Part 2 of 3: 2012 Couponing Strategies
If you missed our first installment of this series, you can see it here 2012 Coupon Changes.
In the face of mounting economic pressures, Retailers have changed a number of things “in-store.”
Retail – Coupons, Pricing and Sales Promotions
Drug Stores
- We are not seeing the “in-store” cash programs offering a lot of offers
- Coupons are helping, but retail prices are increasing
- Liklihood of “Free” purchases is limited versus last year
Grocery Stores
- Coupons are requiring multiple purchases (ie. buy 2)
- In store promotion is increasing the number of purchases to take advantage of sale prices
- Strategy should be to plan prior to shopping with the weekly circular
Mass Merchandise
- Target and Walmart have become the beneficiary of increased couponers in their stores
- Their low price approach makes them more economical in the face of Drug Store and Grocery Store changes
These changes are initial changes in the first quarter of 2012. It remains to be seen what will happen in the near future. Here is our outlook below:
- Gas increasing to $5.00 by Memorial Day – increase in the price of all goods
- Prices across the board will increase consistent with the rise in Gas
- Couponing will increase to continue traffic through all channels
- Focus will be on combining both coupons and channel promotions across multiple retailers to maintain the savings we saw last year
- CONCLUSION: Couponing is going to get MORE COMPLEX. It will serve you well to participate in conversations within the Blogging community or on Facebook to find people to help if you have questions.
