The Ecommerce Discount Death Spiral (And How to Escape It)

Hey it’s Max from The Inbox Newsletter.

Most brands think they need to be sending discounts to get sales via email.

But all you're really doing is cheapening the product in your customer's eyes.

If you discount every Tuesday, customers learn to ignore you Monday through Sunday and wait for Tuesday. If you run "20% off" every other week, customers stop buying until they see "20% off" in the subject line.

You've trained them to wait. And now you're stuck.

Here's how to escape the discount death spiral.

Key Takeaways:

• Frequent discounting destroys brand value and trains customers to wait for sales

• Product education emails (problem/solution, features/benefits, how-to-use) drive purchases without discounts

• Specific, detailed testimonials provide social proof that sells better than generic "great product" reviews

• Founder story emails build emotional connection and explain why your brand exists

Give Them a Reason to Buy That Isn't Price

You need to give customers a different to buy besides a sale. The whole point of a sale is that it’s a limited offer, right? So if you keep discounting, you’re effectively telling your customer that your product is not valuable enough to buy at full price.

Here are three email types that sell without discounts:

1. Product Education Emails

Many brands make the mistake of thinking that their customers will know how to use their product the right way.

But the truth is, no one will ever understand your product to the level that you do.

And your job as a business is to demonstrate to your customers the full value of your products.

Product education emails examples:

• The problem it solves: "Tired of coffee crashes by 2pm? Here's the surpising reason why this happens."

• One feature: "Our cold brew uses a 24-hour steep process (here's why that matters)"

• One benefit: "There’s a difference between regular caffeine and our caffeine. It's sustained energy without the jitters."

• How to use it: "The best time to drink this is 30 minutes before your morning workout"

Stick to one topic per email and make it easily digestible. You don’t need to be writing essays to your customers.

Send one product education email per week. Pick one product, one feature, one benefit. Break it down in 200-300 words.

Customers will buy because they finally understand the value, not because you dropped the price.

2. Testimonial Emails (But Not Generic Ones)

Testimonial are a powerful piece of social proof when implemented correctly.

The trick is to pick the very best ones.

"Great product! 5 stars!" doesn't sell anything.

Specific, detailed testimonials do.

Here's the difference:

Generic testimonial (doesn't work): "I love this product! It's amazing. Highly recommend."

Specific testimonial (works): "I've tried 6 different protein powders and they all tasted like chalk. This one actually tastes like a milkshake. I've been using it for 3 months and I'm down 12 pounds without changing anything else. My wife even started drinking it because she liked the taste so much."

The second one paints a picture. It addresses objections (taste). It shows results (12 pounds). It adds credibility (wife uses it too).

Send testimonial emails that feature one customer story in detail. Include:

• What they struggled with before

• Why they bought

• How it changed their situation

• Specific results or benefits

These emails convert because they're address a specific point and show someone cared enough to gush their heart out. Customers see that and think “If it worked for them, then it will work for me.”

3. Founder Story Emails

People don't just buy products. They buy brands they connect with.

Founder story emails explain why your brand exists. Not in a corporate "our mission is..." way. In a real, human way.

Examples of founder story angles:

• "I started this company because I was tired of [problem] and nobody was solving it"

• "Here's the moment I realized we needed to build this"

• "The first version of our product was made in my garage with $500"

• "Why I almost quit 6 months in (and what changed my mind)"

These emails don't have a CTA that says "Buy Now." They end with "If this resonates with you, check out what we're building."

Customers buy because they feel connected to the story. They want to support the mission. Not because you offered 15% off.

Send a founder story email once a month. Keep it personal. Keep it real. Don't make it a sales pitch.

Final Thoughts

If you're running sales every week, you're in the discount death spiral.

Your customers are trained to wait. Your margins are shrinking. And you're one bad quarter away from becoming a discount brand.

The way out isn't to discount harder. It's to give customers a reason to buy that isn't price.

Product education builds trust. Testimonials provide social proof. Founder stories create an emotional connection.

Send these emails consistently and watch what happens: customers start buying at full price again.

You don't need another sale. You need a better email strategy.

If you want help building an email strategy that drives revenue without discounting yourself into oblivion, my team has generated $200M+ in email revenue for clients. Book a call here.

Email Inspiration Of The Day

Brand:
Leaf

Email Design:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_GHADFfMMccPBVw86MTKXbMLmDxPCeNz/view?usp=sharing

Notes:
Awesome seasonal email with great design. Instead of offering a holiday discount, they’re offering seasonal bundles and the product photos all look giftwrapped. Brilliant.

Template of The Day

If you want access to a bank of 134 mix and match templates like this equating to over 5,000+ possible email designs, click here » 

Reply to this email if you have any questions or further content you want covered.

Cheers,

Max | Well Copy Email & SMS Marketing

PS - If you run a 7-9 figure ecommerce brand and you want to have a free email strategy consultation, book a call here » 

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