Latest Trends Provide Clues About New Shopping Behavior
By John Karolefski
Today’s “new normal” shopping behavior is revealed in analysis of the latest coupon distribution and usage trends.
The research by Valassis provides greater insight into consumer savings habits with coupons – what they are buying, where they are shopping and how the economy is defining a new “normal” when it comes to shopping behavior.
“Consumers really have a savings mindset now. I think that is a permanent shift in their behavior,” said Suzie Brown, chief marketing officer for Valassis, a leading media and marketing services company.
Current economic conditions are leading 94% of those surveyed to use consumer packaged good (CPG) coupons at least once in the past year, and 77% with regularity.
Consumers redeemed 23% more coupons in 2009 than the prior year – the second-highest increase in year-over-year redemption volume ever recorded, bringing the total number of coupons redeemed to 3.2 billion. As a result, consumers saved nearly $3.5 billion with coupons, an increase of $800 million (nearly 30%) over the prior year.
These findings were revealed as part of the 2010 NCH Coupon Facts Report recently released by NCH Marketing Services, a Valassis company.
The percentage of consumers planning their shopping lists with CPG coupons is up significantly during recessionary times. In 2009, 88% matched their shopping lists with coupons compared to 78% in 2007. Shopping behavior with coupons has changed and new habits will be maintained in the future even as consumers’ personal economic situations improve, according to responses to four questions posed in the NCH Consumer Survey:
- 31% are more careful about remembering to bring coupons to the store – 74% expect this behavior to continue
- 25% are clipping more coupons than before – 72% expect this habit to continue
- 6% are clipping coupons, which they never did before – 58% expect to continue clipping coupons in the future
- 3% have joined coupon clubs or attended meetings about coupons – 50% expect to be involved in such activities in the future.
“With consumers’ strong focus on value and a greater reliance on research and planning, these upward trends point to a permanent change in the mindset of today’s deal-seeking shopper,” said Brown. “Tomorrow’s shopper will be just as savvy. The new findings also reinforce the fact that consumers won’t part as easily with their hard-earned money without pairing it with a deal in print or digitally.”
She elaborated that people will open their wallets to spend money, but what they’re looking for is the best value they can get.
“In the last couple of years, consumers have been more focused on ‘needs’ versus ‘wants,’” she said. “When they get into the ‘want’ category, they want to have a deal that would generate the best value for the purchase. We feel very pleased that we’re able to bring the greatest amount of deals and offers and values to consumers so that they can make the best possible shopping decisions.”
Coupon redemption grew each quarter in 2009:
- Redemption for grocery products increased by 25%, representing 2 billion coupons
- Redemption of health and beauty care (HBC) products increased by 20%, representing 1.2 billion coupons.
Marketers issued more high-valued coupons in 2009, and 74% of them required the purchase of only one item to receive the discount. The average face value of a CPG coupon increased 6% in 2009 to $1.37. More specifically:
- The average face value of a HBC coupon in 2009 increased to $1.82
- 86% of HBC coupons issued in 2009 had face values of more than 75 cents
- The average face value of a grocery coupon in 2009 increased to $1.16
- 67% of grocery coupons issued in 2009 had face values greater than 75 cents.
Likewise, coupon distribution increased in record proportion in 2009 with 311 billion coupons in the marketplace, representing an 11% increase by CPG manufacturers. Grocery coupons accounted for 64% of the CPG coupons issued in 2009.
“As CPG marketers faced the pressure of maintaining sales and fending off private label competition in the midst of the worst recession since the Great Depression, they strategically increased their use of coupon promotions in 2009 across all major forms of coupon media,” said Charlie Brown, NCH Vice President of Marketing.
CPG marketers continued to allocate the largest share of coupons to the cooperative free-standing insert (FSI) coupon booklet, accounting for 86% of CPG coupon distribution in 2009. While the Internet represented 1% of CPG coupon distribution in 2009 – up 50% from 2008 – the redemption share was nearly 10%.
“Internet coupon distribution remains a small portion of the total CPG coupon media market, but it is growing faster than any other medium,” Charlie Brown said. “As redemption rates of online coupons increase as well, these trends indicate that CPG marketers are using the Internet more and more to reach consumers with coupons, and consumers, especially in current economic times, are responding at an increasing pace.”
In 2009, redplum.com, a leading savings and lifestyle site, issued an estimated 194 million coupons. The RedPlum Network, with nearly 1,000 affiliate sites, is the fastest growing coupon network.
“Our RedPlum portfolio is well positioned to continue delivering the savings that consumers desire in a variety of ways – in the mail, newspaper, digitally and in-store,” said Suzie Brown.
The full coupon facts report is available for free by registering at www.NCHResourceCenter.com
