A recent Coupon Intelligence Report from Valassis contains important information about coupons and consumers. Valassis is the company that creates the coupon books that are placed in consumer’s mailboxes every week. They also create newspaper ads and inserts. I find their report interesting because we print a ton of coupons for many of our clients.
Our coupons are a little different than the coupons that come in the mail or that you’ll find in newspapers. The coupons we print are placed right on the products themselves. These are called Instant Redeemable Coupons (IRC). They commonly contain three panels (front, back, and base) and are fixed together creating a peel or “peel here” label. Whether the coupons come in the mail, are found in newspapers or can be peeled from a package, the statistics regarding how and why consumers use coupons are impressive.
The Facts About Coupon Usage
According to Valassis, the number of coupon users has remained steady over the past four years. And these coupon lovers reach across all generations including Baby Boomers, Millennials and Gen Xers.
Coupon users also reach across all households. Contrary to what you may think, households with yearly incomes of $100,000 or more are twice as likely to use coupons as those earning less than $35,000. These affluent shoppers say they feel that by saving money with coupons, they are doing something good for their budgets. And both retailers and manufacturers should take note that nearly half of affluent shoppers feel that the money they save with coupons allows them to buy more products at the store.
The Valassis® report also found, “coupons can positively change the perception that brand loyal shoppers have about companies.” According to the report:
- 43% of Brand Loyal Shoppers say they feel better about companies that offer coupons than those that do not
- 78% of Brand Loyal Shoppers are influenced to buy a brand they wouldn’t typically buy due to a coupon
- 84% of Brand Loyal Shoppers are influenced to try a new product due to a coupon
Shopper Decisions Made In-Store
If you combine the information from Valassis with a report from OgilvyAction entitled Shopper Decisions Made In-Store you’ll truly understand the power of IRCs.
OgilvyAction interviewed over 14,000 shoppers in 700 retail outlets across 24 markets worldwide. The study covered five retail channels across six product categories. OgilvyAction wanted, “to examine how shopper decisions differ across shopping channels, product categories as well as brands, and how those decisions vary by country and shopper profile.” OgilvyAction discovered that:
- 20% of shoppers impulsively buy in categories they had no intention to buy from before entering the store
- 28% of shoppers have planned which category they will buy from but the decision on which brand to buy is left until the shoppers were inside the store
- 1 in 10 shoppers will switch brands inside the store
This research leads Steve Harding, CEO of OgilvyAction, to say, “We all know the point of sale is the ultimate moment of truth for brands today.” Thus the in-store environment is a great place to attract shoppers.
“We all know the point of sale is the ultimate moment of truth for brands today.”
Capitalize on the Moment of Truth
The research from Valassis clearly shows that consumers like and use coupons. And the OgilvyAction study shows that consumers make many purchase decisions in-store, at the point of sale. The best way to capitalize on these facts is to incorporate Instant Redeemable Coupons into your packaging and labeling decisions.
- IRCs alert consumers to special offers, promotions, contests, and other important product information, right at the point of sale when they’re ready to buy
- IRCs, with full-color images, copy, and variable data, bring attention to your product and can differentiate your product in a crowded retail shelf environment
- IRCs have a number of design possibilities because printing can be applied to the face, back, and base of the label
- IRCs with fixed clean tabs, that leaves behind no residue on the coupon, make removal simple and convenient for consumers
In addition to all of these advantages, the adhesives used on Instant Redeemable Coupons can withstand refrigerated and freezer conditions. This makes IRCs the perfect labeling solution for companies in search of the value-seeking consumer.
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