20+ Sales Promotion Examples [+Definition & Expert Ideas]

Attractive sales promotions to engage customers—

This is must-have part of any successful online marketing strategy. Knowing how to create compelling, creative, and engaging sales promotions can make a difference for any business.

If you’re here to see how successful businesses promote sales, we’ve got an impressive list of sales promotion examples for you.

Jump to content sections:

• Definition of a sales promotion

• Pros and cons of sales promotions

• Examples of sales promotions

• Where to share sales promotions

• Tips for sales promotions

What is a sales promotion?

A sales promotion is a marketing message designed to add value to a promotional offer for product or service to encourage customers to engage and buy. The key element here is “add value,” which means giving extra benefits such as prizes, discounts, or free shipping to reduce the total cost of an order.

Specific types of sales promotions work better to help achieve different marketing goals.

For example, a sitewide sale like this one might help sell faster:

Sales promotions: pros and sons

Sales promotion examples

1. “Free Gift with Purchase” promotion 

2. Pre-launch promotion campaign

3. Branded bundle offer

4. Discount for new customers

5. End-of-season sale

6. Limited-time promo offer

7. Clearance sale

8. Newsletter signup discount

9. Prized promotion (Spin the wheel)

10. Spin-the-wheel promotion

11. Limited-time sale

12. Holiday sale promotion (4th of July)

13. Gift card promotional deal

14. Flash sale

15. “Buy One, Get One Free” Sale 

16. Limited-time “Buy Two Get Two” sale

17. Limited-time free shipping promotion

18. Membership reward promotion

19. Birthday sale

20. Sitewide sale

21. Free sample

1. “Free gift with purchase” promotion

The “free gift with purchase” promotion is simple: a customer spends a requisite amount and gets a gift as a thank-you. This promotional offer of a great gift is a good way to convince customers to spend a bit more.

Let’s look at this promotion example below from ActiveSkin.

The brand gives away a gel mask, which is a nice addition to the skincare products it sells. Many people would appreciate this offer, as it gives them a little something they can use with other products.

ActiveSkin used a website popup to share this promotional deal. The popup worked well to maximize the deal’s reach, since popups could be displayed on most pages.

To make this promotion idea work:

• Choose a valuable gift. It should have enough value for customers to motivate them to make a purchase (like one of the best-selling items).

• Set a reasonable spending limit. If your average order value is around $50, consider setting the limit at around $70 to encourage more spending.

• Keep order weight unaffected by the gift. Large items could require larger boxes, which increase the order’s weight and shipping costs.

How to create this type of sales promotion campaign

You can create similar “free gift with purchase” promotions by using our own popup builder. This means you set the time when visitors will see them on a page of your choice.

2. Pre-launch promotion campaign

Raise product awareness before the product becomes available—

That’s the main goal of this kind of promotional campaign. Online businesses such as retailers use these campaigns to build excitement around new products and secure some pre-orders.

Asphalte uses pre-launch marketing to win customers. In their promotional message below, the brand does a great job of making an announcement that’s short and sweet. It’s like saying, “Folks, we’ve got something great, and many are signing up. You in?”

For this promotional campaign, Asphalte used on-site notifications:

Website visitors can see them by clicking on a loudspeaker icon located near the main menu items.

Once clicked, the icon shows a small menu of notifications. 

How to create this promotional campaign:

Sharing product or sale pre-launch messages is easy with onsite notifications.

There’s no coding or design experience needed, so you can get a quick start on this one: How to use onsite notifications.

You can also try them for free:

Unlimited free trial, no cc needed. Learn more about onsite notifications

3. Branded bundle offer

This example of product promotion is similar to the “free gift with purchase.” 

This time, though, the business promises a branded product bundle composed of two items for orders over €100. With this type of promotion, the seller is trying to get people talking about the deal and encouraging visitors to browse the product range.

Once again, this brand is using a website popup to share this sales promotion example. Popup forms are great for this kind of promo because you can choose to display them in a specific timeframe (the duration of the promo, for example). 

How to create a similar promo campaign

Having this type of sales promo campaign on your website can take less than 30 minutes. All that’s required is creating a popup that shows visitors the offer.

4. Discount coupon for first-time customers

Research shows that a discount makes 41% of online shoppers buy. Many of them are first-time customers, which suggests that discounts as sales promotions can help you build a customer base.

This is exactly what MTMV Watches is doing.

What we like about this promotion idea is how the popup conveys the information. The main message, the discount amount, and the discount code are bolded, so visitors are likely to understand the message without reading the whole thing.

How to create this promo:

Make a discount popup and show it only to new visitors. In Wisepops, our own popup app, this is easy—just choose “new visitors” in the display frequency”settings:

5. End-of-season sale

“Looking to get your wardrobe refreshed for the summer? Now’s the time!”

This is what our next sales promotion example is all about. It announces an end-of-season sale, which is a way to make space in inventory for new products.

Atterley uses an ecommerce popup to share the sale promotion example. Note the two buttons leading to women’s and men’s products—a great decision to make product exploration easier.

Since end-of-season sales are typically held on the biggest sale days of the year, start to promote it at least a week before. This way, you’ll raise awareness and build some anticipation.

Also, use all available channels to spread the word: emails, website popups, ads, text messages, etc. In Atterley’s case, the brand’s marketing team used a website popup—it’s safe to assume it was displayed to every new visitor for maximum exposure.

6. Limited-time promo offer

In this sales promotion example, ActiveSkin tries to capitalize on the expertise of its founder. The brand offers to save 15% on select products, and entices viewers by specifying that the sale is time-limited. This helps drive urgency.

Note that the message says “Limited time only,” without mentioning the specific timeframe. This could be yet another way to grab customers’ interest and have them consider learning about the offer.

If a business’s owner is an influencer, or it uses influencers to promote products, such a strategy could attract conversions.

Creating a similar promotional deal is super easy. An important thing is to remember to add the expiration date!

7. Clearance sale promotion

Need to get rid of excess inventory?

How about doing that + increasing your sales?

If that sounds good, consider a clearance sale. This promotion example involves selling excess inventory at reduced prices. A carefully planned and a well-promoted clearance sale can boost traffic at your store by attracting bargain hunters.

Here’s an example of this special offer:

Lulu Guinness announced a clearance sale with this promotional message example. The brand’s website used it as a banner to attract visitors’ attention:

Something eye-catching about this sale promotion example is the creative usage of fonts. The main message is displayed in bigger fonts to convey the main point effectively. Some of the extra info uses different fonts.

Another way to grab visitors’ attention and make a clearance sale promotion better is by adding numbers.

Examples of ways to include numbers in  promotional messages:

• “Clearance sale! Shop 1,000 styles!”

• “5 Days Only: Up to 70% Off Clearance sale”

• “Clearance sale: 40% to 70% off 500+ epic items!”

8. Newsletter signup discount

We see these newsletter signup forms everywhere.

Signing up for an email newsletter doesn’t cost the customer anything, but getting a discount allows them to save money. Simple as that.

That’s why ecommerce brands use newsletter signup promotions to get visitors’ emails with incentives such as early access to sales announcements, special discounts, VIP rewards, and more.

Example:

California Olive Ranch offers a 10% discount for newsletter signup. Once again, the brand uses a website popup.

9. Prize giveaway promotion (spin-the-wheel popup)

We know that shoppers like it when businesses “gamify” their experiences. After all, people love anything interactive—games, quizzes, generators, calculators, etc.

No surprise that gamification has made its way to product promotions. Spin-the-wheel popups are one of the best examples of gamified experiences, with many online stores using them to generate leads.

Faguo is one of those brands.

This French clothing company promotes a product contest with a spin-the-wheel popup. Any visitor can enter: all they have to do is type in their name and email.

Faguo did a great job taking care of two critical aspects of contests: 

Simple entry and valuable prize. 

No surprise that this promotional campaign generates 5,000 leads every month. Even better, Faguo used the wheel to gamify the contest experience—another major reason for the campaign’s success. 

How to create your own spin-the-wheel campaigns to promote sales:

Online stores create similar promotions with spin-the-wheel popups. Creating one is similar to customizing a marketing email: just add content and activate.

10. Spin-the-wheel promotion

“A wheel of happiness.” 

That’s what Cabaia called its spin-the-wheel popup campaign. 

This digitally native brand that sells cruelty-free accessories is running a promotional campaign where customers can win free products, credits, free delivery, and other perks.

Unlike Faguo’s, Cabaia’s spin-the-wheel-powered campaign requires only an email to enter. And a unique draw for site visitors is that, it’s possible to win a prize right away!

If you’d like to engage website visitors with a similar promotion, we recommend reading the best practices for spin-to-win popups. One practice is to use spin-to-win promotions to increase participation in holiday sales and giveaways.

11. Limited-time sale

Few sales promotion activities are as tried and tested as limited-time offers like sales and discount coupons.

The idea is simple: add a time restriction, which acts as a purchase trigger. Ecommerce brands have used this sales promo idea forever because it appeals to customers’ fear of missing out on a good deal.

Limited-time sale promotion example:

Bobonos used this sales promo below for the 4th of July. 

The countdown timer gives a compelling reason to purchase by driving urgency. Note how the two most important elements—the timer and the “Use Code Firework” CTA button—are given a contrasting black color to attract attention.

One piece of advice to maximize profits from this sale idea:

Run your time-limited promo for a shorter duration (24 or 48 hours) if you have over 1,000 monthly website visitors. If you’re a new brand, consider using promos of longer durations (over 48 hours).

Research on coupons found this technique to be effective because it gives customers of less-known brands more time for consideration.

12. Holiday sale promotion (4th of July)

Taking a smart approach to sales promotions means having different promotional deals up your sleeve, ready to be used when needed. Holidays are the time when sales are called for, so your brand should be ready.

Independence Day, for one, is a great opportunity to let your customers snag discounts. Making a sale promotion for this holiday, just like for any other holiday, requires a concise message and interesting visual.

Here’s a 4th of July creative sales promotion example from Pura Vida. The brand uses an awesome visual to share the sale info and attract attention.

Want to maximize sales from holiday sale campaigns?

Consider this:

Run an ad campaign to drive traffic to your website. Then, use website popups and banners to share the news and generate leads. 

Since many visitors won’t be ready to buy right away (some are just browsing, others compare costs or look for discounts, etc), popups could share awareness of the sale.

13. Gift card promotional deal

Selling gift cards?

If yes, then this promotional offer example should be useful for you.

Here’s an example of such a promotional message.

H&M sent this promo campaign via email, offering a 10% discount for gift cards. The message offers a simple explanation for customers—another best practice in creating effective sales promotions.

What’s also smart about this promotional offer is that the brand gives ideas for potential recipients of gift cards (“Think grads, dads, and Geminis.”) Another thing to note is that this sales promotion example is also timed.

Tips to increase sales of gift cards:

• Launch sales campaigns around holidays.

• Use onsite marketing tools (embeds, popups, notification feed, etc.).

• Share sales announcements via emails.

• Talk about gift card promotions on social media.

14. Flash sale

A flash sale is another type of promotional deal that focuses on a sense of urgency. It’s a perfect sales promotion idea for retailers selling hundreds of items because it could help sell faster.

Example:

Swanson Vitamins offers up to 50% off deals—but only for 24 hours. It’s a great promo to attract both new and existing customers.

Flash sales could work well if done on a set schedule. For example, your online store can have a flash sale once every one or two months depending on your preferences.

15. “Buy one, get one free” sale promotion

This promotional deal offers a free product if a customer buys one item. Brands use these campaigns to create a sense of urgency, boost ecommerce sales, or clear inventory.

Here’s an example of this type of sale promotion:

Flat Tummy Co. advertises a “buy one, get one free” offer with this message. The main value proposition is written in the biggest font to convey the meaning, and a compelling text motivates customers to act.

Note that the brand uses a countdown timer to increase customer engagement with this sale promotion example. If you’d like to add one, too, consider creating a timer popup for product pages to drive urgency.

Here’s what this campaign might look like.

And here’s the best part:

Such popups can generate up to 41% higher CVR than versions without the countdowns. That’s how powerful the sense of urgency can be when applied appropriately.

Most popup software allows adding countdown timers to popups. Find more info about how you can use them for sales: top-rated popup software for ecommerce websites.

16. Limited-time “buy two get two” promotion

“Let’s take the ‘buy one get one’ sale one step further!”

That’s what marketing folks at Blume probably thought when making their next storewide sale. Instead of giving away one free product, they’re giving two.

The result is this sales promotion example.

One thing customers like about this promotional deal: it’s a better value for the money. 

Paying a lower price is one of the most important things when it comes to getting the best value, so many customers could be enticed to buy.

17. Limited-time free shipping

Free shipping is a great way to increase ecommerce sales. 

Here’s why: 53% of online shoppers say that free delivery is the top reason why they decide to buy. That’s why customers see examples of sale promotions involving free shipping almost everywhere these days.

Here’s one of them:

EnChroma announces a free shipping promotion in this message. The brand also adds a sense of urgency by incorporating two fear factors: a two-day deadline and a text reminding customers that Father’s Day is approaching fast.

Ecommerce brands often use free shipping to increase sales and reduce shopping cart abandonment around holidays. Common places where they mention free shipping include abandoned shopping cart subject lines, email messages, website banners, and ads.

18. Membership reward promotion

What keeps shoppers loyal to brands?

Value for money.

Makes sense, right? Customers want the best possible deals, so businesses try to show that they have them.

Here’s how they are doing it.

In this sales promotion example, YakGrills uses a loyalty program to show how to get the best value.

One impressive thing about this promotional campaign example is the description. 

The text is super concise, benefit-oriented, and well-organized thanks to the bullet list structure, so customers can learn about the advantages in seconds. 

Related: Examples of effective loyalty programs

19. Birthday sale

Birthdays are an excellent reason to send a special discount coupon and help customers celebrate with some shopping. 

Many ecommerce sellers share such coupons via emails. Birthday emails perform amazingly well, generating 481% higher transaction rates and 342% higher revenues per message. That’s why many brands include birthday emails in their marketing campaigns.

Spalding, for example, shares this birthday sale promotion with 20% off any time:

So, a birthday sale promotion can be a nice treat for both the customer and the business. Try this technique, too, and share birthday discount coupons with customers to increase their engagement.

20. Sitewide sale

A sitewide sale promotion advertises a sale that includes all (or most) products in an online store. Businesses hold site-wide sales between seasons to sell out inventory or simply to increase their sales.

Here’s how Helm Boots informed customers about its sitewide sale. This promotion sample effectively conveys the message and encourages shopping by mentioning free shipping and returns.

What’s also intriguing about this sales promotional message example is the question. 

The last sentence of the text below the visuals asks customers: “What are you waiting for?” which encourages them to check out the deals.

21. Free sample

Offering a free sample means giving a customer a chance to try something when they’re likely to hesitate. This sales promotion is popular among online businesses selling complex products or subscription plans.

Here’s such a sales promotion example from Sundays For Dogs. This exit popup is located on the product page, so it’s shown to customers considering buying.

As you can see, the visitor can click the button to claim the free sample. Just like that, this sales promotion example helps the brand introduce their product to customers.

Where to share your sales promotions

The most effective channels for marketing sales promotions for online businesses are:

Marketing emails 👇

Also—

Homepage banners and bars 👇

Next—

Website popups 👇

And of course—

SMS messages 👇

And last but not least—

Paid ads 👇

Sales promotion tips for online businesses

The sales promotion examples we’ve reviewed gave us practical tips on how to market deals. 

Let’s summarize these tips and best practices:

• Offer real value. The value added to a product or service should be valuable enough to motivate and encourage customers to convert.

• Try free shipping. As mentioned, research shows that 53% of customers consider free delivery to be the top reason to buy.

• Define a goal for each promotion. Every sales promotion must be related to one or more marketing goals. A discount-based promotion, for example, can help increase short-term sales but undermines brand value if used long term.

• Create a sense of urgency or scarcity. These are two powerful techniques to increase customer engagement and conversions, so try them in promotional deals.

• Test different ways of presenting sales promotions. Consider sharing sales promotions with popups, on-site notifications, emails, text messages, sticky bars, and other marketing channels to see what customers respond to best.

Sales promotion examples: over to you!

Sales promotions can be powerful short-term tactical weapons for online businesses. Applying appropriate promotions to achieve marketing goals is an important consideration to make them generate conversions.

Again, the most commonly used sales promotions are product giveaways, various types of discounts, BOGO, B2GO, flash sales, product bundle offers, free shipping, and even pre-launch sales. Choosing one depends on your business and current sales strategy.

We hope these examples of successful sales promotions will give you a much better idea of how to use them effectively for your own business. No one says today’s market is easy—but that doesn’t mean that your marketing can’t be.

Pick a couple of ideas that complement your business style and put them to work for you. Good luck!