Summer is a slow stretch for many online stores. People are travelling, spending time outside and paying less attention to their inboxes. The reflex is to run a sitewide sale to keep orders coming in. Sometimes that works. Often it brings in orders that barely cover their costs, and trains your customers to wait for the next one.

This guide shows how to plan a summer promotion that brings in revenue and protects profit, using simple math and a few targeting habits.

First, do the margin math

Before choosing a discount, you need to know how much extra you have to sell to make it worth it. Here’s the key idea: a discount comes entirely out of your margin, not your revenue.

Let’s use hypothetical numbers. Say a product sells for $50 and costs you $30 to make, pack and ship. Your margin is $20, or 40%.

A 20% discount on a 40% margin product means you need to double your unit sales just to stand still. A 30% discount needs four times the sales. Most small stores don’t see that kind of lift from a summer promotion.

Run this calculation for your own bestsellers. It takes ten minutes with a spreadsheet and it’ll change how you think about the size of the discount.

Pick a clear goal for the sale

“Get more sales” isn’t specific enough. Different goals need different promotions:

• Clear old stock. You want specific products gone before new stock arrives. Deeper discounts on those items only can make sense.
• Acquire new customers. You’ll accept lower margin on a first order because you expect repeat purchases.
• Reactivate lapsed customers. A targeted offer for people who haven’t bought in a while.
• Raise order size. You want customers to add more to the cart rather than pay less for the same.
• Keep cash flowing through a slow month. Modest, broad offers that bring forward purchases.

Write the goal down. It determines who sees the offer, which products are included and what kind of discount you use.

Discount types that protect margin

A percentage off everything is only one option. Many alternatives cost less or earn more.

Spend thresholds

“$10 off orders over $75” or “Free shipping over $60.” The customer has to add more to qualify, so average order value tends to rise. Set the threshold somewhat above your current average order value so most customers need to add at least one more item.

Gift with purchase

A free item worth a certain retail price costs you only its unit cost. A tote bag that retails at $15 might cost you a few dollars. Shoppers often value a tangible extra more than an equivalent discount.

Bundles

Pair a bestseller with a slower item at a combined price. The bundle price can be lower than buying both separately while still protecting margin, because the slow item moves and your packing and shipping cost is shared across two products.

Tiered or bulk discounts

“Buy 2, save 10%. Buy 3, save 15%.” Useful for consumables and gifts. Our guide to WooCommerce bulk discounts covers the setup.

Store credit for the next order

“Spend $60 today, get $10 to use in September.” You defer the cost and create a reason for a second purchase. Some customers won’t redeem it, but don’t plan on that. See our article on WooCommerce store credit.

Limited product discounts

Discount selected items (overstock, last season’s colours, discontinued lines) instead of the whole catalog. Your bestsellers keep full margin.

Who should see which offer

The same discount shown to everyone gives money away to people who would have bought anyway. Targeting fixes a lot of that.

On your site, popup targeting rules can make this practical. You can show one offer to first-time visitors, another to returning visitors, and nothing at all to people already in checkout. By email, use segments based on purchase history. Tools like iConvert Promoter handle the on-site side with rules for page, device, visit count and exit intent.

Build a summer promotion calendar

A single two-week sale is fine, but a small calendar of focused offers often performs better and avoids the “always on sale” feeling. An example plan for a small store:

1. Early July, week 1: Early access for subscribers to a clearance collection. No discount on bestsellers.
2. Mid-July, week 3: Spend threshold offer sitewide: “Free gift over $70.”
3. Late July, week 4: Win-back email to customers who haven’t ordered in six months, with a personal code.
4. Early August: A bundle promotion tied to a summer theme (travel kits, outdoor sets, back-to-school).
5. Late August: Final clearance of remaining summer stock, then a clean full-price period before the autumn.

Keeping a full-price stretch between promotions matters. It gives your regular price credibility.

Watch the hidden costs of a sale

The discount itself isn’t the only cost. Before launching, check the smaller items that quietly eat into margin:

• Payment fees. Most gateways charge a percentage per transaction, so fees shrink a little with lower prices, but the fixed per-order part doesn’t.
• Shipping. If you offer free shipping during the sale, add your average shipping cost to the margin calculation above.
• Returns. Impulse purchases made during a sale can come back more often. Make sure your returns policy for sale items is clear.
• Coupon stacking. Check that sale prices can’t be combined with other codes unless you intend them to be. WooCommerce coupons have an “Individual use only” option in their usage restrictions for exactly this. Our guide to WooCommerce coupon codes covers the settings.
• Staff time. A busy sale week means more packing and more customer emails. If that means paying for extra help, count it.

Use urgency honestly

A sale needs an end date to work, but fake urgency backfires. Keep it straightforward:

• Set a real end date and stick to it. Don’t extend “by popular demand” every time.
• If you show a countdown timer, it should count down to the same moment for everyone.
• Say “only a few left” only when that’s true.

In many markets, consumer protection rules also cover how you present discounts, such as showing a genuine previous price. If you’re unsure what applies to you, check your local rules before showing “was/now” prices.

A worked example

Say you run a small store selling swimwear and beach accessories. Swimwear margin is healthy; accessories are slower and lower priced.

• Goal: Clear accessories and keep swimwear at full price.
• Offer: “Free beach towel with any swimsuit over $60” (the towel is overstock), plus 25% off selected accessories only.
• Targeting: A popup for first-time visitors on swimwear pages highlighting the free towel. Returning customers see a small banner about the accessories clearance.
• Email: Subscribers get two emails over two weeks, one for each offer.
• Result to watch: Margin per order, accessories units sold, and swimwear sales compared with the same weeks last year.

Nothing here requires a sitewide discount, and the full-price swimwear stays full price.

Measure profit, not just revenue

After the promotion, look at:

• Gross profit during the sale compared with a similar period without one
• Average order value and margin per order
• New vs. returning customers who bought
• Discount cost: total value of coupons and price reductions given away
• Repeat purchases from sale customers over the following two to three months

A sale that brought in more orders but less profit, and whose customers never came back, wasn’t a success, even if the revenue chart looked great.

Keep summer profitable

Discounts are a tool, not a season. Know your break-even before you pick a number, choose a discount type that suits your goal, show offers only to the people who need them, and measure profit rather than revenue. That’s how a small store gets through the summer lull with its margins intact.

If you want to target summer offers by visitor type, page or exit intent, iConvert Promoter makes it easy to set up.