How to sell smarter during mid-season sales

Discover exclusive insights and in-depth advice to help you reach your end-of-financial year targets.

Mid-season sales are fast approaching, offering retailers and merchants a valuable opportunity to inject fresh energy into their business.

For shoppers, the June sales are a chance to pick up a bargain. For retailers, it’s the perfect opportunity to drive sales, reach new customers or reengage lapsed shoppers.

Last year, more than 402,000 Afterpay customers shopped the mid-season sales in New Zealand, and nearly half spent with a small-to-medium-sized business – making this the perfect opportunity for small business owners to spark customer interest and boost revenue.

Set a clear objective

When it comes to the mid-season sales, it’s important to set a clear campaign objective from the outset, says retail and e-commerce growth consultant Salena Knight. Knight suggests asking yourself: “Is it revenue? Is it profit? Is it clearing stock or customer acquisition? Because you can use [mid-year] sales for all those things, but they all have different strategies.”

For example, while a merchant who wants to drive customer acquisition might launch a storewide discount amplified by a paid social media campaign, businesses that are aiming to increase revenue might focus on tactics to boost basket size.

Match your goals to your game plan

To drive customer acquisition consider strong, persuasive discounts, including on hero products, and amplify your campaign via paid advertising.
To clear inventory offer attractive discounts, especially for slow-moving or seasonal stock, and use language that emphasises urgency and scarcity (such as “final clearance” and “last chance”).
To increase profit focus on boosting basket size by upselling, cross-selling, bundling and tiered discounts, where customers receive bigger discounts for spending more.

Craft offers that benefit both the customer – and you

Don’t just slash prices. Take the time to consider your profit margins and goals and set a mid-season sale strategy that increases revenue while still retaining profit.

Consider bundles, gift with purchase offers or tiered “buy-more, save-more” offers to increase average order value. Knight also recommends considering offering exclusive content in place of a discount.

For example, a clothing company might offer styling videos or personalised products, while a fabric store might offer sewing tutorials. “It’s about giving your customers something exclusive, which differentiates you from the bigger department stores and brands.”

Understand your customer

Mid-season sales differ from other retail periods. Unlike the festive season, when gift-buying drives many purchases, mid-year sale shoppers are primarily seeking great deals. "Customers are often purchasing larger items they've wanted for some time, or essentials they 'need' rather than 'want'," says Knight, noting that many have researched their purchases weeks or even months in advance.

When planning your marketing and sales strategy, it's important to view the experience through your customers' eyes. Are they updating their winter wardrobe? Taking advantage of sale season to stock up on essentials? Understanding these motivations should shape the way you communicate and position your offers.

Leverage last year’s data

Last year’s data is a great place to start for this year’s mid-season sales strategy. Look back on previous sales emails and social media posts to identify which ones performed the best and worst, and analyse why. Similarly, check which search terms led customers to your website and consider ways to optimise for these terms.

Also consider leveraging data to segment your audience into lapsed versus loyal and high-spending versus bargain-hunters, and tailor your message to each audience.

Spread the word

Mid-season sale shoppers can’t spend with you if they don’t know about your promotion. Amplify your sale by promoting it across all your platforms, including social media, and email – and, if your target audience is younger shoppers, consider piggybacking off fast-growing social media trends, whether that’s a popular dance on TikTok, a new trending sound or hashtag.

And don’t forget to submit the details of your mid-season offer here so we can feature it on Afterpay’s Shop Directory.

The mid-season sales can be a crowded, noisy space, and paid amplification is one way to help you stand out. Consider hiring influencers, paid search or social media advertising to get your offer in front of more customers. SMS marketing is another way to emphasise urgency.

Be consistent

Mid-season sale shoppers tend to be omnichannel shoppers; many customers research online before heading in-store to purchase and vice versa, so it’s important to ensure that your messaging is consistent across every channel. Consider investing in mid-season-sale-specific landing pages or home-page banners so shoppers can easily find your promotion.

Tip: Did you know that you can create a range of social media posts, emails and website banners quickly and easily using our free templates? Download the templates here, and make amplifying your offer easier than ever.

Don’t forget to include Afterpay in your social media posts, so customers know they take advantage of your mid-season offer and pay in instalments. It could be enough to close the deal.

Don’t forget to debrief

It’s important to think beyond the immediate sale period and ensure that you’re collecting contact details and data on any new customers so you can retarget them later in the year.

It’s equally important to take time after your sale has finished to reflect on what worked and didn’t work this year. “Few promotions ever the way that you expect them to. Sometimes they work better than you thought. Sometimes they don’t,” says Knight. “So, spend some time reviewing what worked, what didn't and what you could change in the future. Anything that you get data from will help you to improve campaigns moving forward.”

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