Is it still about Paper Coupons?

Worked with paper coupon redemption analytics from the very beginning at very big CPG.   Is it about their physical nature?     Will there always be room for the  paper coupon?  Would not have guessed it, but the statistics still show it.

Will America’s love for paper coupons ever die?
by Guest contributor   MarketingCharts staff in Retailwire 

Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is a summary of articles from MarketingCharts, which provides up-to-the-minute data and research to marketers.

Despite a slight rise in the preference for paperless discounts, more adults still prefer paper coupons, according to the latest annual survey of coupon use from Valassis.

Fully half of adults in the U.S. prefer to get coupons in the mail, a figure that has continued to rise over the past three years. The proportion of respondents who prefer to get coupons from a coupon book found in a newspaper continues to rise as well, from 42 percent last year to 44 percent this year.

Some 42 percent agree that they prefer to get paperless discounts from the internet that they can download onto their store shopper/loyalty card. And even though a smartphone offers the convenience of carrying coupons anywhere, just 38 percent say they prefer paperless discounts on their smartphone/mobile device.  .... " 

Couponing and Retailing

Some of the earliest data analyses I did in CPG were evaluating the efficacy of coupons.  The debate continues about their value, now in many different media.  In Retailwire.

Kimberly Clark Tracks Coupons Directly

Kimberly-Clark Gets Serious With Its Digital-Coupon Tracking
Marketer Building Its Own Deal Database and CRM Programs

Packaged-goods marketers have been shifting to digital coupons from paper for years, but most of those electronic deals aren't individually coded. That's a big miss for marketers because the coupons can't be used to build customer-relationship-management programs that track how people use and share deals. .... " 

Google Zavers

Zavers now about a year plus after launch:

About Zavers by Google
Zavers is a fast and easy way to offer the right coupons to the right shoppers, and track  redemption in real time. Shoppers can find  manufacturer discounts on their favorite retailer websites or across the web, and add the digital  coupons to their online accounts. Savings are automatically deducted at checkout when  shoppers swipe their rewards card or type in their phone numbers — no scanning or  sorting necessary.

With Zavers, retailers can reward loyal customers with relevant coupons, extend incentive programs, and speed up settlements. For manufacturers, Zavers provides the ability to manage and track the effectiveness of coupon distributions, giving marketers access to realtime redemption data so  they can tailor and optimize their campaigns  ...  "

P&G Everyday

This was brought up me to me again, P&G Everyday, emphasizing the Olympics.  Had not looked at it for for some time. Nicely done, very pictorial.  Contains coupons and samples.

" .... P&G everyday™ is an online platform created by Procter & Gamble, a company that has been establishing brands for the past 175 years, helping people around the world have extraordinary days ... every day. ... 

Our family of innovative and trusted brands make every day just a little better for billions of consumers around the world. Procter & Gamble has passionate employees living in and serving the people of 80 countries around the world. Please visit http://www.pg.com for the latest news and in-depth information about Procter & Gamble and how its brands touch and improve everyday life. ... " 

Targeting with Mobile: Coupons are Moving

In Forbes:  Good overall view of how promotion couponing is moving to mobile:

" ... Those coupons that used to be available from red dispensers on grocery store shelves and have moved more recently to offers printed at checkout, are increasingly moving to mobile phones. That’s courtesy of Catalina, a marketing company which helps retailers and grocery chains understand what individual customers want and then goes to work encouraging them to buy.

The challenge is staggering enough to make you wonder why anybody goes into the grocery business. All those long aisles with thousands of food and health products are widely ignored by shoppers who typically buy less than one percent of the Universal Product Codes (UPCs) in a grocery store. ... " 

SNCR Millennial Report Abstracts

SNCR Supported Study ....  (Society of New Consumer Research)

Millennials are leading the social commerce movement. They are more likely than any other group to like/follow/pin companies and brands. They are enticed by coupons and discounts, purchase hair/beauty products and apparel, often using mobile phones and tablets. They are multi-channel shoppers, buying both online and in-store. This cohort is active online in ways that allow them to connect, organize and stay informed and shop.  ...  by Dr. Nora Ganim Barnes, Ph.D., and Ava Lescault, of the Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Dr. Barnes is a Senior Fellow and Research Co-Chair of the Society for New Communications Research.

Key findings of this study include:
- Facebook is the most popular platform among Millennials when looking to interact with companies/brands online.  Sixty-two percent of respondents currently like at least one brand on Facebook.  Twitter has 23% of respondents following a brand and Pinterest has 11% of Millennials pinning a brand (Nike is the most liked/followed brand). 

- Across all platforms, the top reason why Millennials ‘like/follow/pin’ is to support a brand.  Being unlike any other generation, Millennials pick and choose not only which information they will be exposed to, but also how the information is delivered.  By liking/following/pinning a particular brand they support, Millennials are customizing their exposure to advertising based on their preferences.

- Of those who reported they had never purchased something after liking, following or pinning it online, offering a coupon or discount was the most frequently cited lead conversion tactic for Millennials.  Respondents indicated this is the top motivator leading to a sale.  Similarly, Millennials indicated that companies giving exclusive offers or appealing to their interests were more likely to see an increase in sales as a result of online interaction.

- Relative to users of larger platforms, Pinterest has the highest sales conversion rate.   The user-friendly highly visual design of the website facilitates information search and evaluation of alternatives.  Pinterest makes the transaction process flow with optimal ease for consumers. 

- Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest contribute to both online and in-store purchasing.  Seventy-seven percent of Facebook users, 66% of Twitter users and 63% of Pinterest users are multi-channel shoppers.

Full Study Report  

Philips Intelligent Store Lighting

In GigaOM: Remember seeing this at a Philips visit.  A retail approach we looked at.  The integrating into existing retail infrastructure is key. " .... The Dutch tech giant has come up with a way to use connected lighting as the basis for in-store location-based services, such as finding items and offering highly targeted coupons. .... " 

Update:  More on LED lighting that tracks.

NantMobile and Macy's

A former colleague of mine now runs NantMobile.  In the press it is reported that they are working with Macy's    Its interesting too that the company is owned by major Chinese retailer BJ Hualian.   And more on the Macy's work. ( NantMobile, A NantWorks LLC company, The Beijing Hualian Group )

" ... NantMobile’s core product, iD Browser, is a mobile recognition platform that allows people to browse the physical world around them, unlocking digital experiences, coupons, content and information from featured brands that they know, like and trust.

Today consumers are limited to browsing the web. Why should we limit them? Imagine if consumers could browse the world, any time, any place, unlocking the physical world with digital content related to your brand. Now the physical world is browsable.

With your mobile device, the iD Browser, and our patented recognition technology, we are transforming the world wide web into the web enabled world. Get your branded presence up and running on the iD Browser today.NantMobile’s core product, iD Browser, is a mobile recognition platform that allows people to browse the physical world around them, unlocking digital experiences, coupons, content and information from featured brands that they know, like and trust. ...  " 

iBeacon Lands with InMarket

In Digital Trends: (Includes a video):

" ... Apple’s location-sensing iBeacon technology appears to be of growing interest to retailers and app developers, with mobile shopping startup inMarket the latest company to announce it’s making use of the tech.

Initially partnering with supermarkets Safeway and Giant Eagle, inMarket’s iBeacon Mobile to Mortar platform sends out a variety of information to iPhone-owning store visitors, so long as they’ve opted in to use the service via one of its compatible apps, such as CheckPoints.

By enabling the service, shoppers can expect to receive notifications to their Apple handset such as discount coupons, loyalty rewards, and reminders about what to pick up.

“Besides Apple themselves, we are the first to take this groundbreaking technology out of beta tests and into consumers’ lives throughout the heartland of the US,” Todd Dipaola, CEO and co-founder of inMarket, said in a release. ... " 

Virtual Reality Shopping

A long time experimental area in our enterprise.  Starting with Blackberry phone alerts, then on shelf displays, then cart mounted tablets. The insertion of online shopping dynamics have changed the context.    Are we ready for success?   The need for data and analytics for this is obvious.

Virtual reality technology could change shopping experience 
Food and other retailers are using virtual reality technology and creating augmented-reality applications to improve store layouts and the consumer shopping experience. Technology and retail experts predict that grocery store customers soon will receive coupons for cereal on their tablets or Google Glass technology while browsing the cereal aisle or receive health information about soy milk on their iPads while walking through the dairy department. ... " 

Retailers Embrace Digital Coupons

Via Steve Frenda, Managing Director, The Path to Purchase Institute  in Linkedin

Well done piece authored by Google's Zavers

The Tipping Point: Retailers Embrace Digital Couponing.
Lots of interesting statistics and background in this article.

" ... Over the last two decades, technology has helped put security and distribution controls in place to  build the online coupon system that we see today. With the rise of smartphone usage, we see an  even more dramatic shift for consumers away from traditional clip-and-save paper coupons and  towards digital coupons. In a recent Google survey, 59% of consumers said they have loaded  coupons onto a loyalty card (from mobile or web).1  To understand the digital coupon mindset of retailers, Google commissioned Retail TouchPoints to  survey nearly 150 retail executives. .... " 

The link above is to a Dropbox Download.

Kroger Knows Your Shopping Habits

In Forbes:  Good overview of what is fairly common practice in the use of analytics in retail/CPG today. " ... Working with dunnhumby, the customer data specialist which so impressed the UK’s Tesco that the grocer bought the firm, Kroger tracks each customer as an individual.... 

Those quarterly mailers contain 12 coupons specific to an individual household and are carefully designed. The upper left may offer a slightly esoteric product like a special cheese, while Tide may be lower on the flyer and the last two coupons might be experiments, such as adjacent products — a purchaser of baby food who doesn’t buy diapers might see an offer for diapers, for example. Eighty percent of dunnhumby’s effort is focused on what it knows about a customer and 20 percent is focused on discovery. ... " 

Supermarket Apps Working

I had a conversation with someone a few weeks ago about the difference in engagement quality between loyalty cards and store smartphone apps.  We also discussed IOS Passbook as a means to deliver loyalty cards.  In Supermarket News, word of a study that indicates 20% of shoppers have downloaded store Apps.  High finding, I thought.

" ... Mobile applications can be instrumental to driving engagement at supermarkets, according to a study by Match ShopLab and Novartis Consumer Health. Among the primary household shoppers surveyed, 20% have downloaded a food-store app. Of the shoppers who use the apps, 80% do so for the coupons, and an overlapping 57% like being offered specials. But among nonusers, more than seven in 10 did not know the apps existed, and one in four didn't think the apps were worth running ... "

Boosting in-store Sales

In Journal Gazette: On boosting in-store sales:

" More food retailers are getting in on the technology game, offering multiple options to boost convenience and compete with online retailers. Kroger's in-store technology lets cashiers scan mobile gadgets to access customers' loyalty points, coupons and other data; the chain also allows prescription renewal via smartphone. Wal-Mart Stores and other retailers also are beefing up their tech arsenal to increase speed and convenience -- factors that drive consumers to shop online. ... " 

Smarter Packaging Yet

A long time interest in making packaging more intelligent.  Making it a broader part of the intelligence network.  Now we have devices in the hands of consumers that can interpret images and codes,  All the possibilities are broadening now,   More from Popai.  " ... Think about it: you’re walking through a supermarket aisle, and all around you, products are attempting to engage you, whether by carefully crafted design and color; video; winking at you or even talking to you. You can scan coupons on products and find you’ve won something free or become alerted to promotions. At the drugstore, your prescription label boasts an embedded calculator to help you determine dosage. It’s all happening, and it’s all just the tip of the iceberg. ... " 

Adjusting to the Digital Landscape

Well, yes, hope its not too late.  " ... As consumers turn to digital and mobile sources for product information and purchases, retailers have no choice but to adjust, experts say. For example, through partnerships with food-makers, QR codes can provide product information and coupons, as well as an entertaining video for children shopping with parents. ... ".  

Passport Updates to Transform Shopping

Will Apple passport updates that will include NFC wireless transform shopping?  In Mashable." ... A newly discovered patent application hints that Apple is planning to update its Passbook digital-coupon storage app with Near-Field Communication (NFC) technology. This means future iPhone and iPod touch products may come with location-based technology that displays relevant coupons and gift cards as soon as you're near a store. .... "   

Target Uses Passbook

Target stores has announced that they will be providing coupons through Apples' Passbook App, available on the new IOS6 operating system on iPhones.

More Paperless Coupons

Another example of paperless coupons, here for Tops. Adding promotions to your loyalty account is increasing in frequency.  " .... The Click-to-Card coupons have been added to the Coupon Central area on the Tops website, which also offers SmartSource printable coupons and lists Catalina checkout coupon offers. Customers add the Click-to-Card coupons to their Tops BonusPlus or BonusCard and redeem them at checkout. ...  "