Commentary

Coupons Dictate Shopping Patterns For 1/3 Of Consumers

by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer, October 19, 2009

The Second Annual Benchmark Survey on Consumer Coupon Behavior, conducted by HarrisInteractive for RetailMeNot, found that 45% of online adults plan to spend less money on gifts this holiday season compared to last holiday season, the same percentage as in 2008, and increasing their insistence on coupons to make the purchase.

Consumers are increasingly defining their spending habits by whether or not retailers offer coupons:

30% of online adults will not make a purchase at an online store if they can't find a coupon for that store, up from 27% in 2008
22% of online adults will go to a different store to make that purchase, up from 20% in 2008, while 8% will wait until a coupon is available to make the purchase (same in 2008)

What are you most likely to do when you can't find a coupon for an online store? (% OF All Online Adults)
	*2009*	*2008*
Look For Coupons For Online Stores (Net)	62%	62%
Make Purchase At Different Store/Wait to Make Purchase	30	27
Make my purchase at a different store that offers coupons and sells the same item	22	20
Wait to make the purchase until a coupon is available	8	8
Make my purchase anyway	28	29
Other	4	5
I do not look for coupons for online stores.	38	38
Source: HarrisInteractive/RetailMeNot, October 2009

Given the current state of the economy, will you be spending more, less or about the same amount of money on gifts this holiday season as compared to last holiday season? ["holiday season" means the time period between Thanksgiving and New Year's.]
	% *All Online Adults*		*% Online Shoppers*
	*2009*	*2008*	*2009*	*2008*
Change In Spending (Net)	49%	51%	100%	100%
Spend More	4	5	8	11
Significantly more	1	2	1	3
Somewhat more	3	4	7	8
Spend Less	45	45	92	89
Somewhat less	28	25	58	49
Significantly less	17	20	34	40
About the same	45	43	N/A	N/A
I did not spend any money on gifts last holiday season and I will not spend any money on gifts this holiday season.	6	6	N/A	N/A
Source: HarrisInteractive/RetailMeNot, October 2009

To save money, 62% of online adults look for coupons for online stores, and 12% never make a purchase without checking an online coupon website first, a notable jump from 8% last year.

Which of the following best describes you? (% OF All Online Adults)
	*2009*	*2008*
I never make a purchase without checking an online coupon website first.	12%	8%
I occasionally visit online coupon websites.	35	29
I don't visit online coupon websites.	25	32
I do not know what an online coupon website is.	16	17
None of these	13	14
Source: HarrisInteractive/RetailMeNot, October 2009

The survey also revealed that coupon use in the current economic environment is on the rise across nearly all demographics, but is highest among the employed and educated (college graduated):

29% of college graduates use coupon websites to find good deals, compared with 24% of those with some college and 20% of those with an education level of high school or less. In 2008, these numbers were 23%, 20% and 20% respectively.
27% of online adults who work full time or are self-employed use coupon websites (up from 22%); 22% of online adults that are unemployed use coupon websites (up from 18%); 25% of students use coupon websites (up from 23%); 18% of retired online adults use coupon websites (up from 14%).

"Consumers are more aware of their spending than ever and are very active in trying to find the best deals. Coupon websites are still growing rapidly in popularity, with nearly two-thirds of consumers checking for coupons when they shop online," said Guy King, co-founder of RetailMeNot.com. "As a result, we are seeing more and more merchants embracing coupons as a way to connect with their budget-conscious shoppers. Clearly, retailers that don't offer discounts not only jeopardize customer loyalty but could take a significant hit to the bottom line, especially as we head into the holiday season."

Large families and homes with children are also one of the fastest growing demographics to use coupon websites:

30% of online adults in households with children use coupon websites (up from 24% in 2008); only 22% of online adults in households with no children use coupon websites (up from 20%)
31% of online adults in households of five or more use coupons (up from 15%); only 15% of online adults that live alone use coupon websites (down from 17%)

Additional findings include:

40% of online adults who use tools or websites to find good deals when shopping online in the Midwest use coupon websites, compared to 35% in the Northeast, 34% in the South and 29% in the West
The largest age group to use coupon websites is 35-44, with 41% of these online adults who use tools or websites to find good deals when shopping online, including 47% of these women and 34% of these men, using coupon websites
Married online adults who use tools or websites to find good deals when shopping online, are significantly more likely to use coupon websites, at 39% compared to 29% of these single or never married online adults and 21% of these divorced online adults

When shopping online, what tools or web sites, if any, do you use to find "good deals"?*
	% *All Online Adults*		*% Online Shoppers*
	*2009*	*2008*	*2009*	*2008*
Online Shoppers (Net)	83%	83%	100%	100%
Use Tools Or Websites To Find Good Deals (Sub-Net)	71	71	86	85
Search Engines (e.g., Google, Yahoo!)	49	46	59	56
Coupon web sites	24	21	29	25
Price comparison web sites (e.g., Pricegrabber.com, Shopping.Yahoo.com)	22	27	27	32
Email newsletters	21	21	25	25
Advertisements	20	19	24	23
Bargain-tracking web sites	11	10	14	12
Shopping-themed social networks (e.g., ThisNext.com, RetailMeNot.com, Kaboodle.com)	5	4	5	5
Blogs	4	4	5	5
Price protection web sites that alert me when a price drops after I make a purchase	3	4	4	5
Widgets or toolbars that alert me to deals when I'm shopping online	1	2	2	2
Other	9	10	11	12
I do not look for good deals online.	12	12	14	15
I do not shop online.	17	17	N/A	N/A
Source: HarrisInteractive/RetailMeNot, October 2009

For additional information, please visit RetailMeNot here.

coupons, holiday, research

2 comments about "Coupons Dictate Shopping Patterns For 1/3 Of Consumers".

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Benny Forsberg from Squace, October 19, 2009 at 9:45 a.m.
The relationsip is simple - when the economy is down, coupon use is up..
...and furthermore the digital coupons are here to stay.
The shameful printet broadcast versions (the ones you allways left at home on the fridge...) are viped out by their young digital cousins. It´s more trendy and ok to redeem a digital coupon. And if it´s delivered by a mobile its a perfect youcast action tha close-the-loop.
Mobile coupon marketing enable retailers to target the right message, to the right audience, at the right time, to drive purchase. The millennials are the optimal demographic for digital incentives so long as those incentives are delivered in a safe, targeted and age-appropriate way.
I think all future coupons will be delivered as a kind of "mobile-open-loop incentive-Card" - universally accepted on all mobile phones, incentive and payment method combined, digitaly customized and automatically redeemed.
Mobile commerce will evolve around "private" one-to-one marketing, location based services and NFC (Near field communication tech) services.
Just jump on the mobile marketing bandwagon! ;-)
Benny Forsberg
CMO
www.squace.com
Reply

Ronnie Soud, October 20, 2009 at 9:33 p.m.

Interesting read. This past spring, I took a look at online coupon search growth. I found some interesting stats and insights into online consumer behavior as it pertained to consumers trying to save money in a down-turned economy.

Here is what i found - http://www.evisionworldwide.com/blog/2009/03/12/coupon-clipping-innovations-in-a-downturned-economy/

It's going to be interesting to see how brands respond to this huge increase in consumer search for discounts and coupons. Brands are going to have to get more creative with advertising & marketing these savings as noise grows in that particular space.