What’s the fastest way to increase sales from your next email campaign? Offer a discount.
At least it works in the short term. Skip open ratios, hit momentum, roll orders.
But there is a hidden cost. Every time you rely on a discount to make a sale, you’re silently training your audience to wait for the next one. Over time, this chips in your bottom line and brand perception.
The smartest e-commerce brands know how to walk the line by using offers that don’t thrill you without walking the line.
In this guide, we’ll break down how to create email offers that feel irresistible but protect your bottom line.
Why Discounts Work (and Why They’re Dangerous)
Let’s be honest, discounts are addictive.
They are an instant delight for customers. Less excitement to buy. They deliver fast results for brands. Inboxes light up, conversions spike and the sales graph shoots up.
This is not accidental. Discounts play directly into key psychological triggers such as scarcity, urgency, and reward biases. When people stare for a limited time, the brain releases dopamine. It feels like a pot. That’s why a simple “24-hour flash sale” can spark a beautifully written product story.
But here’s the catch. That same emotional response can work against you over time.
When discounts are predicted, customers start waiting for them. They will abandon carts knowing the sales email. They will skip full priced items because they are trained to expect 20% off next week.
What starts as a short-term sales tactic becomes a long-term habit, eating into your bottom line and destroying your brand’s perceived value.
It’s a balance issue. You need offers strong enough to motivate action, but not so frequent or aggressive that they undermine your positions.
Therefore Smart builders use discounts strategicallynot as a story, but as a hook to a larger one. There is always a plan for what happens around the product, around new collections or brand milestones, and after the sale is over.
The Long Game: What Sales Cycles Are Really For
Many brands treat discount periods as quick fixes. They see it as a way to clear stock, hit a monthly number, or win back customers who have quietly left.
But the best founders know that a sale is more than a short-term bump. In fact, it is a moment to build something bigger.
A good sale does three things. It grabs attention, moves and teaches you something about your audience.
Maybe your Black Friday Sale shows what products people really care about. Maybe your “End of Summer” offer is returning Customers that you can now re-engage. Or maybe your anniversary shows you which messaging tone is the hardest.
The thing is, a sale is more than just a sale. About learning.
And long-term winning brands know how to play both games. What happens now (cash flow, conversions, excitement) and what happens later (retention, loyalty, predictability). They think in periods, not consumptions.
The give and take theory of email offers
So how do you keep that momentum going between sales without constantly discounting?
This is what I like to call the “give and take” approach, which comes in clutch.
“Give” emails are your relationship builders. They share something useful, inspiring or entertaining. So it can be a story about your brand, a new behind-the-scenes drop, a quick tip that helps your audience get more out of your product. They build trust, and trust is what makes every future sale easier.
“Catch” emails are your questions. These are the moments you lean on, Hey, it’s time to buy. Product launch, a limited package, 24-hour discount. These are plugs of revenue generating energy, but they only work when backed by enough goodwill from your emails.
The mistake most founders make? They get it very often. Each email builds a pitch and list over time. Engagement drops, subscriptions rise, and customers not because your offer is bad, but because it feels expected.
Treat your email, a little healthier contact and pick up. First give, then take. Offer guidance before selling. If your audience learns something or feels something between the offers, the next “takeaway” will be doubly solid ground.
How to Build Offers That Feel Generous (But Keep the Limits)
Another common myth is that the most effective email offers are always the biggest discounts, but this is not true. Instead, they are to feel generous while quietly protecting your bottom line.
All are accepted value. When customers get something special, the actual value matters little to you.
Start by rethinking what “value” means:
- Pack instead of Slash. Complementary products and include them as an exclusive set. This way, the customer saves money, carries more inventory and your average order value goes up.
- Add, not subtract. Instead of cutting prices, add a bonus. This could be over a certain threshold, a free gift with purchase, or free shipping for early access to a new drop.
- Not everyone rewards loyalty. Your best customers shouldn’t get the same deal as a one-time buyer. To use segmentation Recognizable feelings while keeping margins tight to make loyal customers.
- Create “next time” incentives. It offers something like “£10 off your next order” and keeps your income compounding over time.
Each of these strategies gives the customer an unconditioned win to expect a permanent discount. Received value (exclusive, premium, affiliate) is added instead of margin.
Final thoughts
Used strategically, offers are one of the most powerful tools in your marketing arsenal. They grab attention, drive urgency and give your audience a reason to act now. But when every email is based on a discount, you’re not building a brand, you’re teaching people to expect one.
That’s where Omnisend comes in. Built for ecommerce founders, OmniIsend gives you everything you need to send smarter, not more.
You can:
- Build and automate email flows with drag-and-drop ease
- Segment customers based on shopping behavior and engagement
- Test offers, incentives and timing to see what really moves the needle
- Seamlessly integrate with your store and scale with no extra effort
And now, readers are getting 50% discount from the first 3 months.
Click here and use the code Foundr50 to start sending sales emails.