holiday discounts are a dangerous drug

Compelling reminders about holiday promotions in HBR blog by Marco Bertini
His best tips:

1. skip the pure discount shoppers: be sure to attract the customers you want long-term with a targeted promotion
2. make offers contingent: e.g. spend a threshold to get a discount
3. drive conversion: pick your goal and incentivize that activity

carol's daughter blows it

I'm confused.  It looks like they're offering me a discount.  And Free Shipping.  But what's it all worth?
Remember:

1. Shoppers hate math. Give them a $ dollar off, not a % percent. Don't make them do the calculation... or in this case, three calculations: 15%, 20%, 25%. I'm exhausted.
2. Is this actually special? It says Cyber Monday and also Last Day.  So have they been offering this tiered discount for several days or weeks and it's about to end? Is Cyber Monday not actually that special? I want to think I'm getting something special. I'm confused.
3. What's with the Did You Know? If I become a member of the website or some club, or maybe something on Facebook (who knows?) then I can get free shipping all the time. But every website offers free shipping. Big deal.  Shouldn't this email be about selling products during a huge holiday blowout, not collecting email addresses? I'm frustrated.

Lessons:
1. Determine your audience and select the single promotion that will drive your desired result
2. Communicate the single promotion to your audience
3. Don't add any other noise