The first thing that comes to a customer’s mind when thinking about January is SALES. It’s become the status quo for all merchandise stores to cut their prices as a way of leveraging the lack of the demand in January.

If January had a theme song this would be it (apart from the spelling) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaZMST-vHfM

I’ve taken a look at some of the biggest sport teams’ and sport retailers’ online merchandise stores; and the one thing they all have in common, besides sports apparel, is that they’re all running a sales promotion.

There is no club too big or too small that is not affected by the lack of demand. However, with January being the month of discounts, it’s no wonder there’s lack of demand unless there is a sales promotion. As discussed previously, the long-term effects sales promotions have for a brand are detrimental.  Merchandise stores are losing out on potential customers paying full price for a product, and are instead going for the quick win and slashing prices.

Why aren’t sport teams and sport retailers trying to engage their fan/customer base in order to make the sale?

I was reading an article yesterday about how gamification is extremely engaging for the customer, especially millennials; this part in particular really caught my attention:

Gamification applies game design techniques and mechanics to capture and engage audiences by harnessing people’s natural desire to compete, achieve, and win.

By providing participants with status-based awards and physical prizes, gamification encourages active and on-going audience engagement. It is particularly valuable when trying to reach media-savvy Millennials and members of Generation Z, for whom gaming – whether on consoles or smartphones – is an everyday part of their lives.

The platform developed by DiscountIF offers sport teams and sport retailers the opportunity to engage fans/customers throughout the season. Linking offers which are directly associated with the sport team customers are purchasing from creates a sense of passion around the offering as most customers tend be fans for sport teams.

However the same applies for sport retailers; link up the discount around the sport apparel to an offer related to the sport itself and you’ve got an engaged customer! For example ‘Buy your new football shoes and get a 50% discount IF Pogba scores in his next match’.

Our tool allows merchandise stores to offer higher rewards whilst still facing the same cost as a 10% discount campaign. It’s a win-win for everyone:

• The customer gets their discount (if they predict correctly)
• The customer is engaged through a unique offering
• The sport team/retailer are hitting sales targets
• The sport team/retailer do not lose out on any potential profits as customers are paying full price

For further information on how DiscountIF can assist in engaging customers and increasing conversion visit our presentation.