Last Friday, June 17th, was my 31st birthday and on that day we broke our single day sales record for walk in love. Previously, our single day sales record was just over $24,000 and was achieved on Cyber Monday 2015. This past Friday, however, we did just under $28,000 in sales in a 24 hour period. It was incredible! And exactly what I wanted for my 31st birthday! If you are a first time reader of this blog you might be surprised that I share our exact dollar sales number. I find that transparency is a stronger teaching tool than ambiguity. You could end up on this post and think to yourself from the title, "Well what if the single day sales record was only $100 and he broke it by selling $101 worth of product?" I share the actual numbers as a way to show you that the advice I am about to give you might be worth taking, because our sales for a single day of selling t-shirts are pretty good. I love helping businesses, so if my advice helps you break your sales record of $100 to $101 on your birthday, that is awesome! If your numbers are higher than ours, and some of these tips work, then great! Don't get caught up in comparing your single day sales records to ours. Compare yours to yours. Again, the only reason I share the actual dollar amounts is to show that I have had some success and hopefully sharing that succsess will help you have the same!
So, here is how we used my birthday to set our single day sales record.
1. We Set a Precedent.
For the past few years we have always had a special sale on my birthday. Up until this year it was always the percentage off of the age I was turning. So, last year it was 30% off (because I turned 30), and we had a great day of sales, around $8,500. The reason I like "the birthday sale" is that you don't really have to compete with anyone else for sales. Every Black Friday we are competing with every other company in the world. Same with Christmas time, back to school, Memorial Day, etc. But on my birthday there really aren't any other sales going on with other companies. So, if we have a great one day sale on this "random" day in June, people might be more inclined to jump in because they aren't being bombarded with sales and offers from everywhere else. This was the 3rd or 4th year we've done the birthday sale, and I don't know if people ever wait for it but they might start to! This year, on your birthday, try to figure out a clever sale you can do based on the age you are turning. Start this year and maybe in a few years you will be breaking your single day sales record as well.
2. We Have The Sale On My ACTUAL BIRTHDAY!
Birthdays are awesome! People love to celebrate them. Ask any parent if they are going to have a birthday party for their kid and the answer is almost always YES! It's exciting to celebrate the day someone came into this world. It brings back memories of your best birthdays, your friends birthdays, your kids birthdays. You will always be able to find a few Debbie Downers who hate on birthdays, but for the most part birthdays conjure up feelings of excitement and joy! The birthday sale taps into those feelings and that ultimately leads to more sales. Someone who is, say, on the fence about buying a t-shirt might be more inclined to buy one on my actual birthday, because they are now doing it for themselves and also kind of for me. Just like a real birthday party, it's for the person celebrating their birthday and it's also for everyone they invited. The birthday sale was for me, but it was also for everyone we invited, which were all our current and potential customers via social, e-mail and our promoted Facebook post.
3. We Made The Sale Too Good To Pass Up!
A big part of the record breaking day was that we gave one of the biggest discounts we've ever given. We made all tees or tanks 2 for $31. The age I was turning! So clever, right?!? That is honestly the best deal we've ever had, so we could have probably done that any ole day and had success, but I think tying it into the birthday gave it some extra umphf! I knew that after last year with a 30% discount we were finished doing a "percentage off for the age I was turning" and we would have to shift the sale idea to something else. We threw around a bunch of ideas, but landed on the 2 tees/tanks for $31. If you want people to get on board with celebrating a birthday sale, make the deal extra special. Since it's only 1 day they will be more likely to pull the trigger and buy. The fact that we were pushing it out all day as a ONE DAY ONLY sale wasn't as annoying because birthdays are only ever one day. It pushed people to act fast without actually being pushy, because a one day birthday sale just makes sense.
4. We Set Ourselves Up Well.
Recently, we switched from Shopify to Shopify Plus. Shopify Plus is geared toward e-commerce sites that do over $500,000 in sales a year. They provide extra services and account management, which you don't get with regular Shopify. The best part of Shopify Plus is that they offer a feature called "scripts", giving you the ability to run sales and have deals that are automatically calculated without discount codes. So, when were planning this sale we realized that we wanted to simplify it for our customers. We didn't want to require a discount code, nor did we even know how we would make a discount code that would work correctly. If someone added a $28 and $25 shirt to their cart, how would one code make them each $15.50? It wouldn't. So, we needed Shopify Plus to make that happen. It's pricier than normal Shopify Plus, but it already paid off in one sale. We even received a few texts and messages from friends and fans of walk in love. saying, "It was so cool that my cart just knew how much to discount!" We agree, it was super cool!
5. It's Authentic.
Anytime people ask me what I want for a birthday or Christmas I say, "I want you to buy all your birthday gifts or Christmas gifts for other people at walk in love." I really have more than I will ever need and I really just want my business to be successful. I want to turn my company into a multi-million dollar business. So, I really mean it when I say something like, "Get me a birthday gift by buying yourself a t-shirt." And those people who have been following our company, or Brooke and I, can see that. We aren't these fake people just trying to make a quick buck. We are invested in what we do and I think our authenticity shines through. Without that authenticity, a great sale to celebrate my birthday would fall flat. Be authentic in what you do. It's easy to see right through it if you aren't.
I know the birthday sale isn't for everyone and if it's not for you, no biggie. But, if it is for you I hope that you take some of my tips to heart and start the birthday sale precedent this year. Who knows? In a few years you might be breaking your single day sales record, which if you are a business owner, is really the best birthday gift ever!
To all who purchased on my birthday, THANK YOU! It was amazing and I can't say thank you enough. I am honored to have so many customers believe in what I do and purchase products from walk in love. I love seeing the posts on Instagram of you wearing shirts and the Snapchats you send me of you walking to your mailbox to get your package! It makes me so happy!