Early in 2020, during a month when we had no preorders keeping our fulfillment centers busy, on a whim I decided to try a special flash sale for Stonemaier Champions. Within one day we had nearly 500 orders.
I thought about writing about it at the time, but I figured it must be an anomaly. Then last week we needed to test a new shipping option on the Stonemaier Games webstore, so I thought it was a good time to try another flash sale for Champions. This time we had over 500 orders in a single day.
How and why does this sale work? There are a few key components to it:
- Urgency (24 hours): I think the 24-hour period is critical to the sale’s success. Any shorter and you probably miss out on people in vastly different time zones. Any longer and people may wait it out and decide not to act. The only major downside is if someone simply doesn’t see the email until it’s too late, but I just assure them that we’ll likely do other sales in the future.
- Savings ($15 on any purchase over $20): The math is a little weird here, because Stonemaier Champions save $10 whenever they buy something from our webstore. So for Champions, this is a savings of $5. That isn’t a huge amount, but I think it may be a sweet spot for a sale like this (or close to it). I like that it’s a firm number, not a percentage. And if it were much higher, I think it may have the effect of encouraging customers to not buy anything on our webstore unless there’s a special sale (that’s the danger of sales). Also, for those who miss the email, $5 doesn’t feel like a big loss.
- Champions only: I’m not at all opposed to offering flash sales to any customer–in fact, it can be a good way to attract new customers. But it’s important to me that our Champions feel special, because they pay an annual fee ($15) to support this blog and my game design YouTube channel. The $10 shipping savings they get on all webstore orders is nice, but a little extra perk from time to time is nice.
- Customized surprise*: This, in my opinion, is the secret sauce to the success of the flash sale. In the announcements for both sales, I informed customers that immediately after the 24-hour period, I would randomly select 5 orders. For each of those orders, I would look at that customer’s order history to see they types of games of ours they enjoy (and what they already own), and then I would add one or more complimentary products to their order for them to discover upon arrival. The typical result is that I add a game or expansion plus an accessory like metal coins (something they can use even if they already own it). My theory is that this surprise works so well partially because it’s a surprise to those who get it and because it’s customized to those specific people (not just a one-size-fits-all addition). It reminded me a bit of what makes Prose.com feel so special. It’s a website my girlfriend recently used to buy a type of shampoo that is created just for her hair type, as she had to answer a series of questions about her hair before placing the order.
This isn’t something I’ll do often, but I’m amazed by the success of both flash sales, and I’m curious to try it again sometime in 2021. (UPDATE: The math has changed in 2021, because Champion now get 25% off, not $10 off.)
What’s the most effective sale you’ve run or participated in, and why do you think it was so effective? I’m particularly interested in sales that are more than just a price discount.
*There was a good question on Facebook about whether or not this is a lottery (which has legal ramifications). That certainly wasn’t my intent, and I think Sarah explains it well in the comments on FB: ” To me it would only be gambling if the option was to add $2 for the chance to win a custom prize – risky because those not picked “lose” their $2. Here there is no risk – everyone gets exactly what they paid for (arguably everyone gets more than they paid for).”
***
If you gain value from the 100 articles Jamey publishes on this blog each year, please consider championing this content!
20 Comments on “This Flash Sale Technique Has Amazed Me…Twice!”
Leave a Comment
If you ask a question about a specific card or ability, please type the exact text in your comment to help facilitate a speedy and precise answer.
Your comment may take a few minutes to publish. Antagonistic, rude, or degrading comments will be removed. Thank you.
Hi Jamey,
As a Creative Director for a marketing team I’m always curious to hear others peoples takes on what they think worked for product sales.
The first 3 items you mention – Urgency, exclusivity and savings are all tent poles for a good sale.
As for the 4th one – The secret sauce as you say, adding complimentary items to an order. You mention the Facebook post about this being a lottery. I’m curious to get your take on that one a little more. Since you placed this idea upfront in the email, and marketed it that way, it seems that this could be argued to be a “giveaway”. However, in this case, to be eligible for the giveaway you are required to make a product purchase. Which you can’t do in a giveaway and essentially turn this into a lottery.
Now, I will admit, I’m NOT a lawyer but I’ve worked on enough sweepstakes and giveaways to know this could pose a problem. Like I said, I’d love to hear more of your thoughts on this.
Thanks for your question. My understanding of a lottery is when you pay money to maybe receive a reward–it’s an all-or-nothing proposition. Your payment may result in nothing. For what we did, people simply made an order as usual. They all got what they paid for, and a few people received something extra.
I do appreciate the attempt at a kind gesture you are trying for here. Unfortunately, there are people out there who have made it very difficult to do exactly what you have done here. Not trying to create an argument – just want to make sure you don’t open yourself up for potential issues.
Let me try this another way. What you are doing here is essentially creating a raffle for those 5 items.
Having people purchase “raffle tickets” to get those items is ok – a lottery in effect.
Having people enter your raffle for free is ok – no purchase necessary.
Having someone have to purchase a product to be eligible for the raffle is NOT ok. It’s called “consideration” if you want the legal term. And is what you are doing here.
Having giveaways and freebies as marketing tools can be very tricky. Just trying to give you a heads up.
I think you hit all the key points. I hit one of the flash sales for the Tapestry expansion because I had just traded for copy of the game that week. So why not, right? Plus, all Gamers love buying games! Plus FOMO is always a factor with Gamers.
Unfortunately it was more timing that stopped me having a proper look. I’d just ordered some viti expansion/coins through a sales code you’d kindly provided for @jim.gamer gamethon on insta so I was supporting Jim’s cause adding sales for stonemaier direct and getting a good deal myself (first time I have splurged in upgrade I.e. metal coins)
I really like the Idea of the random surprise factor,I think I missed reading that on the mail.
Being in the UK most of the games are likely to have a high delivery cost and unfortunately it just adds and makes a decision tough (if a sales code replaces champion code on the shipping front). I always have a little look every now and then to see where prices are at. Biggest regret is not getting pendulum at the preorder deal.
On sales in general, keep them random in terms of timing, short to get that urgency, Not too often (counter intuitive for a customer to say this, I know) as if too often and overly generous then people will just wait for sales. I’d keep that surprise ‘add something cool’ factor ive not really seen that elsewhere.
Personally, my first stop for checking games is Zatu (online store), they do a multi purchase discount. Their prices are very competitive and if you can buy multi items then you negate shipping and benefit further the more you buy 3x gets 3% off 5x gets 5% off. They of course have small box games you can add that help entice the multi buy. Shipping is generally lower too.
I’d be interested in a flash ‘get all of scythe’ sale 😂 in the legendary box so no messing. Actually would I, that could be mega pricey 😂😂 it would be like a Kickstarter special. Thinking about it shipping would likely be immense to the UK.
Anyway. Love your games. Love what you do in the community evidenced recently on @jim.gamer insta so cool you gave your time too 👌 keep it up and looking forward to the drip feed of future games!!! Tonight will be a first play of Tuscany…with a nice drop of red 🍷
@14blackaz
P.s. Can you add the games you have, in your profile? As I haven’t bought all my stonemaier games direct, some have been gifts too.
Thanks Ian! Just to clarify, we ship to people in the UK and Europe from our fulfillment center in the UK, so the delivery cost isn’t high at all if you buy from Stonemaier.
As for your question (“Can you add the games you have, in your profile?”), are you talking about my games in my BGG profile, or any Champion’s games in their Shopify profile? For the latter, currently I don’t think that’s an option.
Just giving some more feedback. I did use the sale to purchaae an expansion, but it was kind of a hard call. I will say the knee jerk reaction of “save $15” (even though you said it was instead of free shipping) had me looking. Ultimately i think it was the ongoing sale plus the flash sale that made it a tipping point for me. I dont think the flash sale alone would have been enough.
Also, though i cant explain why, I do think “free shipping” is somehow more satisfying…it feels weird to type that but seeing -15 and then +10 was weirdly a let down. Even though I know the shipping cost is offset by the discount…i still like to see zero for shipping, lol.
For me, it was simply opportune. I recently bought Viticulture at a FLGS to help support them in a difficult time – I had planned to get it early next year to keep my budget happier – and then found out about the champions program.
I was able to pick up the small expansions and coins at a great price. Thank you.
Perfect! I’m glad that worked out, Kathy. :)
I suspect that it feels like a $15 savings not a $5 savings. You can check to see if these people purchase outside of these sales.
Reading this while I have flash sales on my webshop in honor of Spiel Essen.. With the twist that mine change every so many hours from product to product. Keeps people coming back to the webshop. That and the free EU shipping I have going on now. Yeah flash sales definitely work!
That’s a really clever twist to keep people checking back, Martin!
As a current Champion who did not participate, I’ll speak to the other side.
Urgency – I did not see the SM email until 11:30 CDT on the day of expiry, so my window of possible use was 30 min. For me, the urgency was a psychological negative – I knew a purchase would be a rash decision instead of a well thought out “I’ve wanted (product), now I can get it at a slightly better discount while helping test out the new delivery service at the same time!” A slightly wider window would probably have changed my decision (48 hrs is often used by Timbuk2, another company I’ve ordered quite a bit from) .
Savings – In the rush, I DID add a couple products to the cart. At the checkout summary, the cost of FedEx Home shipping was greater than the flash discount. At the time, I summarized in my mind, “I am paying more on this rash purchase decision than I would a standard Champions purchase with free US shipping.” I decided to stick to the “temptation cool off” period I use before making fun purchases, so I removed the items and did not participate.
Fox: Thanks for this feedback! That’s good to know about the 48-hour period, and I’m absolutely open to trying that next time (it just means that someone ordering in the first hour will have to wait 2 full days for the fulfillment center to look at their order, because I might modify their order with one of the surprise additions).
There may have been some confusion about FedEx Home. Here’s how I said it in the email: “this flash sale applies to ALL Champions, not just those in the US or those who upgrade their orders to FedEx Home.”
The customized surprise idea sounds really cool, I’d love to be in a position to do that one day (gotta get the inventory first 😅).
What would a flash sale to regular customers look like? How would you do it in such a way so that champions feel special but doesn’t alienate the regular customers?
Maybe like a timed sale or something? Regular people can buy it at a later date? Or maybe a slightly different product?
Sysifus: That’s a great question. I’ve done little sales in the past for specific products, and that might be an approach to take if it was available for everyone. That said, during the pandemic I’ve decreases the prices for a lot of items on our webstore, as I think many people have tighter budgets. So I’ve effectively had an ongoing sale for the last 6 months.
Jamey,
Here’s some feedback on my participation in your sale. As a champion, the $5 additional amount was appreciated but didn’t motivate my making a purchase. Nor did the potential opportunity to be selected for a random bonus prize.
In my case, and like many others, I believe in Stonemier games and I believe in you. When I saw the flashsale notice come through I felt that it was an opportunity for me to support your organization even though I bought a game I had purchased from you in the past. It was a small way for me to say thank you for your games, for your passion, and for your continual contribution to the industry.
The sale communicated to me that Stonemaier could use a little support right now during a time of uncertainty and crisis and I was more than happy to make a purchase to say thank you.
Richard: I really appreciate that, and I hadn’t considered the goodwill factor, but it means a lot to me. Thank you, and I hope you have someone special in mind for the game. :)
I’m encouraged to hear about this success. After attending an online marketing class, I decided to run something similar.
The basic plan is to have a pre-black Friday event where everything in the store will be heavily discounted (near wholesale pricing) for Thurs-Sun, the weekend before Thanksgiving. This information will initially only be given out to people who have joined my mailing list (https://mailchi.mp/e0bbeccdca92/facebooksignup for anyone who wants to join). On the Saturday of the weekend, I was planning on making a FB post with a link. I have limited quantities, so when I sell out of a specific item, I sell out. This gives the people on my mailing list the opportunity to get a big discount and first choice of what is available while still letting my larger audience have a chance of getting in on the deal. It also, I hope, provides value to people on my mailing list which I only use 2x a month for a brief newsletter.
I like the Customized Surprise part of your plan. I may try to work something like that in.
Awesome! I think it’s wise of you to communicate the limited quantities (and that it’s not artificial scarcity–you’re literally limited by your inventory). I’m on the fence about running sales when everyone else is running sales, but I hope it works out for you!