• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, May 2, 2013

I take my soft-coated wheaten terrier to a veterinarian that provides a percentage off one service per month with a coupon available to print from its Web site. The office requires a printed coupon, but I have asked them to create a digital alternative. For some reason I can't get them to think like the 414 manufacturers who distributed 14% more digital coupons on Web sites in Q1 2013, compared with the year-ago quarter, according to Marx, a Kantar Media solution.

The Pet Specialty category took 4% market share of coupon activity in Q1 2013.  It came in last, behind the Non-Food category at 54%, up 2 points; Food Areas at 48%, Personal Care at 23% share, and Dry Groceries at 24%. If Personal Care continues to grow in share of events, it may overtake Dry Grocery in share of activity by the end of the year, according to the report. 

Incentive levels varied across channels, with the higher value nontraditional coupon offering in the Pet Specialty Channel at $2.25. The next highest level of incentive was in the Mass Channel for the Pet Food and Treats category at $1.45, measuring at $0.80 less or 35% lower than the pet specialty channel incentive level.  Drug and Food Channels were one cent apart, at $1.36 and $1.37, respectively.

“The Pet Food and Treats category offers an excellent example of how digital coupon values vary by channel and how much greater of an incentive may be needed to win the Pet Food and Treat category trip," according to Darcy Douglas, director of account solutions at Kantar Media Marx."The Pet Specialty Channel has to work harder to win the less frequent Pet Food and Treat category trip. "