The origin of the Discounts

Online sale days is an excellent opportunity to make a beneficial purchase while relaxing on a couch. One of the main goals of occasional price reduction is to potentially drive more sales to your business and serve as a ploy to attract more new people to your store.

Origin of the first discounts

The trading process of primitive people was based on exchange. That's why they didn't use discounts. A new concept of reducing the price became popular when people decided to use the money for products and services they needed. The very first metal coins appeared in the 7th century BC. They were popular in a state called Lydia, in the western part of Asia Minor. The appearance of paper money happened in China in 910 BC.

Trademarks began to appear for the first time in England. After all, certain conditions are necessary to create a full-fledged brand. In 1876 England started an active process of trademark registration. Breweries were among the first, given the vast range of beer at that time.

In the CIS countries, the discount concept appeared only in the 1980s with the active popularisation of wholesale trade. The main goal of such a combination was to attract new consumers. The popularity of discounts began to gradually increase when sellers realized there was a direct dependence on the use of discounts and the growth of the profit of various enterprises and stores. Since the 1990s, companies in almost every country have actively used multiple discounts and promotions.

There are three primary purposes for using discounts:

1. Attracting new consumers; replenishing the client base.
2. Fast sale of necessary products.
3. Raising the overall ratings of the company.

Despite the active development of modern commerce, the target orientation of discounts remains unchanged. The logic of the process is easy as a pie. Initially, when using reduced prices in the store, the seller earns less, but as a result, the losses pay off with a massive flow of new customers and active purchases from regular customers.

The birth of the first sale

The first to coin the term was an American salesman, Frank Woolworth. In 1880, Frank worked in a store located in Pennsylvania. However, the young man was very taciturn and very shy. It wasn't customary to specify price tags for the goods then. The seller's task was to assess each buyer's solvency, offering everyone a different price for the goods. Therefore, bargaining was crucial in making a profitable deal for both parties.

As a result, the profit of the outlet's owner depended on the «skill» of the merchant. The store owner made Frank a condition: one day, he would sell the goods himself, and if the day's earnings were less than usual, he’ll fire the guy. Frank came up with a brilliant idea to reduce the amount of contact he had with the customers, so he came up with a price tag and concept of a sale. The young man collected all the unwanted goods on the shelves and put a sign near him: «All for 5 cents». As a result, buyers were immediately interested in such a proposal and could independently approach and consider the proposed product.

After this success, Frank decided to resign to open his own shop. Then, the merchant went even further and opened a whole network of shops with products for 5 cents. At the same time, Frank regularly sold out when it seemed that the initial consumer demand for goods was gradually diminishing.

It's a pity that there was no Internet, online stores on Magento 2 platform and such functional modules as Sale Category PRO! One can only imagine what stunning sales Frank or any other entrepreneur could have done with the ability to automate processes related to price changes.

The Magento 2 platform contains a handy admin panel for effective discount management. The store admin can add and remove products from the particular price category, thus controlling their display on the website. But, as you can imagine, this is still a very laborious and lengthy process. Moreover, manual processing of price updates contains a high chance of an error or an untimely information update.

provides a one-step solution for all Magento 2 stores! Our Sale Category PRO module is designed to control products automatically with active special prices. Admins don't need to add and remove products manually. With simple configuration, they'll set up predefined positions, configure which products shouldn't be shown, if a product is out of stock or has no image and more! Read about extension features in the article Sale category PRO extension for Magento 2.

Modern and established Internet trade has provided a new start for global sales development. It's an excellent opportunity for online stores to increase sales and market share. As a result of the use of all the advantages of mass sales, it is possible to eliminate the seasonal decrease in consumer demand for products, quickly sell «stale» positions in the online store, attract new customers, and get the desired cash-flow. After all, such companies are in dire need of both margin and constant inflow of money.

Sales and discounts in the online industry

As soon as the online sales industry began to gain popularity, all sales and discounts immediately appeared in online stores. Every year, online trading is gaining more and more momentum, marking a massive competition among retail and wholesale sellers. Of course, everyone tries to do everything possible to ensure their store receives the maximum profit.

According to OBERLO, in 2021, the number of digital buyers was 2.14 billion. That makes 27.6% of the 7.74 billion people in the world. And these numbers are constantly growing! This high popularity of online shopping is increasing because the buyer could stay at home and don’t waste their precious time in the store on physical search to purchase products. Now, to get acquainted with the product's characteristics, the terms of its purchase, and all promotions, customers can stay put. There's an opinion that you can buy a product at the most favourable cost on the Internet than in an offline environment.

In the case of a well-planned assortment during the organized online sale, absolutely all participants: buyers can save and at the same time get the desired product online, and the seller - increases sales and turnover. Thus, in most cases, sales refer to the situation as a "win-win". However, before buying, buyers should carefully analyze the benefit of such a purchase, carefully reacting to all offers marketers.

For all products to be on time to be located and withdrawn from sale, use the Sale Category PRO module for your Magento 2 store. You should consider about this module today because sooner or later, your online store may become so great that managing special prices manually will be unreal. So why wait if you can start taking advantage of the module today?

Wishing you a good luck with your sales and discounts!