Getting Tired of "Coupons"

[Sonikku]

Coupons I can deal with. Rebates piss me off. I check fatwallet sometimes and I don't know if the discount they show is instant or a mail in rebate until I click. So annoying.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Coupons I can deal with. Rebates piss me off. I check fatwallet sometimes and I don't know if the discount they show is instant or a mail in rebate until I click. So annoying.

That's because that place has gone to SH** after Rakuten.com bought them out, and all of the n00bs, and even some staff members, aren't courteous enough to put "AR" in the title.

 

[poofyhairguy]

I guarantee you there is data somewhere that says when a consumer buys more product A, they also tend to buy more product B and/or product C. So, if you give a discount on product A you can make more money selling extra B and C. That is just one possible example.

I like that though, because you still have a choice.

Its why Microcenter gives such nice discounts on CPUs and Mobos. They figure a lot of people will use that as the start of a build and need to buy high margin stuff with it like a case or cables.

So a guy like me who just goes in and buys the negative margin deal still wins, because we don't HAVE TO buy that other crap.

camelcamelcamel is a godsend.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

True but that purpose has never been to lower the price to the consumer. Lowering the price is a tool the retailer uses to accomplish other goals.

It is unfortunate that retailers play these games....

Wrong and wrong.

For coupons, the goal has ALWAYS been to lower the price to the consumer. Period. Sales drive sales and in groceries price points are critical. People will drive across town to save .50 cents a pound on ground beef and .25 cents on a loaf of bread. And for new items, coupons are essential. You're trying to break into a market segment where people have a favorite brand already. They have their cereal and their salad dressing and their spaghetti sauce and their laundry detergent. For a new product to be successful it has to be successful RIGHT NOW. Margins are too low and shelf space too valuable for retailers and manufacturers to keep slow movers around hoping they catch on eventually. If you're not a hit in the first month you're gone. The only way to get people to buy your salad dressing or cereal instead of their previous favorite is with a lower price. Shoppers are cost conscious and a .50 cent coupon is enough to get buyers to try something new that they would not go near without that coupon. The retailer is ALWAYS looking for ways to give the buyer a lower price because that's what gets them in the door. Data mining is fairly new, that's merely the retailers and manufacturers looking to get a better return on their dollar. They have to give the coupons and getting information in return is just common sense. Why not get a better return on something the market forces you to do and that you're going to be doing anyway?

Nobody is playing games. Shoppers want bargains and in no market segment is that nearly as important as it is on groceries. You HAVE to offer them something special, if you don't a different store down the block will. When margins are already razor slim and costs like labor, rent and energy are the same for 3 different retailers in the same area, they're looking for new and innovative ways to provide a lower price. They're paying the same for a product at wholesale, they're paying the cashiers the same, they're paying $x.xx per square foot for rent and they're paying $x.xx per kilowatt hour to keep the lights on and the dairy products refrigerated. Smart merchandising and data mining are where the stores have to separate themselves. They can use the information to save the shoppers money by making sure their advertising dollar goes as far as possible, to sell additional impulse items, to carry the right mix of products, to set up the store the right way to gain the most purchases. Getting the average customer to spend $28 per trip instead of $26 per trip is the difference between success and going out of business. And you don't get them to spend that extra money simply by jacking up the prices, that only drives them away. Information is key, you have to know your customers, what they buy, what price points they demand, what promotions get them into the store and what gets them to buy that extra item or two that are the difference between your business succeeding and failing.