A sale run by hand adds a third risk, which is our reading and not a source’s figure: the hours it runs outside its plan, and prices that are never put back. Each of those hours is margin given away.
The headline figure
20-50% of promotions generate no noticeable lift in sales, in BCG’s work with retailers. BCG: “20 to 50 percent of promotions generate no noticeable lift in sales—or, worse, have a negative impact. Another 20 to 30 percent dilute margins in that they don’t generate an increase in sales sufficient to offset promotion costs.”
It is a study of brick-and-mortar retailers (supermarkets, discounters, drugstores, mass merchandisers), not small online stores.
Research on this pain point
- 18.7%more volume to offset a 5% price cut, McKinsey foundDiscount timing and depth: what McKinsey, Bain and Deloitte found
- 20–50%of promotions showed no noticeable lift, in BCG’s workHow many promotions pay back? What BCG, McKinsey and Bain found
How SalePilot works on it
SalePilot schedules a sale with a start and an end; the end time is enforced and every price goes back, with a report of what reverted. Free plan available.
See SalePilotSalePilot: Smart Sales on the Shopify App Store
What we checked
Each figure is read in the source’s own text. None of them is a result of our apps.
- SourceBCG, “How Retailers Can Improve Promotion Effectiveness”, full text (PDF)Open on web-assets.bcg.com (opens the source)