TLDR:
What if a 10-second tweak to your welcome email could double your click rates and drive a 50% surge in orders? That’s exactly what one brand achieved with a simple, powerful psychological trick: the mystery discount.
Online marketing guru, Max Sturtevant, tells the story of a famous apparel brand. In their welcome flow, instead of telling new subscribers they’d get a standard 15% off, the brand swapped in a “mystery discount.” To discover the actual offer, users had to add an item to their cart and enter a promo code at checkout. The result? Curiosity kicked in—big time.
Here’s how the numbers stacked up:
| Metric | Before (Standard Discount) | After (Mystery Discount) |
|---|---|---|
| Open Rate | 64.4% (769) | 72.3% (886) |
| Click Rate | 10.4% (124) | 20.3% (249) |
| Placed Order | 5.2% ($5.04K) | 7.9% ($7.26K) |
The mystery discount nearly doubled both click and engagement rates, and increased placed orders by 50%. Why? Human psychology abhors a mystery—people feel compelled to find out what they might win. And once they’re at checkout, the friction to finalize the purchase is almost gone.
Want bigger results from your email funnel?
Try swapping your standard offer with a mystery discount. It’s absurdly simple to implement and could create a curiosity-driven boost in your bottom line.
