Mastering How to Do a Sale on Shopify Efficiently

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Preparing Your Store for a Successful Sale
3. Choosing the Right Type of Sale for Your Business
4. The Technical Execution: How to Do a Sale on Shopify
5. Enhancing Your Sale with Digital Products
6. Maximizing Profitability with Upsells and Cross-Sells
7. Promoting Your Sale for Maximum Reach
8. Analyzing Post-Sale Data and Retention
9. Scaling Your Sales Strategy with Tevello
10. Creating a Sustainable Discount Strategy
11. Summary of Key Takeaways
12. FAQ

Introduction

Did you know that nearly 89% of modern shoppers report that inflation has fundamentally shifted their purchasing habits, forcing them to prioritize value and price comparisons more than ever before? This shift isn't just a challenge for merchants; it is a massive opportunity for those who understand the psychology of a well-timed promotion. Running a sale is not simply about slashing prices—it is about strategic inventory movement, customer acquisition, and maximizing the lifetime value of every person who visits your store. When you understand the mechanics of how to do a sale on Shopify, you transform your storefront from a static catalog into a dynamic, high-revenue engine.

The purpose of this guide is to provide a comprehensive roadmap for executing high-impact sales that go beyond temporary revenue spikes. We will explore how to prepare your inventory, choose the discount structures that preserve your margins, and leverage the technical tools within the Shopify ecosystem to automate the process. Furthermore, we will discuss how to integrate digital products and courses to create high-margin bundles that physical-only stores simply cannot match. At Tevello, our mission is to turn any Shopify store into a digital learning powerhouse, and we believe that the most successful sales are those that build long-term brand loyalty.

By the end of this post, you will have a clear, actionable strategy for launching sales that move products off the shelves while keeping your customers engaged on your own URL. The core thesis of this guide is that a successful Shopify sale is built on a foundation of clear objectives, seamless technical execution, and the strategic diversification of your product offerings.

Preparing Your Store for a Successful Sale

Before you ever click the "save" button on a new discount code, you must lay the groundwork. Jumping into a sale without preparation is one of the fastest ways to erode your brand's perceived value and frustrate your customer base. A sale should feel like an event, not a desperate attempt to fix a slow month.

Conducting a Comprehensive Inventory Audit

The first step in learning how to do a sale on Shopify is knowing exactly what you have to sell. You need to categorize your inventory into three distinct buckets:

1. Core Winners: These are your best-sellers. They usually don't need heavy discounts to move, but they can be used as "anchors" for bundles.
2. Slow-Movers: These items are taking up valuable warehouse space. They are the primary candidates for deep discounts or "Buy One, Get One" (BOGO) offers.
3. Seasonal Transitions: If you sell physical goods, you likely have products that need to clear out to make room for new arrivals.

For a merchant who sells premium art supplies, an inventory audit might reveal an overstock of specific watercolor palettes. Instead of just discounting the palettes, they could bundle them with a digital "Watercolor for Beginners" course. This approach clears physical inventory while introducing customers to the merchant's digital ecosystem. By using a flat-rate plan that supports unlimited members, the merchant can scale this strategy without worrying about rising overhead costs as the community grows.

Setting Measurable Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

You cannot manage what you do not measure. Before your sale goes live, define what "success" looks like. Is your goal to increase your Average Order Value (AOV), or are you more focused on New Customer Acquisition?

If your goal is to boost AOV, your sale structure should focus on thresholds (e.g., "Spend $100, get 20% off"). If your goal is customer acquisition, a "First Purchase" discount code might be more effective. Setting these goals early allows you to analyze your Shopify reports after the sale and determine if the promotion actually served your business's long-term health.

Choosing the Right Type of Sale for Your Business

Not every sale should look the same. The "how" of your sale depends heavily on your margins and your specific niche. Shopify provides several native ways to discount, and choosing the wrong one can lead to "discount fatigue" where customers refuse to buy unless there is a sale.

Percentage-Based Discounts

The "20% Off Everything" sale is a classic for a reason: it is incredibly easy for customers to understand. It works best for store-wide events like Black Friday or Cyber Monday. However, be cautious with high percentage discounts on low-margin items. If you are selling physical goods with high shipping costs, a 40% discount might actually result in a net loss per order.

Fixed Amount Discounts

A "$10 Off Your Order" promotion often feels more "tangible" to a customer than a percentage. This is particularly effective for lower-priced items where 10% might only represent a couple of dollars. Psychologically, "Ten Dollars" feels like a gift card, whereas "10%" feels like math.

Buy X, Get Y (BOGO)

BOGO sales are the ultimate tool for inventory clearance. They encourage customers to take more items off your hands, which reduces your storage costs. This is also a fantastic opportunity to introduce customers to your digital content. For example, a fitness equipment brand could offer "Buy a Kettlebell, Get Our 30-Day Strength Course Free." This adds massive perceived value without increasing shipping weight. To see how this looks in practice, you can explore all the key features for courses and communities that allow you to bundle digital and physical goods seamlessly.

The Technical Execution: How to Do a Sale on Shopify

Once you have your strategy, it is time to implement it within the Shopify admin. There are two primary ways to show a sale: changing the "Compare-at" price or creating a "Discount."

Setting Up the Compare-at Price

If you want your store to show a strikethrough price (e.g., $50.00 $35.00), you must use the Compare-at price field. This is the most effective visual way to communicate value on a product page.

To do this:

1. Navigate to Products in your Shopify admin.
2. Click on a product or variant.
3. In the Pricing section, set the Compare-at price to the original price.
4. Set the Price to the new, lower sale price.

This tells the Shopify theme to display the "Sale" badge. For merchants with thousands of SKUs, doing this manually is impossible. We recommend using bulk editing tools or CSV uploads to manage these changes. However, remember that changing the price directly affects your reports—Shopify will see the "Price" as the actual price of the item, not a temporary discount.

Creating Discount Codes vs. Automatic Discounts

Shopify allows you to create specific codes (like "SUMMER25") or automatic discounts that apply as soon as the criteria are met.

Discount Codes are excellent for marketing campaigns. They allow you to track the success of specific influencers or email segments. For example, how one brand sold $112K+ by bundling courses often involves using specific tracking codes to see which promotional channels are driving the most revenue.

Automatic Discounts, on the other hand, reduce friction. If a customer sees a "20% off at checkout" banner, they are more likely to complete the purchase because they don't have to remember a code. The limitation is that you can only have one automatic discount active at a time in the standard Shopify settings.

Enhancing Your Sale with Digital Products

One of the most effective ways to run a sale on Shopify without destroying your margins is to incorporate digital products. Physical products have "Cost of Goods Sold" (COGS), shipping fees, and potential for damage. Digital products, such as courses, memberships, or downloadable guides, have near-zero marginal costs.

The Barista Basics Scenario

Imagine a merchant selling specialty coffee beans. During a site-wide sale, they could offer 15% off their beans. However, to truly "turn their Shopify store into a digital learning powerhouse," they also offer a "Barista Basics" video course.

During the sale, they bundle the beans with the course. The customer feels they are getting a massive deal, but the merchant is actually increasing their margin because the digital course costs nothing to "ship" or produce for that specific customer. This is why we focus on helping merchants own their customer data and brand experience. By keeping the student on your own URL, you ensure they don't get distracted by other creators on a third-party marketplace.

To get started with this model, you can start your 14-day free trial and build your first course now. This allows you to build out your entire curriculum and see how it fits into your sales strategy before you ever pay a cent.

Maximizing Profitability with Upsells and Cross-Sells

If unifying your stack is a priority, start by a simple, all-in-one price for unlimited courses. This fixed cost structure allows you to focus on the most important part of a sale: the upsell.

A sale is the perfect time to implement "frequently bought together" sections. If a customer is buying a camera at a discount, that is the exact moment they are most likely to purchase a "Mastering Manual Mode" course. We've seen incredible results with this strategy, such as brands generating over €243,000 by upselling existing customers on digital content that complements their physical purchases.

Using Native Shopify Integration for Seamless Checkouts

One of the biggest conversion killers during a sale is a fragmented checkout experience. If a customer has to leave your site to access a course they just bought, you lose the opportunity for future sales. This is why our "Native Shopify Integration" is so critical. Because Tevello lives within the Shopify ecosystem, your customers use the same login for their physical orders as they do for their digital courses. This provides a unified login that reduces customer support friction and keeps your brand front and center.

Promoting Your Sale for Maximum Reach

You can have the best discount in the world, but if no one knows about it, your "how to do a sale on Shopify" strategy will fail. Promotion should be multi-channel and timed for maximum impact.

Email Marketing and SMS

Start teasing your sale 48 hours before it goes live. This builds anticipation. Your email list is your most valuable asset because you own that data. During the sale, send "Last Chance" reminders. These emails often drive more revenue than the initial announcement because they play on the "Fear of Missing Out" (FOMO).

Social Proof and Community Engagement

Leverage your existing community to spread the word. If you have a group of loyal customers, give them "Early Access" to the sale. This not only rewards loyalty but also ensures you have some initial sales momentum. Successful brands often use strategies for selling over 4,000 digital courses natively by turning their most successful students into brand ambassadors who share their progress on social media.

Paid Advertising

If you have the margin, Facebook and Google Ads can pour gasoline on a successful sale. Focus your ad spend on "Retargeting"—showing ads to people who have already visited your store but didn't buy. During a sale, the "20% off" message is often the final nudge they need to convert.

Analyzing Post-Sale Data and Retention

The sale doesn't end when the clock strikes midnight. The "post-sale" phase is where you turn a one-time discount shopper into a lifelong customer.

Increasing Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)

The goal of any sale should be to increase LTV. Once a customer has purchased from you, they are much easier to sell to a second time. Analyze your data to see which products had the highest "repeat purchase" rate.

We have observed merchants driving 50% of sales from repeat course purchasers. This is possible because digital products provide ongoing value. If someone buys a course during your sale, they will be logging back into your store for weeks or months to consume that content. Every time they log in, they see your new physical product arrivals. This creates a recurring revenue stability that physical products alone struggle to provide.

Handling Returns and Support

A massive influx of orders often leads to a massive influx of support tickets. This is another reason to keep everything native to Shopify. When your digital and physical products live in one ecosystem, your support team only has to look in one place to help a customer. You don't have to manage multiple platforms or troubleshoot sync issues between third-party apps.

Scaling Your Sales Strategy with Tevello

As your business grows, you need tools that grow with you without eating into your profits. Many platforms charge "success fees" or take a percentage of every sale you make. We believe that is your money. Whether you make $100 or $100,000 during your sale, you should keep what you earn.

That is why we offer predictable pricing without hidden transaction fees. Our Unlimited Plan is a flat $29.99 per month. This includes:

• Unlimited Courses and Students: Never worry about being "punished" for being successful.
• Unlimited Video Hosting: We handle the technical heavy lifting so your site stays fast even during high-traffic sales.
• Community Features: Build directories and social feeds to keep your customers engaged long after the sale is over.
• Drip Content and Quizzes: Automate the learning experience to provide value 24/7.

By implementing install Tevello from the Shopify App Store today, you are not just adding an app; you are adding a robust revenue stream that diversifies your business and builds brand loyalty.

Creating a Sustainable Discount Strategy

The final piece of the puzzle in learning how to do a sale on Shopify is sustainability. You cannot be on sale 365 days a year, or your "regular" price will lose all meaning.

The Anniversary Sale

Instead of random discounts, tie your sales to events. An "Anniversary Sale" feels like a celebration. A "Founder's Choice" sale feels personal. By giving your sale a "Why," you make the customer feel like they are part of a story, rather than just a transaction.

Leveraging the "Digital Powerhouse" Concept

Remember, your digital products can be on sale even when your physical products are not. Because digital goods have no inventory limits, you can run "Flash Sales" on a specific course to boost cash flow in the middle of a slow month without needing to coordinate with suppliers or shipping carriers. This flexibility is the secret weapon of the most successful Shopify merchants today.

Summary of Key Takeaways

Running a sale on Shopify is a multifaceted process that requires careful planning and the right technical tools. To recap the most important points:

• Preparation is Paramount: Conduct inventory audits and set clear KPIs before going live.
• Visual Value Matters: Use the "Compare-at" price to show customers exactly how much they are saving.
• Reduce Friction: Use automatic discounts where possible to create a seamless checkout experience.
• Diversify with Digital: Use courses and memberships to create high-margin bundles and increase LTV.
• Focus on the Long Term: A sale is an opportunity for customer acquisition and building brand loyalty, not just a quick cash grab.
• Keep it Native: Maintain your brand's integrity by keeping customers on your own URL and using integrated solutions.

At Tevello, we are committed to providing an all-in-one ecosystem where physical products and digital learning live side-by-side. Our goal is to empower you to own your brand experience and keep 100% of the revenue you work so hard to generate. By following this guide, you are well on your way to mastering the art of the Shopify sale and building a resilient, diversified e-commerce business.

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

FAQ

1. Does running a sale on Shopify affect my SEO? Running a sale itself doesn't directly hurt your SEO. In fact, the increased traffic and social signals can be beneficial. However, ensure that you aren't creating temporary "sale" pages that you delete later, as this can lead to 404 errors. Instead, use a permanent "Sale" collection and update the products within it.

2. Can I offer digital courses and physical products in the same Shopify sale? Yes! This is one of the most effective strategies for increasing margins. By using Tevello, your digital courses are treated as products within Shopify, allowing you to include them in automatic discounts, BOGO offers, and bundles just like any physical item.

3. How often should I run a sale on my Shopify store? While this depends on your niche, most successful stores stick to 4-6 major sale events per year. Over-discounting can train your customers to wait for a sale, which devalues your products and hurts your margins in the long run.

4. Do I need a separate app to manage my sales? For basic discounts, Shopify's native tools are excellent. However, if you want to scale your business by adding digital products, courses, or memberships without paying transaction fees, an app like Tevello is essential for managing the digital delivery and community aspects of your brand.