Top Promotion Categories: Fourth Quarter 2024

Introduction

As the holiday promotional season is well underway in 2024, Particl has observed that discounting events generally fall into five primary categories: Holiday Promotions, General Seasonal Promotions, Anniversary & Milestone Sales, Flash and Clearance Sales, and Exclusivity Sales. These categories, based on Particl promotional event data from October 15th to present, represent the vast majority of site-wide discounts observed, with an additional 'Other' category serving as a catch-all for outliers.

Each category plays a unique role in driving customer engagement and sales volume. Holiday Promotions lead all others in terms of volume and percent change in volume (see charts below), highlighting the peak sales periods around specific holiday events. Other categories, such as General Seasonal and Flash and Clearance Sales, follow suit, each catering to particular consumer mindsets and shopping behaviors depending on timing and consumer motivations. Anniversary and Exclusivity sales are often leveraged strategically by brands seeking to foster loyalty leading into the holidays. Particl observed that the average discount amount reflects a tight range of 27-32%, with an average of 30.1% across all promotions tracked.

While holiday promotions unsurprisingly drive the majority of discounting events this time of year, there are strategic moments when brands may leverage other sale strategies in between key dates in order to manage inventory effectively and preserve end of year profit margins. When looking at which promotional events drove the greatest percent-change in volume, exclusivity sales rise to the top.

As we continue to dive into each promotion category, highlighting specific brand examples, we will discuss which discounting approaches make sense in different scenarios given the data we have collected so far and researched consumer motivations.

Promotion Categories Analysis

Holiday Promotions

Holiday Promotions represent the most successful category in terms of total volume, averaging a 30.54% discount across events. The success of holiday promotions can be attributed to a few key factors. First, consumers often associate the holiday season with gift-giving, which drives higher spending levels. Additionally, brands heavily advertise around holidays, creating a sense of excitement and urgency among shoppers.

Consumer Motivation: Consumers are more inclined to shop during holidays due to the cultural and social expectations tied to gift-giving and celebrations. This period also aligns with consumer planning for larger purchases, especially around Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Brand Highlight: Alo Yoga’s Black Friday Early Access Sale serves as a standout example within this category, capitalizing on early access to drive urgency and exclusivity, attracting shoppers eager to secure holiday gifts and deals ahead of the crowd.

Anniversary & Milestone Sales

Anniversary and milestone promotions, contributing nearly half a million total units of promotional volume since mid-Ocotber, hold a unique position in that they create a narrative around brand achievements and customer loyalty. Particl has observed these promotions typically range from 20-30% off site-wide and often focus on rewarding customers for their continued engagement over time.

Consumer Motivation: Customers are drawn to anniversary and milestone sales as they feel part of a brand’s journey. This connection can foster loyalty and encourage consumers to make purchases to celebrate the brand’s achievements.

Brand Highlight: Bylt Basics Anniversary Sale exemplifies this type of promotion. By highlighting its anniversary, Bylt Basics creates a deeper connection with its customers, who may feel appreciated and part of the brand's success story. Particl has observed quite a few anniversary sales emerge in the months leading up to BFCM; whether by coincidence or not, it appears to be a proven method for kickstarting revenue and moving inventory early.

Flash and Clearance Sales

Flash and clearance sales make up an essential category in driving quick consumer action. Particl has observed these promotional events move over 400,000 units of volume since mid-October, with an average discount of ~27%. These promotions are particularly effective for clearing out inventory and capturing the attention of deal-seeking customers. Flash and clearance sales are often executed ad-hoc by brands.

Consumer Motivation: Flash and clearance sales appeal to customers’ desire for bargains and limited-time opportunities. These promotions often create a sense of urgency, compelling customers to act quickly to secure discounted items, often impulsively. These types of deals also address a group of customers that patiently wait for sales to drop on their favorite items, therefore the strategy may be particluarly effective for brands with a high repeat customer rate.

Brand Highlight: Soma’s 20% Off Entire Purchase Sale demonstrates the effectiveness of urgency-driven promotions, encouraging customers to take advantage of the discount before it expires and making it suitable for clearing out seasonal or excess inventory. These types of events, when executed strategically before BFCM, can help brands understand when to launch their holiday-based deals and by how much to discount.

General Seasonal

General Seasonal promotions, which have generated nearly 400,000 units in volume so far, tend to align with broader seasonal changes, such as the start of winter or summer. This category, with an average discount of ~32%, resonates with consumers looking to refresh their wardrobes or purchase season-appropriate items.

Consumer Motivation: Customers are motivated by the alignment of these promotions with their seasonal needs. For example, as winter approaches, shoppers look for discounts on winter coats or winter sports gear that is normally higher-priced. Brands can effectively capture share of consumers who are browsing the internet for products that suit their profile.

Brand Highlight: Edikted’s Welcome Fall Sale displays this approach, offering seasonal discounts that meet customer demand for fall fashion and aligning the promotion with the changing weather and shopping habits. Particl also observes that these seasonal transition events are often extended out longer than other sales, which is perhaps an effort by brands to move the inventory of risker product launches early while prices are lower but still high enough to preserve profit margin.

Exclusivity Sales

Exclusive promotions, with a total volume of just over 300,000 units across the Particl-tracked promotions since October 15, reward loyal customers or members. These promotions emphasize exclusivity and may require membership or special access, creating a unique appeal to select groups. The observed average discount rate for these promotions is typically ~30%.

Consumer Motivation: Exclusive promotions drive loyalty by making customers feel valued and part of an elite group. These offers are often perceived as additional perks, strengthening customer-brand relationships and often increasing average order value (AOV) during the period.

Brand Highlight: Victoria's Secret Member's 50% Off promotion showcases the effectiveness of exclusivity. By limiting the discount to members, Victoria's Secret fosters a sense of privilege and encourages sign-ups to access these special deals. The brand enjoyed a noticeable uptick in sales volume (~50%) on October 29, helping to drive its online revenue leading in to BFCM.

Conclusion

Our analysis reveals that while Holiday Promotions dominate in volume and consumer interest, other categories such as Anniversary & Milestone Sales and Flash and Clearance Sales can also drive significant engagement and volume growth - particularly in shorter sprints - when placed strategically. By analyzing over 3,000 distinct promotions across top companies in the Particl database based, we continue to see a strong presence of Holiday Promotions but also observe notable performances from other categories, indicating the potential for success outside of traditional holiday events.

Timing is crucial for optimizing promotional effectiveness. Brands should leverage Holiday Promotions and General Seasonal promotions during peak periods and to extend periods of higher sales volumes. Flash and Clearance Sales may effectively boost sales during off-peak times for shorter periods. Anniversary & Milestone Sales and Exclusive promotions serve as strategic tools for fostering loyalty and engagement throughout the year, but especially leading into key holidays that most consumers have marked on their calendars for gift-giving. All non-holiday promotions can serve as tools to gauge audiences leading into BFCM and Christmas. This strategy can help brands manage their inventory effectively and preserve profit margins where necessary.