When conversion slows, the instinct is to reach for a discount.
An easy revenue boost when the anxiety of slipping sales sets in.
And the data seems to support it - 24% of consumers switched to more affordable products last year, meanwhile, prestige average selling prices barely moved. When people behave more price-sensitively, a lower price removes the objection.
It makes sense.
The Real Reason Consumers Are Hesitating
But what if the shift to more affordable options isn't actually about price?
According to PowerReviews' survey of 21,279 shoppers, 76% of consumers are now scrutinising products more carefully - climbing to 84% among Gen Z - but they aren't holding out for a better price. They're holding out for certainty.
Reading eleven reviews. Cross-referencing ingredients. Finding authentic before-and-afters from someone with the same skin concerns. Discounting doesn't remove any of that friction - it just charges less at the end of it.
Why Discount Codes Don't Close the Gap
The buying journey makes this more obvious. Cold prospects now take 20 or more touchpoints to convert. Warm leads - consumers who've already bought and had a good experience - convert in five to twelve. Discount codes don't close that gap.
What does: a prior purchase that went well, a review that addressed the right objection at the right moment, a piece of UGC that looked close enough to real to trust.
The Pricing Precedent Problem
There's a pricing precedent problem too. If a consumer's first experience with your brand is 20% off, that becomes the reference price. Full price becomes the premium she has to justify paying all over again.
The hesitation most brands are seeing right now isn't primarily a price problem. It's a certainty problem. And certainty doesn't come from a coupon code - it comes from building enough proof early enough that by the time a consumer reaches checkout, the question of whether this is worth it has already been answered.
What This Means For Your Email Marketing
If the real friction is certainty rather than price, your promotional strategy needs an overhaul. Instead of relying on weekly discount codes to drive revenue spikes, use segmentation to identify hesitant buyers and target them with high-trust content—like customer Q&As, founder stories, and detailed problem/solution frameworks.
A well-timed, value-driven email that builds certainty will protect your margins and frequently outperform a generic 20% off blast that trains your audience to wait for a sale.