A flash sale is a sale that offers deep discounts over a short period of time. Flash sales aim to rapidly and significantly increase the consumer’s desire to make a purchase by offering a higher discount rate than ordinary sales.

In this article, we’ll explore what flash sales are, their advantages and disadvantages, things to remember about them, and examples from Japan.

What’s in this article?

• Flash sales explained
  
• Types of flash sales
  
• Advantages and disadvantages of flash sales
  
• Key points when running a flash sale
  
• Flash sale examples
  
• Flash sale frequently asked questions (FAQs)
  
• Using flash sales effectively
  

Flash sales explained

As the word “flash” suggests, a flash sale is a sale held for a very short period, often for as little as a few hours and up to 48 hours. Flash sales typically offer deeper discounts compared to other sales and campaigns. They create a sense of urgency, value, and scarcity, which can drive consumers to seize a perceived opportunity. Flash sales can be an effective strategy for businesses that want to incentivise purchases and increase the speed of their sales.

Online shops often use flash sales to get rid of excess stock, attract new customers, increase the profile of new products, and promote sales to potential customers. In recent years, businesses in Japan have also been piggybacking on sales event trends such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the US. Flash sales often require promotion by business owners via social media, push notifications, or email.

Types of flash sales

There are two types of flash sales: “mall-style online shopping” and the “group purchase coupon” format.

Mall-style online shopping

The most common example of a flash sale is the “mall-style” format. With this format, multiple ecommerce sites selling a wide range of products – such as food, general merchandise, and apparel – hold flash sales in a virtual or EC mall. The sales last for short periods of time, from a few hours to 24 or even 48 hours.

An example of a flash sale ad you might see in an EC mall would be: “New sales every day from 8 pm to midnight! Daily flash sales with discounts of up to 80%!”

Group purchase coupon

The “group purchase coupon” format is a cost-effective way for business owners to advertise their products.

With this format, when purchases from consumers reach a minimum number within a set time period, consumers receive a deal from the business. The deal is typically a coupon with a high discount rate (e.g. 50% or 80% off).

Customers who want to receive a coupon to purchase products and services might choose to actively promote a coupon campaign. However, the business won’t issue the discount if the number of people applying doesn’t meet the minimum threshold. This format encourages sales information spreading organically by word of mouth through social media and personal blogs.

An example of a “group purchase coupon” advert might look like: “If we reach 200 orders within 48 hours, we’ll issue a 50% off coupon immediately!”

Advantages and disadvantages of flash sales

Flash sales offer consumers products at a significant discount from the regular price. They can also increase a business’s number of customers and help it sell goods quickly. However, flash sales also have disadvantages. Below, we explain the advantages and disadvantages of these kinds of sales.

Advantages of flash sales

Quick results

As explained earlier, flash sales last for a very short period of time. Since this encourages customers to rush to make a purchase, you can attract a large number of customers during the short sales period.

Because flash sales are short-term events, holding them frequently might also increase customer retention rates.

Appeal to potential customers

Offering flash sale discounts to shoppers who are on the fence as to whether or not they should buy a product, or where they should buy a certain product from, can encourage them to buy from your site.

Disposal of excess inventory

Flash sales with big discounts – say, 50% or more – can encourage a customer to buy a product they wouldn’t normally buy, especially if it is cheaper than elsewhere.

Therefore, if your products are not selling well or you have a large amount of inventory left over, you can use flash sales to sell off your excess stock.

Disadvantages of flash sales

Decreased sales rate outside the flash sale period

Some shoppers only make purchases during flash sales, so even if you acquire a large number of customers during a flash sale, that number and consequently your sales rate might fall when prices return to normal. Some consumers simply will not become repeat customers unless they see the purchase price drop again.

Some people also try a product at a low price but decide not to buy it again in the future because they are not satisfied with the quality. Of course, this isn’t always the case; some people take advantage of flash sales to buy products they have never purchased before, and then go on to buy them again because they like them.

Flash sale profits are low

Businesses hold flash sales with the goal of selling as many products as possible, so they sell specific products at greatly reduced prices. As such, the profit margin is likely to be lower than with regular sales.

As explained in the advantages section, some business owners hold flash sales to offload excess inventory, focusing on attracting customers with low prices and turning excess stock into sales as quickly as possible.

Being able to process inventory is an advantage, but it is important to remember that selling a large quantity of products does not necessarily result in a large profit.

Decline in brand value

If you drastically lower your prices for a flash sale, consumers might see your products as cheap. As a result, even products that you usually price high can risk losing their brand image value. This is true even if the price adjustment is only temporary.

Carefully consider the brand image for higher-end products and set your prices accordingly. If you’re going to hold flash sales regularly, try to select different items rather than including all your products in every flash sale.

Key points when running a flash sale

If you are going to hold a flash sale, you’ll want it to run as smoothly as possible. Here, we introduce some key points to remember when it comes to flash sales.

Risk of system failure or latency

When holding a large-scale flash sale that includes a large number of discounted items, your system could experience latency (a delay in data processing) if several transactions are made at once, or it could crash completely. If site issues occur, customers might be unable to make payments and could give up on purchasing from your company.

One way to avoid system crashes and latency during the payment process is to use a payment system with a high success rate. You should consider a system with payment functions that maximise your purchase completion rate and improve the customer’s experience.

Stripe supports a wide range of payment methods – including convenience store and credit card payments – providing various functions and services related to online payments.

If you are looking to strengthen your payment functions and simplify your payment flow on a platform or marketplace that involves multiple parties (e.g. sellers and buyers), you can use Stripe Connect. Stripe can make your business development smoother and more efficient. In addition, you can divide sales between multiple parties, such as by allocating a portion of the payment the customer makes on the platform as a sales commission.

Only out-of-stock items might be displayed

Another thing to avoid is poor inventory management. Sometimes more people than expected access a sale at once, and inventory runs out very quickly. If the flash sale page displays sold-out products, it might temporarily reduce consumers’ desire to shop and also increase the number of consumers who won’t return in the future.

To avoid this situation, keep potential customers informed by adding a message on product pages that warns when stock is limited and products might sell out quickly. You might also want to add a “last few remaining” label to the product page itself.

As stated previously, ensuring you prepare for your sale is key, because consumers can lose confidence in your - site if they repeatedly encounter difficulties using it during flash sales.

Flash sale examples

Many businesses hold flash sales under different names such as “limited sales” or “clearance sales”. Here, we will introduce some specific cases of flash sales, though they might be called one of these other names.

KKday

KKDAY JAPAN, which operates online travel reservation site KKday.com, regularly runs seasonal campaigns and flash sales.

In 2024, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of its founding, the company held a monthly flash sale called “KKday Kirakira Day” on the seventh of each month. This sale was a large-scale sale with discounts of up to 77% (the discount rate varied depending on the time of year). Also, only app members could access the sale, creating a sense of exclusivity.

GLADD

Offering discounts of up to 90%, GLADD is a flash sale site that sells famous brand apparel and miscellaneous goods. It is one of the largest sites of its kind in Japan. Participating companies change sale items every day at 8 pm, ensuring a constant turnover in the range of discounted products.

There are also campaigns using social media hashtags and exclusive member gift offers, often highlighting the company’s dedication to customer satisfaction.

Photo Studio Palette

Photo Studio Palette (owned by Sankei Studio Co., Ltd.), which operates photo studios in various regions of Hokkaido, held a flash sale for three days in December 2024, limited to the Sapporo store and the Hakodate store.

This flash sale was for photos of babies and children, and was limited to milestone photos such as 100 days old, six months old, and the first birthday, but consumers could make bookings up to six months in advance if they made a purchase within the sale period.

The discount rate was usually between 10% and 20% of the standard price, which is not a large discount compared to flash sales on major e-commerce sites. However, the ability to make bookings on the website, as well as the company’s online and phone-based consultation services, made customers feel they were receiving a good deal. As such, Photo Studio Palette attracted a very specific kind of clientele with its sale.

Flash Sale frequently asked questions (FAQs)

What type of sales tactic is a flash sale?

Many businesses use flash sales on e-commerce sites to attract customers by offering steep discounts for a limited time. Unlike other sales and campaigns, there are restrictions on the number of people who can receive the discount, and the event period is relatively short (e.g. “12 hours only” or “three days only”).

Does “flash marketing” mean the same thing as “flash sale?”

Flash sales are a type of marketing technique some companies refer to as “flash marketing”. In short, the two terms mean the same thing.

Using flash sales effectively

Flash sales are an effective sales promotion method for increasing customer numbers and sales in a short period of time, as well as quickly offloading inventory. With online shopping becoming more and more common, companies are now holding flash sales not only through e-commerce and social media, but also through various other means, such as email and push notifications.

Flash sales motivate customers to make purchases, and for sellers, they are a way to acquire new customers and appeal to potential ones. They also have some disadvantages, however, such as decreasing brand value if they are held too often.

You can maximise the effectiveness of a flash sale by carefully selecting the content and target audience, as well as the right timing and duration, rather than holding a flash sale without any preparation.