Retail CRM teams know the drill. You’ve built a loyal audience, you're sending the regular emails, and offers are doing their job… until they aren't.
The same old discounts start feeling stale. Customers stop clicking. Conversion rates slip. And yet you're still handing out 10% like it's supposed to move the needle.
The problem isn’t the offer. It’s the predictability.
The Issue With Standard Discounts
There’s nothing exciting about a fixed 10% off. It becomes wallpaper. Customers know what’s coming and scroll past without a second thought.
No intrigue, no urgency, no reason to engage.
The Alternative: Make the Offer Part of the Experience
One menswear brand decided to flip the format. Instead of sending out a fixed discount, they partnered with Uniqodo to try something different.
Each customer got a personalised code, but the value of that code was a mystery. The only way to find out how much you’d save was to head to checkout and apply it.
This wasn’t guesswork. Uniqodo’s engine controlled the distribution, keeping the average discount at 10% while offering a range of possible rewards. Every code felt personal, but the margins stayed intact.
What Made It Work
It wasn’t just the novelty. The format triggered real behavioural shifts:
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Curiosity got people clicking through
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Uncertainty kept them moving to the next step
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The chance of a bigger reward encouraged more checkouts
Crucially, the reveal happened at the point of purchase. So instead of losing momentum, the offer helped close the sale.
How to Run Your Own Mystery Offer
Here’s what to keep in mind if you're rolling this out yourself:
Choose the moment
Don’t overuse it. Save this for VIPs, limited-time campaigns or when you need to jolt your email channel back to life.
Get the wording right
You're not giving away the world. You're selling the suspense. Use language that teases the unknown without overpromising.
Control the cost
Set a discount range (say 5–20%) but cap the average. Tools like Uniqodo handle this automatically, so you’re not stuck doing the maths.
Keep it short
Mystery loses power when it drags on. 48 hours is usually enough to get the reaction you're after.
Measure more than conversions
Clicks and checkouts matter, but look at add-to-basket rates too. You’re watching for signs of intrigue, not just final sales.
The Results
The menswear brand saw better traffic from their email sends. More customers followed through to checkout. Engagement picked up without needing to increase discount spend.
A small change in how the offer was presented made a noticeable difference.
One Last Thing
This isn’t about tricking people into spending. It’s about reintroducing a bit of energy into a format that’s gone flat. You’re still offering value - just in a way that feels fresh.
Don’t push harder. Make the reward more interesting.
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