Research reveals that consumers will use coupons to save on the cost of Christmas
New research from Gfk NOP has revealed that consumers will be turning to coupons and vouchers to make their budgets stretch further throughout the festive period.
The research commissioned by coupon specialist Valassis found that 32% of women are looking for more promotional offers than they were this time last year (versus 27% of all shoppers) with 65% of shoppers saying they plan to use ‘money off’ product coupons when doing their Christmas grocery shopping.
Eighteen percent of shoppers confessed to being genuinely worried about how much they will spend on groceries this Christmas, with the rise in the cost of living and food prices cited as the main reasons for an increasingly frugal approach to promotions. Almost a quarter of shoppers seeking out more promotional offers said they simply had less money than at this time last year.
Charles D’Oyly, managing director of Valassis UK, explained: “The economic climate is making it harder for shoppers to get into the Christmas spirit this year as they carefully count their pennies in the face of rising gas, electricity, fuel and food costs, and read daily headlines about recession and major eurozone concerns. What is particularly noticeable is the declining consumer confidence. When we commissioned a similar survey in April 2011, only 12% of the respondents said they had less money than a year ago but within seven months this has almost doubled (23%).”
The research indicated that it is the wealthier AB consumers who are using the coupons most with 74% of people in this demographic planning to use money-off vouchers (compared to an average of 59%) and 26% looking out for more products on promotion when they do their Christmas shopping.
However only 8% of shoppers stated that they would remain loyal to their supermarket of choice if other retailers were offering better Christmas shopping deals. Echoing this point, 42% of shoppers said they plan to shop in more stores to redeem all the store specific coupons and vouchers that they have, with this viewpoint being most prominent among the 16-34 age group (59%).
D’Oyly concluded: “With consumer finances stretched to breaking point, brand and retailer loyalty seems to be in short supply. Retailers and brands therefore need to fight hard to retain customers by offering them promotional incentives that can drive down costs and bring more Christmas cheer to UK households up and down the country.”
