Online Coupon Clipping Innovations in a Downturned Economy
With the downturn of the economy, coupons have seen a HUGE resurgence in the online marketplace. This is something that brands and grocers have noticed over the past 12 months, and are now experimenting more with online coupons and online advertising channels. Some grocery stores offer shoppers online discounts that can be loaded and stored on a loyalty card, then receiving the credit at the time of checkout.
Take a look at this trend. Over the past year “coupon” searches on Google have risen dramatically. Notice a slight annual increase in searches every December, then a sharp increase during 2008.
Offline Print Media…Busted
Daily newspapers are just not getting the job done anymore for coupon advertisers. Circulation is down, ad dollars are rapidly moving online, and consumers are becoming increasingly spoiled with the ease of use and speed that a search engine provides for information hunting. Additionally, TV & radio commercials are driving viewers online to official brand sites for weekly deals and downloadable savings. This mixture of marketing mayhem is causing certain websites & web-based business to boom during a slumping time.
Trimming The Corporate Advertising Fat
Specifically, grocers are now starting to experiment more with online coupon clipping, which was once something only offered through local newspapers or coupon magazines. As all businesses continue to trim the fat, grocers are finding it more cost effective to place coupons online through their own websites than in multiple offline channels, which require an additional media buy and more ad dollars. Some marketing savvy grocery stores offer shoppers online discounts that can be loaded and stored on a loyalty card, receiving the credit at the time of checkout. Additionally, brands are paying much more attention to online coupon clipping sites, which have seen a huge increase in traffic over the last 12 months.
The downturned economy has actually given a good jolt to many web based businesses aiming to help consumers through these cash-strapped times. Case-in-point, Coupons.com and CouponMom.com, both have seen a sharp rise in traffic over the past 12 months and represent 2 rising trends among consumers: savings that help with living expenses, and eco-friendly living solutions (by no-longer wasting pages of unread newspaper space).
Money Conscience & Web-Savvy Consumers
Granted, over the last 12 months, consumers have become increasingly savvy at cutting grocery costs. More consumers are paying much more attention to what they spend in the grocery stores, and what they feed to their families.
For every brand, I think its important to remember that people are now turning to the internet more than ever to help make a buying decision, and these online coupons, discounts and incentives are a huge help in every consumers buying cycle, from discovery to sale.
