Coupons – The Future of Retail

March 3, 2011 Michael Bickerton

I came across an article online by Rafe Needleman, a blog, titled Rafe’s Radar. It was an interesting piece titled, “Warning: Coupons make you spend more”. Are coupons the future of retail?

The article quotes Cotter Cunningham of WhaleShark Media the company that run retailmenot.com making a number of statements that I believe to be true. According to Cunningham, the Internet is changing the way businesses sell to consumers. Not surprising to us, our team declared over 2 years ago, that the consumer has changed the way they buy and business now has to change the way they sell.

Cunningham makes some interesting statements in the article with Rafe. Notably, coupons work and although pricing and profit are less, the overall sale price increases. “They work. People spend up, and spend more, to get the coupon threshold”.

The sites Groupon, Shopkick, Living Social and Retailmenot are all about offers, discounts, and coupons. I’ve said before EVERYBODY LIKES A DEAL and as your emarketing advisor, we stress to you that in order to achieve success online the offer must be compelling. Our Socialmc2 program is one way to spread your offers and coupons throughout the social media space and email marketing.

Clearly, the Internet has changed the way consumers buy. Research is available online everywhere and search is the first step in the purchase process today. The availability of information on the Internet makes price shopping and comparison simple and easy. The result is that consumers are not only looking for offers, but may well be waiting for purchase until the next offer or coupon.

The takeaway on this, you need to be aware of what’s going on online. Are you checking out what your competitors are doing? Searching, googling, and reviewing price points? If not you’re being left behind. Change and transition are the keywords of the day, and this will continue. Offers, discounts, and coupons are the future of retail, you can bet on it!

Michael Bickerton, Raven5 Ltd, Toronto, March 2011

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