and how to change course to account for this change.
Consumers are spending the same amount of money but buying fewer things as average selling prices climb. As a result, couponing is experiencing a resurgence.
The physical process of sitting at the kitchen table and physically cutting out coupons from the newspaper may no longer exist, but it has been replaced by the emergence and widespread use of digital price comparison tools and digital coupon monitoring.
Consumers are using these measures to fight inflation now more than ever.
More than 30% of respondents reported using online price comparison and discount monitoring tools in a recent Gartner consumer community poll. Almost 50% of Gen Z and millennial customers use digital tools to track coupons, making younger generations more likely than older generations to increase their usage of digital tools.
Digital marketers need to reinvest in and concentrate on discounts in order to address this shift in consumer behavior. Future iterations of your digital marketing plan should take associated tools into account.
The three categories of online coupons and prices
For brands to use in their digital marketing plans, three categories of online price comparison and coupon tools have emerged as front-runners: specialized tracking tools, integrated tools, and brand-owned tools.
No. 1: Specific tracking tools for digital coupons
Tools for tracking digital coupons from third parties are frequently used in affiliate marketing campaigns for brands. Through an affiliate network, brands collaborate with these tools and pay a percentage commission on each sale.
For further promotion, visibility, and traffic, the majority of tools provide content marketing sponsorships and chances for featured on their various digital channels.
Target customers use these tools frequently, and using them increases conversion. It might determine whether you get a customer or not. Examples comprise:
- RetailMeNot
- Paypal Honey
- Rakuten
No. 2: Integrated tools and features for digital coupons
Numerous platforms for banking, credit cards, and payments present targeted offers. To display pertinent offers, they make use of a consumer's first-party expenditure information. Customers are presented with offers when they log into their accounts and have the option to engage.
- PayPal
- Zelle
No. 3: Digital features and tools held by brands
Best-in-class businesses collaborate with digital tools to provide discounts by surfacing coupons and deals that are only available to loyalty program members as an extra perk or advantage.
Target has a section in their app where Circle members can save money on pertinent in-store offers. To customize these offers, Target draws on first-party data and historical purchasing patterns.
Within its app, Michaels offers rewards members the ability to clip coupons and store them for later use in-store or online. Although Michaels is known for its paper coupons, company decided to make the switch to digital in order to gain more clients.
In essence:
Consumers are spending the same amount of money but buying fewer things as average selling prices climb.
In order to fight inflation, consumers are now using computerized price comparison tools and coupon tracking.
In order to adapt their digital marketing approach to changing consumer behavior and new discounting tools, marketers must think carefully about this.