Creative & Offers
Are constant discounts destroying your ecommerce profitability?
Discounting can make marketing metrics look healthier while the business underneath becomes weaker. A lower price can improve conversion and ROAS, but every discounted order contributes less money before advertising and overhead.
Watch for promotion dependency
Warning signs include:
- Sales collapse at full price
- Customers wait for predictable sale periods
- Email campaigns need deeper discounts to perform
- Meta creatives lead with price rather than product value
- Margin falls while revenue grows
Calculate the break-even lift
If a promotion reduces contribution per order from $40 to $25, order volume needs to rise 60% just to create the same total contribution. That's a useful sense-check covered in more depth in how discounts change your break-even ROAS.
Discounting can change customer quality
Price-sensitive buyers may have lower repeat rates or return as soon as the next coupon appears. Compare retention by acquisition offer.
Use promotions intentionally
Clear inventory, acquire a strategic first order, create a launch moment or increase basket size. Avoid discounting simply because last week's ROAS looked better during a sale.
A promotion should solve a commercial objective, not become the business model by accident.
Find out whether the offer or the ads are the real issue
If your campaigns only hit target ROAS during discounts, send us an inquiry. We can help determine whether the ads, offer or margin structure is the real issue.