I won’t lie, I’m a fan of Express.  It takes a little effort on my part, but there’s always something to be found that isn’t too douche-y while adding a hint of sophistication to my lanky, awkward frame.  Yet I’m beginning to worry I’m not the store’s target clientele.  Rather they seem to be catering to a far dumber demographic.  I’ve noticed previous sales messing with ratios, but it seems to be getting worse.

Case in point:

This is from a recent Express email.  I get the “bigger is better” mentality, but it’s a bit much when they even size the font to try and suggest $40 of $150 is the greatest deal.  Even without running the percentages, a savvy shopper would hopefully notice that if you combine this with the free shipping deal from the exact same email, buying three orders of $50 would save you $60 total ($20 off $50 times 3 is $60 off $150).  Sure this supports the economies of scale theory, but only in the most perverse way possible.

If we run the numbers quickly we get:

• $20 of  $50 is 40% off
• $30 off $100 is 30% off
• $40 off $150 is 26.7% off

Buy more, save less!

If anyone knows someone at Express corporate, I’d really like to find out if this marketing tactic is actually working.  Alternatively, I may support this as a strange way of dumber shoppers subsidizing intelligent customers.