DISQUS

Mike Allen · 1 year ago

"About 85 million Americans are expected to shop online today as they seek savings through Cyber Monday sales" (InformationWeek - http://poprl.com/6n9). Interestingly, they reported that Black Friday was the busiest day of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend with 73.6 million people visiting stores and web sites for sales. Takeaway: More are expected to shop online today (Cyber Monday) than all shoppers combined on Black Friday.

Mike Allen · 1 year ago

Here's my theory of coupons. Coupons are only needed for items with very elastic demand curves -- items where the influence of price is strong on the likelihood of purchasing or not. That's why we don't see many coupons for gas, bread, milk, healthcare and other essentials.

If there are lots of competitors (Pizza Hut or Dominoes, for example) or alternatives (pizza or chicken) then coupons become an important marketing strategy. Coupons essentially allow the retailer to charge two different prices for the same product and attract a broader segment of the population. In economist terms, coupons shift the demand curve since they lower the price and thus increase consumer demand for the product.

The rest of the equation is to develop a strategy that optimizes coupon delivery and effectiveness. That requires testing and measurement to get right.

JEBCommerce · 1 year ago

Wow, great comment Mike. I totally agree. I think that demand curve also gets shifted, and those products most likely influenced by price increase, as the economy turns downward.

Kevin Strawbridge · 1 year ago

The interesting part about coupon sites is that they are becoming a lense between the retailer and the consumer. Both side of the equation need the fulcrum that is the marketing and technology of coupon sites to bring about transactions that build LTV.