Help! Advise & Opinions PLZ, what deals /offers you love when xmas shopping??

[Pandamanda3]

Ok so 'I'm wondering if MN could help? by giving your opinions on what deals/offers you've found most useful to you when doing any online Christmas shopping?
Apologies if I'm posting in the wrong place 🙈

(Bit of back ground) -I'm a newly divorced mum of 2 and my story reads like many other poor divorsee's.
I have a new small business which im trying to push, to help us overcome the mass of debt my ex narc left us with.
He is dying to see me fail and has tried everything possible to make that happen by draining me financially but I'm trying to be strong and start afresh for me & my boys and not let him win. so my business Is obviously an important tool in achieving that and tbh Iv dragged it along with me keeping it going by a hairs breadth.
He on the other hand walked away with a fully successful business which I slaved many miserable years to helped make and Iv took nothing from that.
But I know Iv got to try and move on from all that and try to keep us afloat the best I can, so I'm looking for a few ideas and opinions from MN.

So with Christmas just around the corner I wanted to see what offers and things are most helpful to you. Or what style of offers you'd prefer to see?
I sell ladies accessories so people buy for themselves & buy for gifts.
I obviously want to make a profit but at the same time make sure Ok so I am wanting to ask if MN has any good ideas/ on what would be there favourite offers and deals when shopping at christmas.

(Bit of back ground) -I'm a newly divorsed mum and I have a new small business which im trying to push, to help us overcome the mass of debt the ex narc left us with.
He is dying to see me fail and has tried everything possible to make that happen, but I'm trying to be strong and start afresh for me & my boys, so my business Is obviously an important tool in achieving that.

I'm thinking about xmas offers & deals but want to know from your point of view which ones you like and have found most useful to you.
I know it's a difficult time financially for everyone so I want to be fair and reasonable my customers benefit too if you see what I mean?

Thanks to anyone who has the time to advise!

[Meadows76]

I'm not sure what you are asking?

Any deals or offers I could suggest to you will be specific to my own shopping.

[Pandamanda3]

Yes that's what im asking meadows!
Sorry if my post was confusing.
I'm looking to set offers on my shop, and just wanted to see which styles of offers etc.. People choose or think benefit them. Just so I can gain some idea of what helps people what they prefer etc.. IE: buy on get on free and so on.
So in general im just searching for some ideas, I want my customers to benefit from offers that are useful to them.

I hope Iv explained that right!
Sorry & thank you for replying meadows!

[iklboo]

I think I see what you mean. I look for:

Three for two
Discounts for bulk / multibuy
Free / discounted shipping
'Black Friday' type deals
Buy X get Y half price
Gift wrapping & delivery to third party

Is that the kind of thing?

[Pandamanda3]

YEH thanks that's great!
That's what I was meaning I just thought I'd rather see if I can ask so i Design my offers in a way that they are really benefitting my customers and thought if I ask I may hear some feedback.
So I thank you for taking the time to get back to me.
Christmas is for most a financial strain, I know it is for me, so sometimes it helps when your shopping if you get a good deal and save a bit. Then I hope by doing that my customers will be happy & come back, my items are really good quality and Iv got good customer care.
I do free postage for all my stock and the general reductions like 20% off and such but haven't tried other things yet.
I sell mainly bags, wraps scarfs etc... So I was thinking of making some bundle deals. You know like buy a bag and get a nice scarf free and such like.

[iklboo]

Sounds like a plan.

[Meadows76]

Honestly I didn't even realise that you were asking for help with your business. I thought your backstory was leading to you being skint and looking for help with your own Christmas shopping. Post is very confusing.

[Pandamanda3]

Oh gosh I'm sorry
Think my divorce has puddled my head, ha!
I was just adding that to explain why im asking for help, by explaining my situation and that its a new business so just doing a little research to help me move my business along.
But have obviously not wrote that out very well.

Iv not done too many posts on here so relatively new, there are so many sections to post in too.

So apologies for the rubbish confusing post but thanks for responding anyway

[AmyAmoeba]

Personally I like it when I have a code for a certain percentage off that I can enter at checkout and that applies to the whole basket. I get irritated when I'm drawn in by claims of "up to 50% off selected items" which means one thing is 50% off, a few things are 10% off and the only item I want is not discounted at all!
I don't like buy one get one free, or 3-4-2 etc., but I might buy something extra to push my basket up to a minimum spend to qualify for free shipping.
I like being offered a % off code with my delivery to encourage me to come back. Makes me feel like a valued customer.

I like getting offers from other businesses with a delivery which happens quite a bit lately.

I think customer service is extremely important and I have gone out of my way to support small businesses that excel at it. If your customer base is female make an extra effort with packaging. A layer of tissue paper with a company logo foil sticker is much classier than a plastic ziplock bag. Prompt delivery is another thing that makes me value a brand.
Can I strongly recommend you read through the bargain threads on here and pay particular attention to what not to do (hush). Referral schemes are a good way of building up a customer base but think through the implications and if you can't meet the demand for a product, for goodness sake be polite about it.

Hope that helps though it really does come down to personal preference. Best of luck with your business

[Pandamanda3]

Oh wow thank you Amyamoeba
That's a really helpful reply love it.

I do actually agree 100% with you that sticking an item in a rubbish plastic bag isn't the way forward.
I'm very very faffy and fussy tbh and do go the extra mile with presentation.
If I get an item that has been beautifully packed I think it speaks volumes about the company.
And so I try to always think of what I am like and implement that with my orders.

Tissue paper, dust bag leather advise care card and all that. I think it adds to the excitement opening a pretty wrapped order.

Iv had some things delivered which OMG it makes u wonder how these company's survive.
I am proud to say my customer care and delivery times are second to none, and the quality of my goods are fab if I do say so myself (again very picky with that)
It's just getting the traffic that's hard, im no wizz on the PC so all this seo stuff is a mystery to me.
😞

But I really hear what you say especially the sales scam 50% off then you get there & it's not what you thought, im trying to avoid that and be a bit special so im really considering carefully how best to set my offers as you say I don't want it to be that there is a disappointment at the end of it.

I always do freepost through out as I find that does help.

I'm intrigued to know 'what is a referral scheme?
Iv not heard that before? And please tell me there are not businesses that are not polite when they can't meet an order????
Oh wow words fail me if that's the case, Id be jumping through hoops to find away to full fill.

I only sell what I hold, so never do drop ship. I don't like the idea of selling an item Iv not seen or there is a ? They may not have it. But sometimes mistakes can be made, you do have to hold your hands up though & ensure the customers happy before they leave.
Thank thank you that's so helpful of you to reply x