Digital Coupon Events Grow Almost 60 Percent: Study

More manufacturers are distributing, and more consumers are using digital coupons that ever before, with digital coupon events for the year-to-date ending September 30 increasing 59.9 over last year, according to a new study released by Kantar Media.

The number of manufacturers distributing digital coupon offers for the period was 267, an increase of 23 percent compared to the 217 manufacturers last year. “Digital coupons are becoming a core component within the overall promotion mix for Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) manufacturers,” said Mark Nesbitt, president of Kantar Media Intelligence. “As with traditional FSI coupons, consumers actively engage with digital coupon Web sites in the home to make purchase decisions. Digital promotion tactics continue to evolve as manufacturers gain experience and fine-tune best practices related to key Web sites, face value, expiration, timing, and other factors. Marx helps our clients break through the competitive digital promotion clutter to deliver the right offer to the right consumer.”

Refrigerated foods led the increase in digital coupon activity within the food segment with a 1.5 point increase in share of activity during the past year, contributing to an overall share of activity for the food segment of 67.3 percent, according to the stufy.

Face value and face value per unit decreased in four of five food segments over the past year, with dry grocery having the only increase over last year in face value and face value per unit (up 4.5 percent and 4.2 percent, respectively).

On retailer Web sites monitored by Kantar’s Marx tracking service, 286 manufacturers ran digital promotion events last year, 5.5 more than the 271 manufacturers that participated in retailer promotion events using traditional print FSI vehicles during the same period.

“Digital coupon events on retailer websites are becoming an attractive opportunity for manufacturers to align with their strategic retail partners in order to drive shopping trips and increase sales,” said Bob Cristofono, VP of sales at Marx.

Kantar Media studies multimedia momentum through analysis of print, radio, TV, internet, cinema, mobile, social media, and outdoor placements worldwide.