Looking to ignite your store’s revenue and create a buzz? A flash sale is a powerful marketing tool that leverages urgency with deep, time-sensitive discounts.
For WooCommerce store owners, knowing how to run flash sale in WooCommerce store effectively can rapidly increase orders and clear inventory.
If you own a WooCommerce store and want to know how to set up a flash sale campaign, read this comprehensive guide.
Here, we break down the entire process into two key phases. First, we’ll cover the essential pre-sale strategy. Then, we’ll discuss the step-by-step technical setup. Let’s get going.
The Pre-Sale Blueprint (The Strategy Before the Setup)
Planning is crucial before setting up a flash sale on your WooCommerce store. But what will you plan? Here’s what you need to think about before running a flash sale.
Step 1: Define Your Primary Goal
First, define what you want to achieve by running a flash sale on your WooCommerce store. Many store owners run flash sale campaigns in their stores to clear out inventory. Every flash sale needs a single, primary objective.
Some run this campaign to acquire new customers and increase business revenue, while others use flash sales to promote specific products or product categories, thereby boosting the average order value (AOV).
Last but not least, some WooCommerce store owners launch flash sale campaigns to reward VIPs or repeat purchasers. So, you need to determine your purpose first. Then, you can move on to the next step.
Step 2: Select the Right Products
After defining your primary purpose, you need to select the product or product categories to put on a flash sale. If you want to clear your inventory, you can add a discount to your slow-moving stock.
But if your goal is customer acquisition or profitability, you can offer a modest discount on a famous, high-margin product. You can also create a product bundle to increase perceived value and boost average order value (AOV).
Regardless of which product or product category you choose to feature in the flash sale campaign, your goal should be to generate massive hype and traffic from the moment the campaign begins.
Step 3: Calculate Your Discount for Profitability
This is the final step before setting up your flash sale campaign in your online store. This step involves calculating your discount for profitability.
Many e-commerce website owners offer a random “50% Off” in their stores, resulting in a failed or disastrous campaign.
A random discount is a recipe for failure. You need to calculate your discount for profitability before deciding on what percentage of discount you’ll set on products or product categories.
You must know your Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) before selecting a discount type, setting it, and promoting it.
If you need to learn about what the Cost of Goods Sold is, here you go: It’s basically the cost (including shipping and handling fees) you paid for the product to reach your warehouse.
Thus, you need to set a discount on that product that at least covers your COGS. You might use this formula to find your product’s minimum sale price: COGS / (1 – Your Preferred Profit Margin).
Suppose your COGS is $40 and you want to maintain a profit margin of at least 20%. In this case, your product’s minimum sale price should be $40 / (1- 0.20) = $50. Any discount you put on the product should keep the final price above $50.
Step 4: Select Discount Type and Discount Strategy
The type of discount you set depends on your product price. If it’s under $100, you can set a percentage discount to attract people. For instance, a 25% off on a $40 product will sound impressive and draw in customers.
However, a 25% off on a $200 product won’t sound that impressive, but a $50 off will surely do. That means you can set a fixed discount on a product that is priced over $100.
Okay, we’ve determined the discount type to select based on the product price. Now, let’s discuss the discount strategy. You can utilize three discount strategies: Tiered, spend-based, and quantity-based.
You can implement a tiered discount strategy to reward customers for spending more and increase AOV. You can run a flash sale campaign, such as ‘Save 10% on orders over $100,’ if you want to use the spend-based strategy. Lastly, offer BOGO (Buy One Get One) deals to reap the benefits of quantity-based discounts.
These are the steps associated with the pre-sale blueprint. We’ll now discuss the technical aspects of setting up a flash sale campaign in your WooCommerce store.
How to Run Flash Sale in WooCommerce Store
We need to use a WordPress plugin to run a flash sale campaign in your WooCommerce shop. Now the question “Why can’t I use WooCommerce for this job?” might pop up in your head.
Although WooCommerce enables you to set fixed or percentage-based discounts on specific products, it doesn’t allow you to display a timer without using an extension. Plus, you don’t get the flexibility to put products by categories into a flash sale campaign.
That’s why we suggest using a WordPress plugin to help you easily run a flash sale campaign in your e-commerce store.
Now, you might think about which plugin to choose to get this job done. You can find multitudinous plugins to tackle this task, and determining the best from numerous options is challenging.
To ease your search, we recommend selecting ShopBuilder, a perfect plugin for running flash sale campaigns. It’s a comprehensive WordPress plugin that lets you build and maintain a world-class WooCommerce store. Let’s see how it works.
Step 1: Install and Activate ShopBuilder Pro
Installing and activating the pro version of ShopBuilder is easy. Just follow the steps below. However, before moving forward, let’s tell you why you need to get the pro version.
While ShopBuilder comes in both free and pro versions, its amazing features, like running flash sale campaigns, are locked behind the pro plugin. That’s why you need to opt for the ShopBuilder Pro.
After purchasing and receiving the zipped file via mail or downloading it from the official website, head to your WordPress Admin Panel.
- Then, go to Plugins >> Add Plugin.
- Tap on Upload Plugin button.
- Click Choose File button to upload the zipped file of the ShopBuilder Pro.
- Now, press Install Now button.
- Wait a while for the plugin to be installed, and then click the Activate Plugin button.
You’ll now see a message on the top asking you to install the free version of ShopBuilder. Thus, click Install ShopBuilder button within that message and follow the on-screen instructions to install and activate the free version. Otherwise, the plugin won’t work.
There you go. You’ve made it. However, please note that ShopBuilder is compatible with Elementor and WooCommerce. So, your store must have these two WordPress plugins pre-installed to utilize ShopBuilder.
Step 2: Enable Flash Sale Countdown Module
From here, we’ll dive into setting up the flash sale campaign in our WooCommerce store. This step begins with enabling the Flash Sale Countdown module.
To turn it on, go to ShopBuilder >> Settings from your WordPress Admin Dashboard.
Then, click Modules tab and then, hit Flash Sale Countdown module.
You’ll now see a pop-up with a switch: Enable Flash Sale Countdown? Toggle it on.
Once you turn it on, you’ll see a few new options. We’ll discuss these options further in the next step.
Step 3: Explore Flash Sale Countdown Settings
After enabling the Flash Sale Countdown module, you’ll notice the Shop Page Settings and Product Page Settings under the General tab of this module.
Let’s explore the major options available in each setting. You’ll get a switch and two drop-down menus under the Shop Page Settings. Use the switch to display or hide the countdown timer on the shop page of your WooCommerce store.
Utilize the Shop Page Counter Position drop-down menu to set the position (e.g., before or after add to cart) of the timer on the shop page.
Lastly, you may use the Shop Page Counter layout drop-down menu to display time on the shop page either horizontally or vertically.
Then, scroll down and work with the product page settings. Here you’ll get the same options as the shop page settings. That means you can toggle on or off the Show Counter in Product Page switch to either show or hide the countdown timer on the product page.
You can even set the timer position as you wish by using the Product Page Counter Position drop-down menu.
After working with the shop page and product page settings under the General tab, click the Campaign tab to set up the flash sale campaign. Let’s read further to know how to do it.
Step 4: Set Up a Flash Sale Campaign
To set up a flash sale campaign, you need to click Add New button under the Campaign tab.
After that, turn on Enable Campaign switch, enter your campaign name in the Campaign Title field, toggle on Custom date switch to overwrite product sale price dates, and select your campaign start date.
Scroll down and select your campaign end date. Then, choose whether you want to run this campaign for a particular product or product category using the ‘Applicable for’ drop-down menu.
Now, come down to the Applicable Products drop-down menu and choose your desired product/s or product categories.
Then, head to the Discount Type drop-down menu and select your chosen discount type: Fixed or Percent.
Finally, write the discount amount in the Discount Amount field and click the Save Changes button.
Congrats! You’ve successfully set up the flash sale campaign in your WooCommerce store. Let’s now visit the product and store pages to see the effect.
Here’s the screenshot of the flash sale countdown on the product page.
Okay, that’s how you can run a flash sale campaign on your e-commerce site built with WordPress and WooCommerce. Here’s a pro tip to help you design a countdown timer that matches your brand.
Stylize the Flash Sale Countdown Timer
Do you recall the final step we took to set up the flash sale campaign? We set the discount amount and clicked the Save Changes button. When we did that, the pop-up faded away.
So, instead of clicking the Save Changes button, we need to hit Style tab to design the countdown timer according to our wishes. Once we do that, we’ll see options to change the counter background and text colors.
Also, there’s a field to adjust the counter wrapper margin. You can tweak these options, click the Save Changes button, and then visit the required pages to view the final output.
Bonus: Common Flash Sale Mistakes to Avoid
Bonus: Common Flash Sale Mistakes to Avoid
A well-executed flash sale can feel like magic, but a poorly planned one can cause significant damage to your brand’s reputation. Therefore, be cautious when creating your flash sale campaigns and avoid the mistakes outlined below.
Vague Terms and Conditions
Ambiguity is the enemy of a good customer experience. If shoppers remain confused about the rules of your sale, they will either abandon their carts or flood your support inbox with questions. Live sales notifications can help clarify purchase activity and build trust during flash sales. Explore how to add live sales notifications for WooCommerce.
So, before launching your flash sale campaign, create a clear and concise FAQ section on your sale announcement page, outlining all details regarding this campaign.
Avoiding Mobile Users
Do you know that a considerable number of shoppers will be using their smartphones to purchase products from your WooCommerce store? Yes, today, many people use their smartphones for shopping, and you need to make your store mobile-friendly if you want to secure those sales and boost revenue.
Running Sales Too Frequently
The power of a flash sale lies in its scarcity and urgency. If you frequently run flash sale campaigns, their power will diminish. You risk training your customers to wait for discounts. As a result, you never get to sell the product at its full price, which reduces your profit margin.
So, avoid running flash sales too often. Instead, launch this kind of campaign during specific holidays, such as Black Friday.
Poor Inventory Planning
Poor inventory planning is another big mistake many store owners make. They don’t perform a stock audit before launching the flash sale campaign. Therefore, sometimes they either oversell or undersell, leading to unsatisfied customers, generating bad reviews, and lasting brand damage.
Therefore, you need to verify your physical stock and ensure that it matches the digital inventory counts in WooCommerce, so that you don’t oversell or undersell after launching the flash sale campaign.
Our Concluding Thoughts
That’s all the information regarding how to run flash sale in WooCommerce store. Remember that successfully running a flash sale in WooCommerce is a blend of careful strategy and precise technical execution.
It begins with a solid plan: setting clear goals, choosing the right products, and ensuring your discounts remain profitable. By following the steps shared in this content and avoiding common pitfalls, you can create compelling and high-converting campaigns.
Our best wishes will be with you on your journey to launch flash sales and boost revenue.
