UPDATE: Our Easy Student Discounts app is now verifying students in 204 countries! Please click here for the country list and more info about the new and improved Easy Student Discounts app.
The Untapped Market: Students (And Student Discounts)
Here at Radiant, we had some exciting news this past week: we launched an app! Easy Student Discounts UK is our very own Shopify plugin that verifies student statuses and provides discounts specific to those still in school. Now, with all of the apps we could have created, you might be wondering why we chose to make one for student discounts — which is a great question!
Student discounts are precisely what they sound like: discounts specific to students. Stores near-always limit this to university students due to their financial status, offering lower-price purchases to help offset the cost of schooling.
One of our reasons for catering to this youthful demographic is that 67% of students say that they expect student discounts. Much like past blogs have analysed changes in customer care standards, keeping with the times and providing brand accessibility is vital for Shopify stores that want to thrive in this high-competition market. Moreover, 83% of students state that they’re more likely to shop at retailers that offer student discounts; don’t you want to be one of them?
The Benefits of Student Discounts for Shopify Retailers
Ultimately, student discounts can increase sales — but how? There are more reasons than you probably realise.
Students represent an interesting demographic of customers, often with high desires to buy but less capital to do it with than those in the workforce. Because of this, it’s likely that students represent quite a large portion of that shopping cart abandonment rate. Afterall, what’s better than a day procrastinating on assignments by online shopping for things you won’t buy? By offering student discounts, you encourage young shoppers to actually follow through with their purchase instead of clicking out of your site (often with no intent to return).
Then, shoppers appreciate brands that give discounts, plain and simple. When shops offer discount codes and coupons for groups like students, it frames a brand as one that cares about the customer. Compare this to a company who may come across as only wanting to make a profit, and it’s easy to see why the competitor with student discounts is pulling in a bigger margin. All things considered, student discounts are one of the easiest ways to ensure brand loyalty from a lifelong customer — most notably one whose capital is likely to increase as they age.
In addition, student discounts influence future shopping habits. Companies that offer student discounts are more likely to be shopped at, giving them the opportunity to more quickly expand their product offerings to customers. Empowered by student discounts, brands have the capacity to shape commerce to some degree. In fact, 85% of students say that the experience they have with a brand during university is likely to influence where they shop or what they buy in the future, regardless of if those benefits apply to the brand offering the code or if the experience drives a desire for similar shopping experiences elsewhere.
Lastly, word spreads fast on university campuses. Offering a student discount helps expand your reach within the collegiate community through word of mouth or, more likely, social media. Being student-friendly can encourage buying from university students who wouldn’t have otherwise purchased from your shop. This level of influence interconnection between members of the student demographic is simply not found in other groups of buyers to the same extent. All of this to say: it helps you be trendy.
Student Discounts Should Be Simple
Convinced? We’re glad! Having student discounts is the perfect way to boost your business. But, don’t think it’s too simple. One study showed that when the discount process confirming student status was too lengthy, nearly 70% of student shoppers were unlikely to go ahead with the discount access or their purchase. That means a difficult student discount confirmation could actually make things worse—which is why you need Radiant’s Easy Student Discounts UK.
Easy Student Discounts UK, made by our team of e-commerce experts, puts the power of student discounts into your store with zero hassle for you or your customers. This plugin verifies students through a pop-up student portal that allows for higher education confirmation without having customers leave your site. (Say goodbye to those email verification codes!) The verification portal has students log in via their accredited institution, and all information is kept safe and secure.
Embed your student discount into a student-specific landing page, or add it to your homepage content block. The app will assign a single-use discount code to students once verified, and automatically apply it to students’ checkouts for their convenience. Then, you can manage the app from your easy-to-use admin panel to limit discounts, change display settings, and view key e-commerce metrics derived from student discount data only. Plus, the app is highly customisable with display settings that you can change and automatic theme matching for fonts and button styles.
Download the Shopify app on the Shopify App Store today for free and start generating better business from a whole new demographic. And as always, stay up to date with our blog for e-commerce tips and future development releases!
