More than just a sales strategy, Internet coupons are market research tools
Coupons are popular with online users, according to Forrester Research: approximately 40% of U.S. online households use coupons distributed on the Internet. But while they are a hit with shoppers, the drawback for coupon sponsors such as manufacturers is that the promotions involve giving away margin in exchange for higher sales.
As a result, Internet coupons may be as useful – maybe more – when used for market research versus just a sales strategy. “It’s effective in the measurement capabilities it supplies,” says Forrester Research analyst Christine Spivey Overby of Internet coupon distribution. “When you are working with Internet coupons, you can vary different coupons to specific audiences – one group gets 75 cents off and one group gets 50 cents off. You have no way to test that offline because the cycle is longer to plan and you don’t have that direct information on a household basis of who used the coupons.”
Spivey says some manufactures that approach online couponing from a measurement perspective are finding it an effective way to do market research. But within Internet couponing, she notes, different distribution strategies will produce different results. A coupon aggregate site, for example, may attract shoppers compelled primarily by price – not the type of consumer a brand might deem the most valuable. An Internet coupon used as a means to get shoppers to register for an e-mail newsletter, however, can be a first step toward a loyalty program.
“That becomes more attractive to the coupon sponsor because it is not giving away margin just to get someone to buy once,” Spivey says. “As a means to move people into a loyalty program, or to sometimes reward loyal customers who are on your site and find coupons embedded there, Internet coupons are best when they are used in conjunction with other marketing tools and strategies.”
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