Does discounting work?

Erin @ MemberVault
4 min readJan 12, 2019

Let’s keep in mind that this is all IMHO level musing, but the thing I have been noticing lately is…

I’m jaded AF.

Not about all things, which would qualify me as a curmudgeon who should just go live in the woods already…but as a consumer.

Most specifically a consumer online. Who frequently makes purchase decisions based on FB ads, or email marketing.

And I gotta say, massive discounts as the end all be all? Just makes me curl my cynical lip and think “you can do better!”

Case in point.

Hello Fresh.

I was ranting in a “people that get me” FB group recently about the invisible labor of weekly meal planning (yes, total first world problem) and how my brain just didn’t want to anymore.

There was an outpouring of suggestions from business owning moms who ALSO hate the unending drain of staying creative and answering the age old “what’s for dinner?” question.

Hello Fresh was one of them.

If you’re not familiar, here is a snapshot of their extremely well designed site.

Well, damn. “America’s Most Popular Meal Kit”?? That is SAYING something.

And while normally I’d be all, yeah, yeah…the peer evidence from my group certainly supported it.

So if you’re paying attention, we’ve got the perfect recipe for buying success.

Pain point: I am sick of coming up with meal ideas and want to focus on other things.

Peer proof: Friends recommended Hello Fresh as a great solution for my problem, because they ALSO had that problem and it has completely solved it for them.

Now, I’m a dutiful researcher, so I went to their site, and saw some beautiful meals. I haven’t ever done the meal-in-a-box thing though, so I had my reservations.

I was also a little overwhelmed by the options and the fear of choosing the “wrong” one.

Confused people don’t buy, but they do sign up for your email list.

Hello Fresh made signing up easy.

But here is where they lost me. With the discount driven emails.

Email one:

OK, yes. Discounts are a great way to bump fence sitters. But as the primary messaging vehicle?

I say, try harder, Hello Fresh. And you aren’t speaking to MY reservations at all.

What about why people might be scared of a meal delivery service — too expensive for what you get, don’t like what you get, food gone bad, not understanding how it works.

Then have that discount as a banner or call out in the email once you clear up the other elements.

Start a conversation, then make it even easier with a “by the way, treat yourself to your new personal meal planner and get $60 off”.

But c’mon. Discount as the primary driver?

IMHO, it’s lazy.

But they are sticking to it!

Email Two:

Better. Much better.

But still feels a little empty.

The discount is nice, but it still isn’t speaking to WHY I’m on the fence and helping me jump off into the glory of meals prepped and delivered to me.

And now I’m feeling a little annoyed (see above: jaded AF) and feeling like you’re just another discount pushing big box business cluttering up my inbox with “X% off!!” emails.

How about speaking to me like I’m a person, and that you get where I’m coming from?

Which is why I’m holding to: discounts are great, but should they be the primary conversation in your onboarding or initial welcome sequence.

And even more so, do they belong in the subject line???

What say you? 🤔

Would this discount have swayed you? Do you care about discounts being the sole purpose in the subject?

Have you tried other meal services? What are your hesitations around signing up for one?

--

--

Erin @ MemberVault

CEO & MV co-founder + mom of 2 wildlings // Obsessed with chatting all things supportive selling for scaleable business growth! https://membervault.co