Digital Coupons Increase 17% in First Half of 2015

The number of digitally-distributed coupons for consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands on key websites increased by 16.7 percent in the first half of this year, according to Kantar Media.

The increase was attributed primarily to food brands, said Darcy Douglas, director marx account solutions, at Kantar Media. Much of the growth took place within the dry grocery area of food, which historically is the leading department for digital offers.

Douglas added that the face values of digitally-distributed coupons were in flux during the first half of the year, with most departments increasing incentives.

“This fluctuation may signal a shift in the way manufacturers are leveraging digitally-distributed coupons to target shoppers online,” she said. “Manufacturers often apply different strategies and tactics to their digital promotions compared to print promotions and will adjust digital promotions on the fly, depending on how quickly shoppers respond to digital incentives across various websites.”

Kantar also examined trends in the incentives that various retail channels offered on digitally-distributed coupons. From January through June of this year, these incentives reached $1.72 across all areas and retail channels – a 4.2 percent increase year-over-year.  However, incentive levels varied significantly among different retail channels.

“Incentives are a critical part of a digitally-distributed promotion, and misaligning your incentives could mean the difference between a brand offer being clipped or printed or just ignored,” said Douglas.

The dollar channel websites had the lowest level of incentives in the first six months of 2015, at $1.41. That figure was 27 percent below the incentives offered on mass channel websites and significantly below drug channel websites, which offered the greatest incentive, at $1.94.