More merchants are looking to companies like Supreme — which has featured product drops with brands like Nike and Louis Vuitton that have led to a $2 billion valuation — and are discovering that special sales events can keep customers engaged and satisfied.
PYMNTS’ research reveals that more than three-quarters of consumers are “very” or “extremely” satisfied when they participate in product drops, flash and private sales events. So, what must merchants do to tap into consumers’ growing demand for these unique sales experiences?
Product Drops: Retail’s New Conversion Play, a PYMNTS and Scalefast collaboration, e
xamines how and why consumers are participating in exclusive sales events and identifies the key areas on which merchants should focus to optimize conversion. The report draws from a census-balanced survey of 2,298 United States consumers and reveals that customers value quality as well as access to discount prices.
PYMNTS’ research indicates that 43 percent of consumers participated in product drops, flash sales and private sales within the past month. Such events are especially popular among younger and more educated consumers, as 60 percent of bridge millennials and younger consumers have participated in them within the past month. Just 22 percent of baby boomers and seniors said they had done the same.
Many consumers who are interested in these kinds of sales events also value access to products at a good price. This is especially important to consumers when they are making purchases via flash sales, as 74 percent cite access to products at a good price as a reason to participate in them. But price is 
not the only driver. Forty-five percent of consumers who are interested in product drops also prize access to products that are difficult to obtain, and 48 percent are interested in product drops because they can get access to high-quality products.
Offering sales events can improve brand affinity, as more than half of consumers who have participated in sales events in the past report being highly interested in attending future ones. Three-quarters of consumers who participated in at least one of these events are “very” or “extremely” satisfied with these events, in fact.
Sales events significantly increase brand affinity, as they motivate consumers to attend similar events in the future. PYMNTS’ research shows that consumers who participated in product drops, flash sales and private sales increased their brand affinity by 67 percent, 57 percent and 53 percent, respectively. Interest in participating in these kinds of sales in the future is also high a
mong those who have not participated in such events, with almost one-quarter of these consumers citing interest in doing so.
PYMNTS also found that product drops are particularly beneficial to earning younger consumers’ loyalty. Our research shows that nearly 72 percent of Generation Z and bridge millennial consumers who participated in product drops felt greater affinity for the brand with which they shopped.
These findings highlight just a few of the insights revealed in our research. To learn more about how merchants can optimize customer experience and drive conversion using special sales events, download the report.