by Eric Vissers
Why Discounting Should Be Your Last Resort, Not Your First Move
Sales are flat. The board wants results. And there, sitting in front of you, is this big red lever labeled “DISCOUNT” that promises instant gratification. It’s tempting. It’s easy. And honestly? It works—for about five minutes.
Here’s the thing nobody wants to talk about at the strategy meeting: you’re not solving a problem by discounting. You’re just borrowing sales from next month, maybe next quarter, and paying interest in the form of eroded margins and a customer base that now knows you’re the brand that caves when things get tough.
When Did We All Become Black Friday Junkies?
Black Friday used to be one day. Now it’s a season. Some brands start in October. Others stretch it through Christmas. And consumers? They’ve caught on. A UK consumer watchdog investigation found that only one in twenty Black Friday “deals” are actually genuine discounts. The rest are smoke and mirrors—the same prices you’d find any other time of year, just dressed up with urgency and countdown timers.
Marketing Week put it bluntly: these flash sale events cut into profit margins at what should be one of the most profitable times of year. Worse still, they discovered that Black Friday actually cannibalizes your December sales—the weeks that were supposed to be your big finale just become the cleanup act after everyone already bought at a discount in November.
So what started as a clever way to clear inventory has become an addiction. And like any addiction, it takes more and more of the drug to get the same high. Last year’s 20% off doesn’t excite anyone anymore. Now you need 40%, then 50%, then throw in free shipping and a gift with purchase just to get anyone to blink.
The Homework Nobody Wants to Do
Here’s where I’m going to sound like your least favorite teacher, but stay with me: before you touch that price lever, you need to do your homework. Not the fun homework where you look at competitor pricing and justify matching their desperation. The hard homework.
Start with the real question: why aren’t people buying at your current price?
Is it because they don’t know you exist? That’s a distribution problem, or a media problem, not a price problem. Discounting won’t fix that—it just means the few people who do find you will pay less.
Is it because they don’t understand the value? That’s a positioning problem, maybe a product problem. Dropping your price actually confirms their suspicion that it wasn’t worth the original price to begin with.
Is it because your product genuinely isn’t good enough to command the price you’re asking? Well, now we’re getting somewhere, but the answer isn’t to make it cheaper—it’s to make it better.
Or is it because your entire category is under pressure and consumers legitimately have less money to spend? Okay, that’s real. But even then, the smart move isn’t across-the-board discounting. P&G has proven year after year that you can raise prices during tough times if—and this is the key—you pair those increases with genuine innovation and brand building. They’ve made pricing a core part of their growth strategy for 18 of the last 19 years. Not discounting. Pricing up.
The Brand Tax You're Paying
Every time you discount, you’re not just giving away margin. You’re teaching customers something dangerous: your “real” price is the sale price. Everything else is a sucker’s price for people who didn’t wait.
This is how you end up like those fashion retailers where nobody buys anything full price anymore. The entire relationship becomes about gaming the system, waiting for the next promotion, signing up for emails just to get the 20% off code. You’ve trained an army of deal hunters who have zero loyalty and will vanish the moment someone offers 25% instead of 20%.
Marketing Week documented this perfectly when they noted that discounting too much throughout the year means people only buy when stuff is on sale. The consultants call it “promotional dependency.” I call it shooting yourself in the foot and then wondering why running hurts.
So What's The Alternative?
I know, I know. You still have that sales target. The business still needs to grow. So if not discounting, then what?
First, exhaust every other lever. And I mean every other lever:
Have you actually told your story properly? Not just to your existing customers, but to the people who should be customers but don’t know you exist yet? Most brands massively underinvest in reach because they’re obsessed with optimization and efficiency. But you can’t optimize your way to growth if nobody knows who you are.
Are you making it easy to buy? I don’t mean one-click checkout (though sure, that helps). I mean: are you where your customers are? Is your distribution strategy stuck in 2015? Are you still trying to do everything direct-to-consumer when maybe retail would unlock a whole new audience?
Have you looked at your product or service and honestly asked if it’s good enough? Not “good enough to exist” but “good enough that someone would actively choose us over alternatives.” Because if the answer is no, discounting is just putting lipstick on a pig.
What about your messaging? Sometimes the problem isn’t the price—it’s that you’re talking about features when customers care about outcomes. Or you’re being clever when you should be clear. Or you’re trying to be everything to everyone and ending up as nothing to anyone.
When Discounting Actually Makes Sense
I’m not completely against discounting. I’m against lazy discounting. There are scenarios where it’s smart:
You need to clear genuinely old inventory to make room for something new. Fine. Just be honest about it and don’t make it a regular thing.
You’re launching something new and need to lower the barrier to trial. Okay, but call it a “trial offer” or “introductory pricing,” not a “sale.” And make damn sure you have a plan for when the training wheels come off.
You’re using it strategically with existing customers to reward loyalty and increase lifetime value. Sure, but make it feel exclusive, not desperate. And never, ever discount to win new customers while your loyal ones pay full price—that’s how you lose the only people who actually care about you.
You’re in a category where discounting is expected and opting out would be strategic suicide. Sometimes you gotta dance with the devil. But do it smart: focus on bundling rather than straight discounts, offer added value instead of cutting prices, and whatever you do, don’t train your customers to wait for the sale.
The Bottom Line
Price is powerful. It’s probably the most powerful lever you have. But powerful things are dangerous when used carelessly.
Every time you discount, ask yourself: am I solving the actual problem, or am I just masking a symptom? Am I building long-term value, or am I mortgaging next quarter for this quarter’s results? Am I investing in my brand’s future, or am I slowly teaching the market that my products aren’t worth what I claim they’re worth?
Do the homework. Try everything else first. And when you do discount, do it strategically, sparingly, and with a clear understanding of what you’re trading and why.
Because the Red Lever is easy. It’s just not smart.
