Shopper Culture

The Everlasting Coupon

Coupons, call them 007 because they will never die. Coupons been around for decades. Just when you think shoppers won’t put in the effort or Everyday Low Prices (EDLP) will take over, coupons rise again.

Today coupons are still used by shoppers in full force, but they are becoming increasingly digital. Mobile apps like iBotta, Shopkick, and RetailMeNot are becoming popular because they allow shoppers to easily earn cash rebates through their mobile devices, making discounts more readily available and contextually relevant.

While the media of coupon delivery might be changing, one thing is for sure, saving money never goes out of style, and we expect that coupons will continue to adapt to the changing times. How will brands and retailers continue to define value for shoppers over the next ten years if price discounts are par for the course?

WHITE PAPER: 10 Years in Shopper Culture

June 2017 marks the tenth year of Shopper Culture, a global discussion about the impact of shopping culture on brand strategy. Over the past decade, Shopper Culture has captured thousands of observations, comments, insights, and predictions that represent just a fraction of the changes that have taken place in the dynamic and ever-evolving world of shopping. To celebrate the past decade of Shopper Culture, we are thrilled to launch a special white paper that takes a look at several behaviors and trends in the vast world of shopping culture that have come, gone, or simply evolved. And, while many things have changed, some things truly do stay the same. Discover more and download here.

Paperless Coupons–Saving Money, Saving Trees

Happy Arbor Day! Let’s celebrate with a look at trends in paperless coupons.

While paper coupons still dominate the landscape, digital coupon penetration has increased every year since 2012 while paper coupon penetration has slightly decreased according to a recent report from Valassis. And as the user experience at checkout improves, adoption is expected to continue to increase.

Here are some money and tree-saving techniques savvy shoppers have at their disposal:

Reinventing the Coupon

In our Denver office, we recently had the pleasure of hosting Bryan Leach, Founder and CEO of Ibotta. Leach's entrepreneurial passion for his company was palpable and infectious. He spoke about the important and undeniable dynamic shifts occurring in the digital world and shed an important spotlight on the state of couponing as we've known it for the past umpteen years; think, 50-year-old housewife clipping coupons out of a crusty newspaper. He also talked about the conception and development of a radically new idea for mobile shopping: pay the shopper real cash.

If you haven’t heard of Ibotta, it’s a wildly popular app that allows shoppers to easily earn cash rebates through their mobile devices by completing simple tasks. This means discounts are more readily available and contextually relevant, for digital users.

Mobile Coupons Served Up To Suit The Shopper

Mobile today seems to be where social media was 5 years ago in that if you aren't doing it, you're "way behind" but in reality, it's still maturing and evolving. It seems as though there are new habits, features and functions popping up everyday. Some driven by users and others driven by brands. Though mobile experiences are popping up, using mobile to push rewards and coupons is still a huge play for marketers. 

Just recently, Krispie Kreme went mobile launching the Krispie Kreme Rewards mobile app to deliver information and savings to loyal customers. They also made a scannable bar code out of delicious drizzling glaze that shoppers can snap (via YouTube) to receive a BOGO coupon valid on 12/12 - simply tasty! This type of app and program seems to suit the needs of the Krispie Kreme shopper, allowing them to be in the know of doughnut making, crush their craving where ever they are, and get incentivized to keep up the habit. But apps are not ideal for all brands.

Shoppers Prefer Printed Coupons

In a world dominated by digital, chalk up a win for analog. According to a recent survey conducted by CreditCards.com, of the 85% of Americans who use coupons almost a third of those shoppers (63%) most frequently use paper coupons from FSIs, newspapers and other products. 

A distant second coupon usage were online discount codes (17%), followed by presenting a coupon or discount code on a smartphone (15%). "Plenty of Americans are still opening their snail mail and reading the Sunday paper. I expect paper coupons to lose some market share, though, as consumers and brands get even more comfortable using them electronically," said Matt Schulz, senior analyst for CreditCards.com. 

Breaking the Internet

Recently, a heated debate over the color of a dress nearly broke the internet–and it's not the first time we have seen social media have such massive cultural impact. It is undeniable that social media has become an tremendous force in all our lives. But many forget that it does not just affect your daily lives and relationships but also your shopping habits.

Part 8 of the study by Integer and the CCRRC titled Untangling the Social Web found that the social web is a grocery shopping tool for one in three (36%) social media users—and that it influences on average 27% of their grocery purchases. While the top ten uses of the social web for grocery shopping are largely focused on finding coupons and recipes, the study explores future possibilities. As people's use of the social web evolves it will also impact their shopping.

Missed Connections Between Shoppers and Grocers on the Social Web

It's no surprise that coupons and deals are a big reason for shoppers to follow their supermarket on the social web. In fact, it is the number one reason according to a recent study, Untangling The Social Web Part 8—a study on social media's impact on grocery shopping.

While more and more shoppers that follow their grocer are exploring other benefits including finding out about events, recipes, news and even customer service, there are many that have not even tapped into this connection with their grocer. In fact, the study found that 32 percent of Facebook users, 72 percent of Twitter users, and 79 percent of Pinterest users do not follow their primary grocer on the social web, with top reasons being that it simply "never occurred to them" or that they find that information elsewhere.

How can grocers connect with these shoppers and support these connection with more than coupons? Afterall, shoppers can find those in many places, what can they get from connecting online? 

How Kiind® Saves You Money

Ever worry that the gift card you got that special someone might never be redeemed? If Kiind® has anything to do with it, you may not have to worry any longer.

Kiind® is a new virtual gift-card service that charges the giver only when the recipient uses the gift-card to make a purchase. The Kiind marketplace is full of top brands and retailers such as Sephora®, Nike®, Amazon®, and Foot Locker®. The platform contains a dashboard that allows the user to track both claimed and unclaimed gift cards. Currently, their focus is on B2B, but one can imagine that the concept will eventually migrate to consumer use too.

Photo Source: kiind

The Checkout: Coupon Edition

Which group, lower-income shoppers or higher-income shoppers, do you feel values coupons more? Who do you think places more importance on coupons younger shoppers or more experienced shoppers? And why am I hearing so much about 'extreme couponing'? These questions and more are asnwered in The Checkout from The Integer Group®.

Since 2010, Integer has been tracking shoppers' perceptions, habits and use of coupons. Recently, we surveyed roughly 1300 shoppers and identified why they use coupons, where they find coupons and how they view coupons today. A few highlights include: 

• Circulars and newspapers, though they've declined, are still the top places shoppers find coupons, while on-package and mobile are the fastest growing. 
• 70% of shoppers use coupons to buy familiar products and brands, while only 30% use coupons to try new ones. 
• Lower-income shoppers use coupons to save money, while higher-income shoppers use coupons to buy the best-quality products. 

We hope you find this information helpful. If you have any questions please visit integer.com. For other topics analyzed in The Checkout please click here. 

Unexpected Treats on Valentine's Day Help Brands Win With Shoppers

Valentine's Day is a tough holiday. Some people love it and others hate it—and because it is often thought of as a Hallmark holiday, it can be tough for brands to make an authentic impact and connect with shoppers.

I personally adore the day because it reminds me to pause and take a moment to recognize the people in my life and do even the smallest of gestures to show how much they mean to me. I have noticed in the past few years that many brands feel the same way and are opting to do little gestures of love vs. sales driven programs. 

While on a layover this past Valentine's Day, I was delighted to get an unexpected valentine from La Brea. Cards placed throughout the cafe offered flyers/diners 15% off food and beverage just becuase it was Valentine's Day. This unexpected treat made my day and also made me love La Brea. Southwest Airlines did a similar Valentine's Day gesture sending coupons to frequent flyers.

Sometimes, it's important for people and brands to stop and smell the roses—and show people we care. The littlest gestures can make a huge impact.  

Photo Source: Integer ShopPic^TM Library 

"After Christmas" the new Black Friday?

With the holiday shopping season finishing a little disappointing for retailers, they turned to more extreme measures, including staying open all day and offering steep discounts, to attract shoppers. Some major clothing retailers, such as Gap, offered up to 60% off in attempt to win last-minute shoppers. Shoppers were able to hold out for better discounts to force a spike in retailer's promotions. As NBC News put it, "With just two days to go before Christmas, it's becoming clear that shoppers won the annual game of chicken."

But it didn't stop at deals leading up to the big holiday—retailers began touting offers before Christmas for "after Christmas." While traditionally the week before Christmas has been a hit or miss time for retailers, can the days following the holiday help make up ground? Look to see consumer behavior shift to postpone buying larger purchases to after-Christmas. 

Modern Shopping and the Omnichannel Experience

Modern shopping has taken great strides in how it is offered to us (via a variety of channels) and how we, the consumers, choose to engage with it. The former is often driven by the latter, and consumers have adapted their shopping ways and are now comfortable engaging through a variety of channels depending on their needs and the category within which they are shopping.

As a longtime and devoted online shopper, my personal experiences with brick-and-mortar shopping have always stemmed from necessity—whether I’ve forgotten to buy enough toilet paper for the week and need some immediately or I have a last-minute special event for which I need a new outfit. Even then, I’ll only resort to brick-and-mortar shopping if the online alternative is simply too hard and the scale of convenience has shifted to a physical store. On the other hand, I do still value both the experience and immediacy of shopping in store, and it’s something that’s been hard to let go of in my online shopping endeavors.

Value Is in the Retailer

While I was recently on shopalongs spanning different CPG categories with female shoppers, there was one universal finding: value was associated with the retailer more than with the actual product. In marketing, value is defined as what you get for what you pay. However, when shopping certain categories, such as diapers or laundry detergent, many shoppers didn’t want to sacrifice performance to pay less. In those instances, it was all about where they chose to shop. They shopped at Target to feel good about receiving a free $5 Gift Card, or went to Walmart believing they’d find good prices on the brands they love, or bought their diapers from www.diapers.com to receive free shipping and five percent back. Value for these women was a product of the store and, therefore, factored less into their brand decision. It’s important for us to understand how different shoppers define value so we can overcome purchase barriers and effectively close the sale.  

Photo Source: www.allthingstarget.com

What We Say vs. How We Shop

A while ago, we recounted the story of how a simple divider in a shopping cart can radically change shopping behavior. In fact, the little sign that said, "place produce here, all other products there" doubled fresh produce purchases during the experiment.

Additional secondary research by Collin Payne and Mihai Niculescu found that this was massively more effective than other produce marketing methods (shelf labeling, advertising, coupons, etc.), which often only increased sales a couple percentage points.   

But we began to wonder if such a persuasive marketing method would ever survive the standby of shopper research: the direct response survey of purchase intent. So we fielded the question to a panel of 4,593 US shoppers.

We found that a cart divider ranked last in what people claim would influence them to buy more produce.

When asked directly if a cart divider would influence their produce purchases, an overwhelming majority said it would have no effect.