According to data emerging from the “e-Coupon Consumer Survey” carried out by Kiwari only 19% of Italians are loyal to the same products, without being influenced by discounts, while 48% are sensitive to the final price and promotions.
All mad about coupons therefore? It would seem so, especially if they are online. Not only 61% of consumers say that they know about them, but more than 5 million people, approx. 20% of Italian surfers, used them at least once during the past 12 months, so much so that in 2013 their popularity increased by 400% compared to the previous year.
Also the way in which the shopping list is drawn up is changing. From the traditional look in the pantry, people are now using PCs and smartphones to consult flyers and price comparison sites, but above all to look for coupons to print. So there is an abundance of websites like Sconty, a digital coupon distribution platform, whose proposals are conveyed by portals such as alfemminile, risparmiosuper, scontomaggio and dimmicosacerchi, which together give rise to the most important coupon network in Italy, with more than 100,000 registered users who in nine months have printed over 1 million coupons.
The commitment of this new consumer model is not limited to only looking for discounts and special offers. The watchword is “checking” which begins between the four walls of the home and continues among the supermarket shelves. In fact, while shopping more than 12% of Italians check the price of products on their smartphone and as many as 74% immediately check at the till that all shelf discounts, promotions and coupons are actually recorded.
Winning over consumers before they start to wend their way through the aisles of supermarkets has become the challenge for brands and retailers, engaged in the search for new promotional levers and innovative tools that leave the store to cover the last mile and defend their market share. There is an increasing number of brands that choose couponing to promote their products and support the sellout, with an increase in investments of 11% in 2013 and which for 2014 is estimated will exceed 40%.
