Discounting Strategies: Different Ways to Discount and How They Look in Google Ads

In eCommerce, discounting products is one of the fastest ways to drive a spike in sales – but without a clear strategy, you risk eroding your margins.

Running a profitable promotion requires careful planning. Choosing the right discounting strategy, setting it up correctly in Google Ads, and using AI tools to create smarter, more targeted promotions will all help maximise results, protect your brand image, and boost your revenue.

At Create8, our eCommerce team helps brands attract more clicks and conversions through smart discounting strategies and high-performing ad campaigns. In this article, we explain how to create impactful and profitable eCommerce promotions for your store in 2026.

The psychology of discounting

Understanding the psychology of pricing will help you present your store discounts in the most impactful way, making deals look more attractive to customers without lowering the price further.

The ‘Rule of 100’

Can’t decide whether to offer customers a percentage discount or a fixed amount off? Let the ‘Rule of 100’ guide your decision. This simple rule states:

• For products priced under £100, you should advertise a percentage off, e.g. 20% off (20% off a £50 shirt sounds better than £10 off)
• And for products priced over £100, use pounds-off, e.g., £50 off (£500 off a £2,000 laptop sounds better than 25% off)

Salesforce Commerce Cloud

Salesforce Commerce Cloud (previously Demandware) is a robust cloud-based eCommerce platform designed for large enterprise brands with complex needs. It offers a high level of flexibility and customisation, helping global brands like Kellogg’s, L’Oréal, and Unilever to build tailored, seamless experiences across multiple channels, unifying the online and in-store experiences.

However, that level of flexibility comes at a cost. Salesforce Commerce Cloud is a complex platform, and day-to-day management requires a high level of technical expertise. Implementing changes can be slower and more resource-intensive than with more streamlined platforms like Shopify Plus.

Shopify vs Salesforce Commerce Cloud: How do the two compare?

Shopify has evolved from a platform for small businesses and independent entrepreneurs to a “full stack” platform, offering a broad range of features and functionality to suit businesses of all sizes.

With Commerce Components for Shopify, it can now compete with even the most complex enterprise platforms, like Salesforce. 

However, there are still plenty of differences between how the two platforms operate and what they offer – let’s explore these in more detail.

Platform

One of the biggest differences between the two platforms lies in their architecture. 

Shopify Plus

Shopify is a fully managed SaaS platform, and every store built using Shopify runs on the same stable system and codebase. 

• Pros: This means that brands don’t need to worry about updates, security patches, or new features; all this is deployed automatically and handled behind the scenes by Shopify. 
• Cons: Unfortunately, it also means there are limitations when it comes to modifying the backend code.

Salesforce Commerce Cloud

Salesforce acts more like a hosted platform, where brands can “rent” a server environment.

• Pros: This gives brands a high level of flexibility, allowing them to build and customise almost anything they want.
• Cons: This level of flexibility comes with great responsibility. Brands are responsible for maintaining everything they build, so if something breaks or slows down, it’s on you and your team to resolve the problem.

Cost

For most businesses (yes, even the really big ones!), cost is a major deciding factor when choosing a platform. However, comparing the cost of eCommerce platforms isn’t always straightforward, as they sometimes use very different pricing models – as is the case with Shopify and Salesforce.

Shopify Plus

Shopify Plus uses a simple and predictable pricing model.

• Monthly subscriptions start at around £1,800.
• There are no extra transaction fees for using Shopify Payments.
• Build costs are relatively low at around £37k – £225k.
• Ongoing maintenance is typically less time-intensive.

Salesforce Commerce Cloud

Pricing is more complex and can quickly add up as your store grows.

• Brands pay a percentage of their total sales (usually around 1%-3%).
• Initial build costs are much higher, and projects take much longer to complete.
• Ongoing maintenance also costs more and usually requires a dedicated development team.

The main difference in cost between the two platforms is how it scales over time. With Shopify Plus, costs tend to stay quite stable, even if your revenue grows. But with Salesforce, your costs increase in line with your sales. This is sometimes referred to as “success tax”.

Flexibility

Historically, Salesforce was always a more flexible option than Shopify. However, when Shopify introduced Commerce Components by Shopify, it helped to level the playing field a little.

Shopify Plus

Shopify’s Commerce Components allows brands to pick and choose which parts of the stack they want to use rather than being forced to use one system. For example, you could use Shopify’s checkout while keeping your own custom inventory system. CCS has increased flexibility, while still keeping everything easy to build and manage.

Salesforce Commerce Cloud

Salesforce has moved towards “headless” commerce, allowing brands to separate the front end of their store from the back end. This gives businesses much more control over how their store looks and functions.

AI

Businesses now expect to be able to use AI tools to streamline their operations and automate day-to-day tasks. Both Shopify Plus and Salesforce Commerce Cloud seem to recognise this shift and are prioritising AI in 2026 – but in different ways.

Shopify Plus

Shopify’s AI tools, including Sidekick and Shopify Magic, are designed to help merchants save time, reduce admin, and run their stores more efficiently. Shopify’s AI is used to do things like:

• Analyse performance data.
• Generate marketing content.
• Optimise product descriptions.
• Create discounts.

Salesforce Commerce Cloud

In comparison, Salesforce’s Agentforce is designed to interact with customers and automate customer service and support tasks for brands using the full Salesforce “Multi-Cloud” stack. It acts as an autonomous customer service agent and can carry out tasks like product returns without any human input required.

Ultimately, Shopify’s AI is designed to help the merchant run their store, while Salesforce’s AI helps merchants automate customer service tasks.

B2B

Salesforce always used to be the go-to platform for complex B2B setups, but Shopify Plus is now hot on its heels.

Shopify Plus

Shopify Plus now has built-in B2B functionality instead of relying on third-party apps or custom builds. Its key B2B features include:

• Company profiles.
• Flexible payment terms.
• Easy reordering.
• Tiered pricing based on quantity.

These features cover the basic needs of most B2B businesses and are simple to set up and use.

Salesforce Commerce Cloud

B2B eCommerce often involves complex buying processes, and Salesforce has always been equipped to handle a high level of complexity. It offers robust functionality for B2B businesses with:

• Multiple buyers within one company.
• Complex approval processes.
• Custom pricing agreements for different clients.

Although Salesforce is competent at managing complex B2B processes, its setup can feel technical and not very user-friendly. In comparison, Shopify’s B2B functionality is designed to feel more like your average online store and is typically much simpler to use.

Which platform is right for your business?

Whether you’re launching a new store or considering a migration, the right platform for your business comes down to how your business operates, how complex its needs are, and how much time and budget you’re willing to invest.

Salesforce Commerce Cloud may be the best option for you if:

• Your business is already native to Salesforce, running on Salesforce CRM and Service Cloud.
• Your store has very complex needs.
• You need full control over every detail.
• Budget isn’t a major constraint.

Shopify Plus may be the best option for you if:

• Speed and agility are a priority.
• You want to minimise complexity and take a more streamlined approach.
• You want lower development and maintenance costs.
• You want to maximise conversion rates with a high-performance checkout.

Choosing between the two platforms is no longer as simple as it once was. Both are capable of supporting complex eCommerce needs, so the right option for you depends on more than the size of your business.

Ultimately, it comes down to what you value the most – maximising customisation and flexibility or speed and simplicity?

Partner with Create8 to discover eCommerce excellence

Whether you need more help deciding between Shopify Plus vs Salesforce Commerce Cloud or you’ve already made your decision and need help with a migration, our team of eCommerce web designers and developers are here to help.

At Create8, we help ambitious eCommerce brands to design, build, and optimise their online stores. Find out more about our work online or contact us by calling 0161 820 9686 or emailing hello@create8.co.uk.