How to Put Items on Sale in Shopify to Grow Revenue

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Preparing Your Store for a Successful Sale
3. Method 1: The "Compare at Price" Technique
4. Method 2: Automatic Discounts
5. Method 3: Discount Codes for Targeted Marketing
6. The Tevello Advantage: Selling Knowledge Natively
7. Highlighting Sale Items for Maximum Visibility
8. Maximizing Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) Through Sales
9. Tracking and Adjusting Your Sale Performance
10. Practical Scenario: The "Barista Basics" Strategy
11. Technical Checklist for Your Shopify Sale
12. Post-Sale Follow-Up: Turning Buyers into Fans
13. Building a Sustainable E-commerce Ecosystem
14. Conclusion
15. FAQ

Introduction

Did you know that according to recent e-commerce studies, over 60% of online shoppers seek out a discount before making a purchase? In the high-stakes world of digital commerce, the ability to pivot quickly and offer a compelling sale is often the difference between a stagnant warehouse and a thriving brand. For many merchants, the idea of "on sale" conjures images of clearance bins and thin margins, but when executed strategically, a sale is a powerful engine for building customer lifetime value (LTV). Whether you are clearing out physical stock or launching a new digital masterclass, understanding the technical and psychological nuances of discounting is essential.

At Tevello, our mission is to turn any Shopify store into a digital learning powerhouse. We believe that merchants should have the tools to diversify their revenue without the complexity of juggling multiple platforms. This blog post will serve as your roadmap for mastering the Shopify sales environment. We will cover the tactical steps of setting up discounts, the strategic advantages of combining physical and digital goods, and the best practices for maintaining healthy margins.

By the end of this guide, you will understand how to put items on sale in Shopify to not only move inventory but also to foster a loyal community that sees your brand as a continuous source of value. We’ll explore how to leverage all the key features for courses and communities to create irresistible offers that keep your customers coming back long after the sale ends.

Preparing Your Store for a Successful Sale

Before you click a single button in your Shopify admin, you must lay the groundwork. A sale without a plan is just a price cut; a sale with a plan is a growth strategy. Preparation prevents common pitfalls like overselling stock, confusing your customers, or eroding your brand equity.

Inventory Audit and Selection

The first step in learning how to put items on sale in Shopify is deciding what actually needs to be discounted. Not every product is a candidate for a sale. You should look for:

• Slow-moving stock: Items that have been sitting in your warehouse for more than 90 days.
• Seasonal transitions: Products that are about to become irrelevant due to changing weather or holidays.
• High-margin "Gateway" products: Items that are cheap to produce but have high perceived value, perfect for attracting new customers into your ecosystem.

For merchants branching into the digital space, this is where digital products that live directly alongside physical stock become a massive advantage. Unlike physical goods, digital products—like a "Quick Start Guide" or a "Maintenance Masterclass"—have no inventory costs. You can put them on sale at 50% off and still maintain a nearly 100% profit margin, making them the perfect "sweetener" for physical product sales.

Setting Clear KPIs

What does success look like for this sale? If you don’t define it, you can’t measure it. Common goals include:

1. Customer Acquisition: Are you willing to break even on the first sale to gain a new customer?
2. Average Order Value (AOV) Boost: Using "Buy X Get Y" sales to encourage shoppers to add more to their cart.
3. Revenue Stability: Creating recurring revenue through memberships or subscriptions.

By setting these goals early, you can choose the right discounting method within Shopify to achieve them.

Method 1: The "Compare at Price" Technique

The most common way to put items on sale in Shopify is by using the "Compare at price" feature. This is what creates the "strikethrough" effect on your product pages, showing customers exactly how much they are saving. It is highly effective because it provides immediate visual feedback and reinforces the value of the deal.

Manual Price Updates

For a small boutique or a merchant launching a single digital course, manual updates are the simplest route.

1. Navigate to Products in your Shopify admin.
2. Select the product you wish to discount.
3. In the Pricing section, set the Price to your new, lower sale price.
4. Set the Compare at price to the original, higher price.
5. Save the changes.

The beauty of this method is its simplicity. If you are a fitness coach selling a "30-Day Transformation" course, seeing the price drop from $99 to $49 right on the product page creates a powerful psychological trigger.

Bulk Editing for Large Collections

If you have dozens or hundreds of items, manual updates are impractical. Shopify’s bulk editor is your best friend here.

1. Go to Products and select all the items you want to put on sale.
2. Click Bulk edit.
3. Add the Compare at price and Price columns to your view.
4. Update the fields for all selected products simultaneously.

This method is ideal for "flash sales" where you might want to discount an entire collection for 24 hours. If unifying your stack is a priority, start by a simple, all-in-one price for unlimited courses.

Method 2: Automatic Discounts

Automatic discounts are a merchant’s secret weapon for reducing cart abandonment. Because they are applied automatically at checkout, they remove the "friction" of the customer having to find and remember a code.

Types of Automatic Discounts

Shopify allows you to create several types of automatic discounts:

• Percentage Off: Great for store-wide "Black Friday" style events.
• Fixed Amount: Effective for "Spend $100, Get $20 Off" promotions.
• Buy X Get Y (BOGO): Excellent for clearing inventory or introducing customers to new product lines.

Setting the Logic

When you set up an automatic discount, you can specify eligibility requirements. For example, you might only offer the discount if the customer spends a certain amount or buys a specific combination of items.

Consider a merchant selling specialized coffee beans. By offering an automatic discount on their "Home Barista Video Course" when a customer purchases a three-month subscription of beans, they are providing massive value while increasing their recurring revenue. This is a prime example of generating revenue from both physical and digital goods in a single transaction.

Method 3: Discount Codes for Targeted Marketing

While automatic discounts are great for everyone, discount codes allow for personalization and exclusivity. Codes can be shared via email marketing, social media influencers, or hidden in physical packages as a "thank you" for a first-time purchase.

Creating High-Impact Codes

To create a discount code:

1. Navigate to Discounts > Create discount.
2. Choose Amount off products or Amount off order.
3. Generate a code name (e.g., WELCOME20 or VIPACCESS).
4. Set the discount value and the active dates.

The "0% transaction fee" advantage of Tevello means that when you use these codes for your digital courses, you aren't losing a cut to a third-party learning management system. You keep the full amount of the discounted sale price, which is a significant factor in securing a fixed cost structure for digital products.

Rewarding Loyalty

Discount codes are the perfect tool for re-engaging customers who haven't purchased in a while. By looking at your Shopify analytics, you can identify "lapsed" customers and send them a unique 15% off code. This strategy is vital for driving 50% of sales from repeat course purchasers, as it keeps your brand top-of-mind.

The Tevello Advantage: Selling Knowledge Natively

At Tevello, we believe that the traditional way of selling digital products—redirecting customers to a third-party site—is fundamentally flawed. When you redirect a customer, you lose control of the brand experience and the data. This is why we created a solution that keeps customers on your own URL, creating a "Native Shopify Integration" that feels seamless.

Why Native Matters for Sales

When you put an item on sale, you want the transition from "product page" to "checkout" to "accessing the content" to be as fast as possible. If a customer buys a course on sale and then has to wait for a separate login email from a different website, the excitement of the purchase is lost.

With our platform, the customer uses the same Shopify account they already have. They buy the course, and it immediately appears in their member area, right on your store. This is how brands are migrating over 14,000 members and reducing support tickets while scaling their sales efforts.

Unlimited Growth Without Hidden Fees

One of the biggest hurdles in scaling a Shopify sale is the "success tax" that many apps charge. If you run a massive sale and bring in 1,000 new students, some platforms will take a percentage of every single transaction.

We reject that model. Our Unlimited Plan is just $29.99 per month with 0% transaction fees. Whether you sell one course or ten thousand, your costs remain predictable. This allows you to be more aggressive with your sales and discounts, knowing that your profit margins are protected. To see how this works in practice, you can install Tevello from the Shopify App Store today and start building your curriculum.

Highlighting Sale Items for Maximum Visibility

Knowing how to put items on sale in Shopify is only half the battle; the other half is making sure your customers actually see those items. If a sale happens in the middle of a forest and no one is there to click "Add to Cart," does it even make a sound?

Banners and Home Page Real Estate

Your homepage should be the "command center" for your sale. Use high-quality banners that clearly state:

• What the discount is (e.g., Up to 40% Off).
• What is included (e.g., The Digital Fitness Collection).
• When the sale ends (to create a sense of urgency).

Social Proof and Community Engagement

Modern shoppers trust other shoppers more than they trust brands. Use your community features to highlight student success during the sale. If you are selling a course, show a feed of your community members hitting milestones. This social proof is a powerful motivator for people on the fence.

By utilizing strategies for selling over 4,000 digital courses natively, you can create a virtuous cycle where sales lead to community growth, and community growth leads to more sales.

Maximizing Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) Through Sales

A common mistake is viewing a sale as a one-time event. Instead, view it as the "top of the funnel" for a much longer relationship.

Upselling with Tevello

When a customer buys a discounted physical product, that is the perfect moment to offer a digital upsell.

• Example: A merchant selling high-end cameras puts a specific lens on sale. At checkout, they offer a "Mastering the Wide-Angle Lens" video course for an additional $19.
• The Result: The customer gets immediate value on how to use their new gear, and the merchant increases their profit margin on the total order.

This approach is highly effective for generating over €243,000 by upselling existing customers. By keeping everything within the Shopify ecosystem, you can track which physical products correlate most strongly with digital course sales, allowing you to refine your strategy over time.

Drip Content and Retention

Once someone has purchased your course on sale, use Tevello’s drip content feature to keep them engaged. Instead of giving them everything at once, schedule lessons to be released over several days or weeks. This keeps the customer returning to your store regularly, increasing the likelihood that they will see other products and make a second or third purchase.

Tracking and Adjusting Your Sale Performance

A sale is a living thing. You should be monitoring your Shopify analytics dashboard daily to see what is working and what isn't.

Key Metrics to Watch

1. Conversion Rate: If a lot of people are visiting the sale page but not buying, your discount might not be deep enough, or your product descriptions might need work.
2. Average Order Value (AOV): If your AOV is lower than usual, try adding a "Bundle and Save" option.
3. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): Compare how much you spent on ads for the sale versus the revenue generated.

Shopify’s native analytics provide a wealth of data. Because Tevello is a native integration, all your course sales show up right alongside your physical sales, giving you a unified view of your business performance. You can see how brands converted 15% of challenge participants by looking at how users move from a free or discounted entry-level product into a high-ticket membership.

Practical Scenario: The "Barista Basics" Strategy

Let’s look at how a real-world merchant might put these principles into action. Imagine a store called "Peak Roast," which sells premium coffee beans and brewing equipment.

The Challenge: Peak Roast has an excess of "French Press" brewers in stock and wants to clear them out before the holiday season.

The Strategy:

1. The Discount: They set a "Compare at price" for the French Press, dropping it from $45 to $29.
2. The Digital Add-on: They use Tevello to create a "French Press Perfection" video course, which normally sells for $20.
3. The Bundle: They create an automatic discount: "Buy a French Press and get the 'French Press Perfection' course for FREE."
4. The Result: The merchant clears their physical inventory. Because the digital course has zero fulfillment costs, they have effectively added $20 of "perceived value" to the sale for $0 of actual cost.
5. The Long-Term Gain: The customer now has a member login for "Peak Roast." They are more likely to return to buy beans because they are already engaged with the brand’s digital content.

This is the power of unifying a fragmented system into a single Shopify store. Instead of being "just another coffee shop," Peak Roast has become a destination for both equipment and education.

Technical Checklist for Your Shopify Sale

To ensure your sale goes off without a hitch, follow this technical checklist:

• Check Inventory Levels: Ensure you have enough physical stock to meet the expected demand.
• Verify Mobile Responsiveness: Most shoppers will browse your sale on their phones. Ensure your banners and product pages look great on mobile.
• Test Your Discount Codes: Place a test order using your own codes to ensure the math is working correctly.
• Sync Your Digital Content: Ensure your Tevello courses are properly linked to the products you are discounting.
• Set a Flat Rate for Growth: Ensure you are on a flat-rate plan that supports unlimited members so your costs don't spike with your success.

Post-Sale Follow-Up: Turning Buyers into Fans

What happens after the "Sale Ended" banner comes down? This is where many merchants lose momentum, but it's actually where the real work begins.

The "Thank You" Sequence

Send an automated email to everyone who purchased during the sale. Don't just send a receipt; send a "Welcome to the Community" message. If they bought a course, give them a direct link to their student dashboard.

Collecting Feedback

Use the period after the sale to ask for reviews. Positive reviews on your course or your physical products will help drive the next sale. Since our app allows for retention strategies that drive repeat digital purchases, use this time to ask customers what they want to learn next. This feedback loop is the blueprint for your next digital product.

Offering a "Next Step"

For those who bought an entry-level item on sale, offer them a discount on your "Advanced" course or a monthly membership. This transition from "one-time sale buyer" to "recurring member" is the most effective way to build a sustainable, resilient business.

Building a Sustainable E-commerce Ecosystem

Running a sale in Shopify is about more than just lowering prices. It’s about understanding the value you provide to your customers and finding the most effective way to deliver that value. By combining physical products with the "digital learning powerhouse" capabilities of Tevello, you are not just selling items—you are selling a transformation.

Whether you are just starting out or you are a seasoned merchant looking to diversify, our platform provides the tools you need to succeed without the hidden fees and technical headaches of other systems. We are committed to an all-in-one ecosystem where physical products, digital courses, and community engagement live side-by-side.

Remember, every sale is an opportunity to learn more about your customers. Use the data you gather to refine your products, improve your marketing, and build a brand that stands the test of time. With predictable pricing without hidden transaction fees, you can focus on what matters most: creating incredible content and products for your audience.

Conclusion

Mastering how to put items on sale in Shopify is a fundamental skill for any e-commerce entrepreneur. From the visual impact of "Compare at" pricing to the strategic depth of automatic discounts and digital bundling, these tools allow you to control your inventory and your revenue. By integrating digital products into your sales strategy, you can protect your margins and build deeper, more meaningful connections with your audience.

At Tevello, we are here to support your journey every step of the way. Our platform is designed to give you the freedom to own your data, your brand, and your customer relationships. We provide a robust, native solution that ensures your store remains your customers' home, not just a stop along the way to a third-party platform.

Ready to transform your Shopify store into a revenue-generating education hub? You can start your 14-day free trial and build your first course now to see the difference for yourself. Remember, with our Unlimited Plan, you get 0% transaction fees and the ability to scale to infinity without your costs scaling with you.

To build your community without leaving Shopify, start by reviewing the Shopify App Store listing merchants install from.

FAQ

How do I offer a free digital course with a physical product purchase?

The most efficient way to do this is by setting up an Automatic Discount in your Shopify admin. Choose the "Buy X Get Y" discount type. Set "Customer Buys" to the physical product and "Customer Gets" to the digital course at 100% off. Because Tevello integrates natively, once the checkout is complete, the customer will automatically have access to the course in their member area on your store.

Can I run a sale on digital products and physical products at the same time?

Yes, absolutely. Since Tevello lives directly inside your Shopify store, your digital courses are treated like any other product. You can use the Bulk Editor to update the "Compare at price" for both your physical gear and your digital content simultaneously, or create a discount code that applies to your entire catalog.

Will putting my courses on sale affect my transaction fees?

Not with Tevello. Unlike many other course platforms that take a "success fee" (often 5% to 10% of every sale), we charge 0% transaction fees. Whether you sell your course for its full price of $200 or a sale price of $20, you keep 100% of the revenue. Your only cost is our simple, flat-rate monthly subscription.

How do I notify my customers about a new sale?

We recommend a multi-channel approach. Start by placing an announcement banner on your Shopify homepage. Then, use an email marketing tool (like Shopify Email or Klaviyo) to send a dedicated announcement to your list. Finally, leverage the community features within your member area to announce the sale to your existing students, perhaps offering them an exclusive "early access" discount code as a reward for their loyalty.