing team wanted to make this site-wide promotion relevant for each recipient. Using a website data source, categories that were both recently browsed by the customer and included in the current sale were displayed, ensuring that each email was as relevant as possible. For customers that hadn’t browsed qualifying items, the product recommendations disappeared. Through automated data sources and a dynamic template, Dick’s Sporting Goods’ site-wide sale added a level of personalization that made it relevant to each customer.

Another great way to make your sale stand out is by doing the math for customers, who may not realize just how much they’re saving at first glance. It’s your job as the marketer to let them know just how good your brand’s latest deal truly is—and why they need to act fast to snag it. 

‍Wayfair did just that with their abandoned cart module. The strikethrough pricing showcased exactly how much customers would save by purchasing now, and the marketing team created greater urgency by also highlighting if the item was low in stock. These simple updates were a huge success and resulted in an 18.1% increase in click-through rate.

Both Dick’s Sporting Goods and Wayfair succeed in cutting through the promotional noise with these automated additions. Even though cost-conscious customers have their eyes on sales first, personalization and real-time data always go a long way in persuading them to shop with your brand rather than a competitor.

Highlight Savings Opportunities During Full-Price Periods

Catering to cost-conscious customers doesn't mean only reaching out to them when there’s a sale coming up. Marketers have a great opportunity to get creative by highlighting some less conventional ways customers can save. After all, price isn’t the only way to deliver value. By reinforcing your value proposition outside of discounts, marketers can instill a deeper sense of brand loyalty that lives beyond a single transaction.

For Charlotte Tilbury, loyalty is a deeply ingrained part of a customer’s experience as their member-exclusive coin shop proves. Customers got the opportunity to either use their points or spend above a specific threshold to snag exclusive items and services. Depending on the customer’s current loyalty status and location, Charlotte Tilbury’s marketing team used targeting rules and dynamic fields to display the most suitable rewards.

One of the most simple yet effective ways to engage customers during full-price periods is free shipping. After all, nearly 50% of customers will abandon their carts due to extra costs. Paying for services like shipping can feel like money down the drain, so offering customers free delivery can be a make-it or break-it factor. 

‍Staples Canada knows how important free shipping is, so whenever a customer had an abandoned cart or browsed items, the office supplier added banners to their follow-up emails. This extra push, paired with the offer of free shipping, saw an incredible 73% lift in revenue.

From peak season sales to full-price periods, both Charlotte Tilbury and Staples Canada succeed in enticing customers to spend by bringing additional value to the table. 

Leverage Community to Instill a Sense of Value

Beyond bonus items or services, marketers can highlight their value to customers by sharing the opinions and experiences of other customers through social proofing. Whether it’s user-generated content (UGC), ratings and reviews, or clever ways to loop in social media, leaning into customers’ trust of other buyers is a key way to prove brand value.

‍Boden used social media to show how well-loved and versatile their products are. Cost-conscious customers are always looking to see how they can use and reuse items for years to come, making this email a major win for Boden’s marketing team.

Underscore Payment Flexibility

Usage of buy-now, pay-later (BNPL) options is on the rise year over year. Customers enjoy the flexibility and freedom of paying according to their own timeline, especially those who are a little more hesitant to spend in the first place. To gain budget-conscious customers’ business, BNPL options are a must.

By adding BNPL options via Klarna to their item recommendations, Hibbett saw an impressive 56% lift in revenue from their product launch email.

Adding payment options is a small addition that goes a very long way with customers. From big ticket items to smaller purchases, help customers stay within their budgets by adding the flexibility of BNPL. It’s yet another service brands can offer their customers to deliver value for budget-minded shoppers.

Highlight Accessible Alternatives

Marketers can also help customers save by embracing dupe culture. We know customers shop around to find the best deal, so before they compare prices with a competitor, beat them to the punch with accessible alternatives. Customers are more carefully scrutinizing every purchase, big or small, so don't be afraid to let customers know that a cheaper option is available.

Just look at the retailer below. They succeed in delivering value by recognizing a customer hadn't converted on a more expensive product they had viewed and offered a more affordable alternative. This strategy provided a valuable service in an attempt to save the sale before the customer shops with another brand, driving conversions in the short-term and increased brand loyalty long-term.

Taking this tactic a step further, this marketing team did the math for customers by displaying exactly how many pounds customers could save by opting for the cheaper printer.

For customers that haven’t left a more expensive item in their cart, marketers can get ahead by organizing products by price. Here, At Home used data automation to target products that fit the appropriate price points. Lists like these provide easy ways for shoppers to browse and shop within their budget and can be implemented all year round.

Aid Consumer Research

The final piece of the puzzle is helping customers make the most informed purchases they can. Customers are spending more time researching and comparing, resulting in a longer consideration period for many purchases.

To meet that need, marketers can support customers with their research, just as Ulta Beauty does here.

The beauty brand boosted clicks by 316.67% in their follow-up email to customers who recently browsed an item by adding real-time ratings and reviews to the abandoned product. As soon as customers see this information, they can be assured that they’re getting a well-loved product. To further entice customers, the marketing team also added perfectly paired product recommendations and strike-through pricing. 

You’re Ready to Gain Wallet Share

Cost-conscious customers will find these six tactics helpful and relevant to them as they shop with you. By ensuring customers feel like they’re deriving the utmost value from your brand, you’ll win sales today and reinforce loyalty for tomorrow.

Looking for more tactical ideas? Explore the related resources below, or discover the content personalization engine that powered each of these winning campaigns.