Stop training your customers to expect discounts

Your promotions are working. Perhaps too well.

Each site-wide sale teaches customers that waiting pays. Patience means lower prices. This isn’t a customer flaw—it’s a logical reaction to the patterns you've set.

Here's the uncomfortable truth: As your discounting becomes more predictable, customers become less willing to pay full price. So what pattern are you setting?

The discount trap you didn't mean to set

Research from 2 Visions found 62% of shoppers wait for clothing discounts. Not just bargain hunters or price-sensitive customers—the majority.

Even more telling: 31.6% always wait. They've learned that discounts are inevitable.

This behaviour spans all demographics. It's not about income or age; it's about learning from years of predictable sales.

When 93.6% of shoppers wait for discounts, full price feels like a penalty for impatience. You’ve made waiting the winning move.

Why this makes perfect sense (for customers)

Put yourself in their shoes.

Your sales calendar is public knowledge. Customers know the pattern. They've done the maths. Why pay £80 today when the same item will be £60 next month?

IMRG and RevLifter’s Promotions & Loyalty research: retailers get 46% of revenue from full-price sales. The rest is from voucher codes (30%) and discounts (24%).

That benchmark tells a story. More than half of your revenue already depends on some form of price reduction.

Once shoppers learn that waiting gets a reward, paying full price feels unwise. You've trained them to expect discounts.

The hidden cost of the discount default

Beyond conversion rates, there's a deeper problem.

Research from Harvard Business Review found that a 1% improvement in price increases operating profit by 11.1%. The inverse is equally brutal. Every percentage point you give away in unnecessary discounts hits your profit three to four times as hard as an equivalent drop in volume.

Blanket promotions are costly because you subsidise sales that would happen anyway.

BCG's research on retail promotions puts it plainly: promotions should drive incremental behaviour, not reward existing intent.

Was that a customer who was already going to buy? They just got a discount they didn't need. That's the margin you'll never get back.

The price anchoring problem

Discounting doesn't just affect individual transactions. It permanently reshapes how customers perceive your prices.

If customers see 'Was £100, Now £70,' they consider £70 the real price. Do this often, and your full price seems like an overcharge.

This is why some retail brands can never escape the discount cycle. Customers no longer believe the higher number.

The same IMRG research noted that excessive discounting can lead customers to become conditioned to always wait for sales before making purchases. The conditioning is the problem.

Breaking the cycle without breaking conversions

The shift isn't about eliminating discounts. It's about precision.

• Stop giving discounts to everyone
• Start identifying who actually needs an incentive to convert

This is where personalization in your eCommerce CRO strategy becomes essential. Not everyone browsing your site needs a promotion. Some are ready to buy at full price. Others need a nudge.

Luxury accessories brand Radley provides a useful example. They kept their brand equity strong. They avoided a perpetual discounting model. Their approach was simple: suppress offers for high-intent shoppers who would convert anyway.

The result: incremental revenue with 8% lower promotional costs than with sitewide discounts.

Intent signals that separate discount-needers from ready-buyers

Your eCommerce platform constantly generates signals about intent. The skill is reading them.

Some behaviours suggest someone needs convincing:

• Exit behaviour: cursor moving toward the close button, switching tabs
• Price comparison signals: copying product names (often to search for better prices elsewhere)
• Invalid code attempts: actively hunting for discounts
• Extended dwell time with no action: interested but hesitant

Other behaviours suggest someone's ready to buy:

• Adding items to the shopping cart without hesitation
• Returning directly to product pages
• Moving smoothly through checkout
• High basket value with minimal browsing

Here’s the reality: 98% of website visitors don’t buy. Promotions are tools to convince some of that 98% to convert. The challenge? Knowing which part needs convincing—and which would have bought anyway.

Rebuilding full-price confidence

It takes time to change discount expectations. Sudden withdrawal erodes trust.

Some practical approaches:

• Reduce promotional frequency gradually rather than suddenly
• Use non-discount incentives: free shipping thresholds, early access, exclusive products
• Test minimum viable incentives: what's the smallest offer that drives the behaviour you want?
• Segment ruthlessly: new customers might need more convincing than loyal ones

The goal: make discounts rare treats, not the standard. Scarcity and targeting restore value.

The metrics that actually matter

How do you know if the shift is working?

• Full-price revenue share: the 46% benchmark is a good starting point. Are you above or below?
• Discount depth trends: Are you giving away less per transaction over time?
• Conversion rate by offer status: How many customers convert without any promotion?
• Promotional efficiency: Revenue generated per pound of discount given

The real question: are your promotions creating new buyers, or just subsidising existing demand?

The bottom line

The main recommendation: use discounts strategically, not automatically. Apply promotional offers only when proven to drive incremental conversions and protect your revenue and brand value.

Make every promotion intentional. When you target offers, customers understand that incentives are given for specific reasons, not as a routine expectation.

To break the discount cycle, refine your approach: offer discounts only where data shows they're needed to convert. Smarter use of promotions is the key.

Change your promotion strategy now. Teach customers to value buying without waiting.