November 24, 2008
Blog Entry

SherpaBlog: Offer Holiday Discounts without Damaging Your Premium Brand

SUMMARY: No summary available.
By Adam T. Sutton, Reporter

Discounts abound at eretail sites this holiday season. The New York Times dubbed the price slashing “holiday price wars” in an article on November 19. The article’s desperate tone underlines what many of us already know: The holiday shopping season is going to be rough.

Every consumer is looking for a discount, which doesn’t bode well for premium brands. Price drops and coupons can diminish a brand’s boutique image. But some marketers are finding a way around this quandary.

Shoe eretailer Zappos, the NYT’s article mentions, moves shoes that do not sell in six months to 6pm.com, a site they acquired last year. So, Zappos never discounts and 6pm.com always discounts. Two separate brands, one great strategy. We recently published an article on Zappos’ UGC newsletter – see the link below.

For premium brands stuck between staying relevant during the holiday price war and maintaining their image, Zappos’ strategy seems like a great solution. Get an affiliate to sell your products at a discount, or buy a website with a different brand and discount there.

Useful Links Related to This Article:

Follow Zappos' Web 2.0 Steps to Build Email Newsletter Driven by User-Generated Content
https://www.marketingsherpa.com/barrier.php?ident=30897

Web Sites Wage Holiday Price Wars
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/technology/internet/20slashing.html?_r=2&em&oref=slogin


Improve Your Marketing

Join our thousands of weekly case study readers.

Enter your email below to receive MarketingSherpa news, updates, and promotions:

Note: Already a subscriber? Want to add a subscription?
Click Here to Manage Subscriptions