Coupons Benefit Retailers
August 31, 2010 by Benjamin Christie · Leave a Comment
Most people think that discount coupons only benefit consumers, but actually grocery coupons benefit retailers and here’s why. There’s no doubt about it – our world has changed and the current economic climate seems to be in a downward spiral. With all the massive lay-offs, decrease in income and reduced buying trends, businesses are suffering while individuals are looking for creative ways to save money. So, if you’re a retailer or grocery chain owner or manager, you have probably felt the decrease in buying patters and desperately want to improve your bottom line.
Well, the good news is that now you can by catering to these coupon-clipping enthusiasts and making coupons a valued part of your advertising strategy, you can help your customers save money by encouraging them to buy and use coupons.
Your first step is to understand why people use coupons. Many individuals who use coupons are middle class individuals that are concerned about their family’s financial future. They aren’t necessarily in any kind of financial distress, they’re just smart and savvy shoppers. They use those coupons published online to capture the thrill of savvy shopping and enjoy the thrill of those one-of-a-kind deals be in groceries. For instance, over 35 million people have visited coupon sites this past year to search for coupons.
Next, coupons get people to the store and once you have them within your reach, you can use other advertising techniques to get them to buy more. Plus, the really strange thing is that most individuals don’t mind a bit because the item was “such a good deal” or simply something that was “too good to pass up.” For instance, let’s say Mary comes to your grocery store to purchase a gallon of milk with her store coupon and expects to pay $1.99. Well, once she gets to the store, she realizes that cereal is on sale and so is bread for individuals that purchase 2 gallons of milk. She then purchases five more sale items when she simply came into the store for one gallon of milk. Might sound strange but this is happening all around the globe. Savvy retailers are using coupons and other advertising strategies to squeeze more money out of their shoppers.
Offering coupons benefits retailers because they can cater to the savvy customer, they can increase their bottom line with upsells and other offers. In essence, it gets the customer into the door so that they can use other advertising strategies on them. After all, everyone loves being able to spend less for more, and they don’t feel they was scammed into buying something totally useless. After all, they got a good deal – and what could be better than that?
If you’re interested in launching coupon driven campaign to an audience of grocery buyers, then Download our Media Kit or Request a Proposal from our team.
Reaching Holiday Shoppers
October 29, 2009 by Benjamin Christie · Leave a Comment
The global financial crisis is still very real for many consumers which means like last year, this holiday period, a vast amount of consumers will be tracking down deals online. With consumer determined to limit their holiday spending some will print coupons online and take them to the store or supermarket, while others will buy online. Because the Gourmet Ads network features an audience of grocery buyers and household decision makers it’s essential to ensure that we are part of your holiday advertising media mix.
There is no doubt that year after year, the holiday season is the busiest time for online retailers, so if you’re not advertising during this period then you’re definitely missing out on sales. In order to reach holiday shopper we’d recommend running targeted campaigns near key holiday dates.
Apart from simply booking advertising campaigns, it’s essential to have key messages in your advertising creative which engage with consumers driving them to your online store. Some online retailers will use coupons like percentage based i.e 10% off the product or total order. While other online retailers during the holiday season will offer a credit or rebate towards their next purchase with them.
In terms of key delivery based messages to help convert customers, make sure you use phrases like “Free Shipping”, “Flat Rate Shipping” and “Overnight Shipping” which are familiar with consumers who order online. There is a great deal of evidence in the market place that suggests that free shipping can significantly help conversion rates online.
Finally, we’d suggest booking a variety of advertising units such as regular display, interstitials, expandable ad units, video and rich media. You might also be interested in Holiday Advertising blogs we’ve written in the past. Each have a different take on the event and these are focused to Q4 Holidays, see;
If you haven’t already booked your Holiday Advertising, then don’t delay as the Gourmet Ads network often books out during key holiday dates throughout the year. Download your copy of the Gourmet Ads Media Kit which includes information on other key event days throughout the year that you should be booking.
Schwans Foods Top Online Retailer
March 1, 2009 by Benjamin Christie · Leave a Comment
Every ecommerce site on the planet is trying to work out how to increase their ecommerce site’s conversation rates by tweaking the site here and there. Literally just a 1% increase in conversion rates can make a significant impact on revenue and profitability. We’ve previously written about this in a blog on Landing Pages and Conversion Rates. but we’ve never discussed the impact on conversion rates on an ecommerce site till now.
What prompted this blow was when I saw by surprise, that the Top Online Retailer by Conversion Rate for January 2009 was a food site – www.schwans.com. As you can see from the graph, Schwans Foods converted over 50% of their traffic to customers. To be considered, e-commerce sites must have had a minimum of 500K unique visitors during the month and was based on visitor conversion rates, not session conversion rates.
For those that don’t know Schwans Foods does home delivery and mail order of frozen foods and dairy products including ice creams, entrees, meats and desserts throughout American. I don’t know what Schwans Foods has done to increase their conversion rate, it’s probably not just one thing but a host of changes. It could even be promotional emails, coupons or online food advertising which has driven the sales.
If was the owner of an ecommerce site, I’d be taking a look over the Schwans foods website looking for some of the techniques which has helped them got to the number one Top Online Retailer by Conversion Rate for January 2009.
Advertising Grocery Coupons
December 28, 2008 by Benjamin Christie · 1 Comment
Times are tough these days and most people are looking for ways to save money wherever possible. This includes using more coupons for grocery purchases. Particularly in America, discount coupon use is at an all time high and is only likely to rise as the economy is predicted to get even worse.
This is great news for food companies that want to sell more product. No matter how bad the economy is, people will continue to buy food, in fact we’ve seen a recent increase in grocery sales as restaurant sales decrease. Consumers will continue to seek out new recipes online and there is a great opportunity to promote grocery discount coupons along side the recipes. As a food marketer, you couldn’t ask for a more targeted opportunity than to advertise your product coupon right next to these recipes. You can’t get more targeted than that.
When you place a coupon in your ad, you are virtually guaranteeing increased product sales. Manufacturer’s coupons that are distributed in newspapers usually result in a 1% redemption rate. Why so low? These coupons are not targeted. Senior citizens receive coupons for baby formula and young mothers receive coupons for Motor Oil.
Studies have shown that people who view online recipes usually actually use them and often view them right before heading to the grocery store. Not only are you getting a targeted market, you are getting them while they’re ripe!
Finally, the greatest benefit about advertising your Grocery Coupons with Gourmet Ads is the tracking and statistics. It’s so easy to track your results of the campaign and you can truly see how successful your marketing campaign has been in a very short period of time.
To give your coupon campaign a boost, contact Gourmet Ads and request a Digital Media Plan.
Online Coupons Thrive
December 12, 2008 by Benjamin Christie · Leave a Comment
This week, USA Today wrote an article on how food and consumer packaged goods companies are using online coupons to drive sales. An interesting fact from the article is that 38.6 million Americans will use online coupons this year, up 22% from the same period last year.
Articles like this one certainly support the fact is that online coupons do drive business and sales. For companies that actually have online coupons and are seeking more promotion, Gourmet Ads can provide an ideal platform, as we reach an audience of main grocery buyers in the food and wine verticals.
The article can be read at More consumers click on ‘print’ for online coupon savings.
