Remember the adage that eventually everything comes back in style? Coupons are proving it true. Just ask social deal sites, Groupon or Living Social. Or track the success of deal of the month coupons in monthly e-newsletters. Have you redeemed a coupon lately? Statistics suggest that you probably have. Part of the reason for the coupon’s return to popularity is the economy; part of it is savvy digital business practice. Whatever the explanation, coupons are back, newly dressed in digital style.
SavingStar, the one year old highly successful rewards company, creates digital coupons. The Wall Street Journal’s April 18 article on SavingStar comments on the company’s awareness of current consumer spending practices, and quotes SavingStar investor Jeff Bussgang saying, “realistically we think that tens of millions of households in America will be using digital coupons over the next few years.” While SavingStar provides savings to supermarket or drug-store loyalty cards for purchases of items consumers normally purchase, others, such as Groupon and Living Social, send coupons directly to the consumer’s email creating a coolness factor for deal hunting. And if success is measured in brand exposure, Groupon and Living Social’s ability to place Superbowl ads this year shouts volumes.
So, the message to businesses is this–what was coupon clipping is now also coupon clicking. And it works. The April issue of Marketing News notes, “digital coupon distribution in the US increased by 33.6% from 2009 to 2010,” and perhaps even more importantly, “the redemption value for CPG [consumer packaged goods] coupons in 2010 grew 3.1% to 3.3 billion, the highest level since 1992 when US consumers redeemed 7.7 billion CPG coupons.”
Both print and digital coupon clipping/clicking is on the rise, though, not surprisingly, at a faster rate through social media channels and email. So, in planning marketing campaigns, for retail businesses especially, the best branding approach remains integrated, that is, base digital coupons on print offers to reach a larger market. And remember the importance of making the offer compelling. In a world of response to consumer demand, it’s clear that well designed and delivered coupons are back.
