There was lots of talk around Black Friday sales in the U.S. last week and its related spin-off effect north of the border. Price cutting and crazy deals might be good for short-term sales but can of course be bad for long-term equity, with customers getting used to the lower price points and ongoing discounting.

Then I received an email from wineonline.com – an online wine retailer that I purchase from occasionally.

And instead of cutting their prices, they offered free shipping for just that one day.

I had been considering buying wine from them for the holidays, but this moved them off the list of possibles and me to action – I ordered two cases of wine that day.

A good incentive to purchase without devaluing their brand. What creative incentives can you come up with that don’t discount your brand offering?