Coupons are still growing in popularity, particularly as digital coupons prove easy to use for consumers and provide marketers with valuable data. Here’s what’s new with coupons. New research from Valassis shows that coupons are still one of the best tools to customers away from brands to new retailers – 84% of consumers will switch stories to take advantage of weekly specials. RetailMeNot research shows 46% of diners who earn $150,000 or more per year have used an online or mobile coupon at a restaurant in the past three months. Hitwise says the share of searches involving coupons or deals is up by nearly half-year over year, and most (60%) of ‘coupon‘ based searches are happening via mobile devices.
Beacons will deliver 1.6 billion digital coupons a year by 2020, according to a new report from Juniper Research. The three most frugal cities in the US according to Coupons.com? Orlando followed by Washington DC and Charlotte, NC. Wegmans will introduce digital coupons to its Shoppers Club members across the Midwest. Fareway Stores will launch digital coupons in its 112 grocery stores. Whole Foods‘ new POS system will support personalized offers, customer data and supplier data when it launches by the end of 2016.
Coupons Influence E-Commerce Retail Shoppers
Brand loyalty is important to retailers, but one tool can lure loyal shoppers away to other establishments.
Coupons are still one of the most effective tools to attract customers away from brands and retailers to which they are loyal, according to a report from Valassis.
Furthermore, coupons are just as influential among average consumers as they are among brand loyalists:
– 84% of all consumers (not including brand loyalists) would likely switch stores in order to capitalize on weekly specials, compared to 82% of brand loyalists.
– Coupons would lead 82% of all consumers to purchase a product from a brand they would not otherwise, compared to 78% of brand loyalists
– 85% of all consumers would purchase a new product because of a coupon, compared to 84% of brand loyalists. Via businessinsider.com
New Survey of Diners Finds That Mobile Is a Major Influencer on Food and Dining Choices
The survey also concluded that differences lie among various age and location demographics. Among people in urban areas, those aged 45 to 54 responded that “yes,” they have used a deal found online or their smartphone, more than any other age group. However, in suburban areas, Millennials (aged 25 to 34) use deals found online or their smartphone the most. Via prnewswire.com.
Study: Shoppers hunting deals year-round
Hitwise, a division of Connexity, says deal seekers are now looking for deals throughout the year – not just during the holiday season or during back-to-school events. According to their data the share of searches involving coupons or deals is up by nearly half-year over year, and most (60%) of ‘coupon’ based searches are happening via mobile devices. Some of the most sought after deals are for apparel – shoes, specifically.
“Deal-oriented searches include those using keywords: sale, coupon, deal, rebate, bargain, discount or clearance,” said John Fetto, senior analyst research and marketing at Connexity. “Interestingly, when it comes to searches for ‘sales’ specifically, footwear, including shoes and boots, are the most commonly sought-after products throughout the year. August is the peak month for shoe sale searches while November and December are tops for boots. The other most commonly pursued sale items online include: mattresses, TVs, furniture and tires. Typically, September is the month when mattress sale searches are highest whereas television and tire sale searches are greatest in December. Meantime, searches for furniture sales peak during August and September.”
Other interesting findings from the report include:
• Most shoe searches happen in August, November is the top month for boot searches
• TV and Tire searches rule in December
• Furniture and Mattress searches rule in August/September Via bizreport.com
Beacons to deliver 1.6B coupons annually by 2020: report
Coupons are quickly growing as a significant component of beacon-enabled proximity marketing thanks to strong redemption rates, with brands and retailers forecast to deliver 1.6 billion coupons a year by 2020, according to a new report from Juniper Research.
The results point to how proximity marketing is gaining traction as retailers look to engage more deeply with consumers in and around their stores, prompting the volume of beacon-enabled coupons to grow quickly from the 11 million expected to be delivered in 2015. However, the research also underscores the potential danger of turning beacons into nothing more than another offer channel, which is likely to cause shoppers to lose interest.
“I would imagine that coupons will represent a key plank of any beacon-based proximity marketing strategy,” said Dr. Windsor Holden, head of forecasting and consultancy at Juniper Research as well as author of the report. “Redemption rates from coupons delivered via beacons are amongst the highest of any mobile channel,” he said. “Earlier in the year, Chinese jewelry retailer CTF saw a 59 percent redemption rate among all beacon delivered coupons, resulting in a $16 million uplift in sales. Via luxurydaily.com
Coupons.Com Unveils America’s 25 Most Frugal Cities of 2015
For the sixth year, Coupons.com, Quotient Technology Inc.’s (NYSE: QUOT) flagship savings destination, is releasing America’s Most Frugal Cities list, showcasing cities with the most budget-conscious shoppers. According to the 2015 Coupons.com Savings Index[1], shoppers in 2015 clipped more than 1.6 billion digital coupons and saved more than $2.3 billion on consumer packaged goods, including grocery and household items.
This year, residents in Orlando are once again the savviest savers in the nation, reclaiming the title of Americas Most Frugal City from San Francisco, which took the lead in 2014 for the first time. Orlando won the 2013 honors and slipped to the third-ranked position in 2014. Rounding out the top 10 list, Washington, D.C., took the #2 spot for the second year in a row. Charlotte, N.C., moved up two spots to #3 and for the first time, New York City cracked the top 10 list as the #4 most frugal city in 2015. Atlanta (#5), Cleveland (#6), and Tampa, Fla. (#7), came in at a virtual tie, with Nashville, Tenn. (#8), narrowly beating Raleigh, N.C. (#9) and Virginia Beach, Va. (#10) to round out the top 10. Via prnewswire.com
Wegmans to Introduce e-Coupons
Wegmans Food Markets Inc. has sent an email to its Shoppers Club members that it will roll out Shoppers Club digital coupons later in 2016, according to a published report. The grocer plans to pilot the digital coupons in its Rochester, N.Y.-area and Lehigh Valley, Pa., stores next month.
“Customers have asked for digital coupons, so we worked hard to create a program that not only helps people save, but also gives them a better shopping experience,” company spokeswoman Jo Natale told the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, the supermarket chain’s hometown newspaper. “Many customers already visit wegmans.com or use the Wegmans app to get recipes, meal ideas, and build shopping lists. We wanted a digital coupon program that worked well with the meal-planning tools our customers already rely on.”
Wegmans’ program was designed to be easy to use, and consumers won’t require a smartphone use the coupons. Instead, they’ll be able use either a desktop computer or a mobile device to save digital coupons directly to their Shoppers Club account, according to Natale, who added that the e-coupons wouldn’t replace Shoppers Club discounts. Via progressivegrocer.com
Fareway Stores Debuts Digital Coupons
Midwestern grocer Fareway Food Stores has deployed a new digital coupon system for its 112 stores across the Midwest. The platform automatically transfers manufacturer and private label coupons from a shopper’s cloud-based account directly into the grocer’s point-of-sale (POS) system during checkout.
The platform, from Invisipon, gives shoppers an alternative to collecting FSIs from newspapers, printing coupons from the internet or loading them to a loyalty card. Coupons are automatically deposited into the shopper’s account based on their unique profile, redemption history and other metrics the coupon issuer may wish to employ. Customers can view the offers available to them via the vendor’s mobile app or website. At checkout, the cashier scans customers’ unique barcode from the mobile app, keys in their phone number or swipes their loyalty card.
The platform is also designed to eliminate another inconvenience for grocery shoppers by matching manufacturer coupons with existing in-store sales. This relieves the shopper of the task of matching the retailer’s weekly sale items with manufacturer coupons to maximize savings. Via progressivegrocer.com
Whole Foods on centralized buying and digital coupons
Centralizing the purchasing of non-perishables will ultimately make Whole Foods a lot easier to deal with, said chief operating officer AC Gallo during the retailer’s second quarter earnings call last week.
A new point-of-sale system rolling out to every US store by the end of 2016 will also support personalized offers, category management and supplier collaboration, said Gallo, noting that having to deal with 11 different sets of buyers for the chain’s 11 different regions in the US had proved frustrating for some suppliers. Via foodnavigator-usa.com
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