Why use coupons instead of putting an item on sale?

bobcat

bobcat

Well-known Member
Location
Northern Calif
We all know how coupons work, but it seems that the why may be a bit more confusing.
I understand the reason behind loyalty cards to give discounts for shoppers who are returning customers, It makes sense.
I'm just not very clear on why people are required to clip a coupon (Physically or digitally) in order to get a special price.

Is it just psychological in that a sale feels more passive, and a coupon feels more like a reward? Is it a dopamine thing?
Maybe the thinking is that poor people have more time on their hands to hunt for coupons, but I'm not sure if that's always true.
It seems that price-sensitive shoppers would hunt for sales, and customers who don't care would just buy items whether on sale or not.
That seems to be Costco's method anyway. IDK
 
I tried the coupon thing years ago and then the coupons seemed to only be items I wouldn't usually buy or brand.
So I didn't base my shopping on it after that.
 
bobcat said:
Is it just psychological in that a sale feels more passive, and a coupon feels more like a reward?
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It's an interesting question, and I think what you wrote above is somewhat of the answer. Stores vary and even combine tactics such as coupons and just plain sales to target different markets and shopping habits.

When I buy at one particular drug store, along with my receipt, they give me a coupon good for a certain percent off on my next purchase, and it's only valid for a limited number of days.

A colorful brochure of flavorful foods arriving in the mail that has discount coupons included may bring customers in that wouldn't otherwise appear.
 
We donā€™t use coupons at all. We base our shopping and our meals on the things that go on sale each week. Every Thursday where we live thereā€™s a flyer that comes out in a few stores we shop at. All the stores are mere minutes away. We go online for the flyers. If pork chops are on sale that week then one of our meals for that week will be pork chops. We shop at Costco every 2 months since itā€™s so far away.
 
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I worked for a large retailer we had our own in store coupons .... usually hung by item.... or had signs that clearly said price w/ coupon for digital ones... IF people did not click on coupon in the app or pick up coupon by item etc they did not get the sale price.

When we spoke about it to marketing people, they said people like coupons but a certain % will not use them so in fact paying full price. the marketing group felt in end they came out ahead seemed like a bit of bait and switch to me but as they pointed out the customer had easy access to a coupon and chose not to use it...
 
Jeni said:
I worked for a large retailer we had our own in store coupons .... usually hung by item.... or had signs that clearly said price w/ coupon for digital ones... IF people did not click on coupon in the app or pick up coupon by item etc they did not get the sale price.

When we spoke about it to marketing people, they said people like coupons but a certain % will not use them so in fact paying full price. the marketing group felt in end they came out ahead seemed like a bit of bait and switch to me but as they pointed out the customer had easy access to a coupon and chose not to use it...
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It's interesting too that, depending on the cashier, if you say you forgot the coupon, they will give you the coupon price anyway, so I guess it's just hoops to jump through, but not strictly adhered to. I think even in medications not covered by a Medicare plan, you can use Good Rx coupons, and if I'm not mistaken, sometimes you don't even have to provide them. They just apply the discount if you mention it.
 
bobcat said:
It's interesting too that, depending on the cashier, if you say you forgot the coupon, they will give you the coupon price anyway, so I guess it's just hoops to jump through, but not strictly adhered to. I think even in medications not covered by a Medicare plan, you can use Good Rx coupons, and if I'm not mistaken, sometimes you don't even have to provide them. They just apply the discount if you mention it.
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if it is price ones easy enough to honor.
the money off ones is cashed in and the company offering coupon pays stores face value plus * cents for processing.
 
Discounting, has evolved here, in Sainsbury's
supermarket anyway, by using a hand held
scanner, discounts given to the individual,
according to previous purchases, to start I
am required to scan my card, to activate it
and let the system know that I am shopping,
then I touch the screen at "Show My Discounts",
I then see a list of the things that are on offer
to me, always stuff that I bought at earlier
times, there are fewer discount stickers on
the shelves now, mainly for those who are
not using the self scanners.

Electronic coupons.

Mike.
 
Grocery stores here never had em as far as I know, but ages ago the drugstore did. You got an advertising brochure at home in the mail and had to cut the coupons out. That's long ago. Now every shop, also grocery stores, have a card and an app. You get stuff for free or cheaper with the card or app.
 
bobcat said:
We all know how coupons work, but it seems that the why may be a bit more confusing.
I understand the reason behind loyalty cards to give discounts for shoppers who are returning customers, It makes sense.
I'm just not very clear on why people are required to clip a coupon (Physically or digitally) in order to get a special price.

Is it just psychological in that a sale feels more passive, and a coupon feels more like a reward? Is it a dopamine thing?
Maybe the thinking is that poor people have more time on their hands to hunt for coupons, but I'm not sure if that's always true.
It seems that price-sensitive shoppers would hunt for sales, and customers who don't care would just buy items whether on sale or not.
That seems to be Costco's method anyway. IDK
Click to expand...
I always thought of it as this...

A sale guarantees that everyone who buys gets a discount.

But a coupon only guarantees that the conscientious shopper gets a discount.

Also, food product manufacturers offer coupons on their product packaging which incentivizes future purchases.

It must work because it goes on and on as a practice.

I've never used a coupon that I can remember.
 
I still use a few coupons.

We still have a couple of grocery chains that publish paper flyers with coupons and it seems like such a waste to me for them to pay the printing costs and to pay cashiers and back office folks to handle them, tabulate sales, etcā€¦

My preference would be for merchants to just charge a price that guarantees a fair margin of profit without coupons, sales, etcā€¦

I went into Costco with a friend on Saturday and tried to imagine if there would be any benefit to me paying a membership fee for the privilege of giving them my business.

It may work for some but it wouldnā€™t be cost effective to me.

Iā€™ll continue to muddle along shopping the dips and looking for managerā€™s markdown stickers.

IMO the best cost saving strategy is simply to plan meals around the foods that are normally low priced and stay away from the more spendy choicesā€¦easier said than done.

Face it, weā€™re spoiled and the merchants understand it all too well. šŸ˜‰šŸ¤­šŸ˜‚
 
Grampa Don said:
Paper coupons are feedback to the store and manufacturers that their marketing is effective. In other words, people are reading their ads.
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I think you're right. I guess if it's a manufacturer coupon, then the store probably gets reimbursed by the manufacturer, so it's no cost to the store. But if it's a store coupon, then the store bears the cost discount just as they would a sale. In the end, it probably has more to do with marketing strategy than anything. IDK
 
I'm still not sure how Good Rx coupons work, because I don't think they are from the manufacturer and they are not the retailer. They are from Good Rx, right? Maybe Good Rx gets reimbursed by the drug companies. I imagine that's how coupon websites work. Not sure of the logic there though. If one goes there to get a coupon, it doesn't mean they saw an ad or anything. They just want a discount on whatever they're buying it would seem.
 
bobcat said:
I'm still not sure how Good Rx coupons work, because I don't think they are from the manufacturer and they are not the retailer. They are from Good Rx, right? Maybe Good Rx gets reimbursed by the drug companies. I imagine that's how coupon websites work. Not sure of the logic there though. If one goes there to get a coupon, it doesn't mean they saw an ad or anything. They just want a discount on whatever they're buying it would seem.
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If it didn't pay off somehow, they wouldn't do it. It's all about money.
 
Nathan said:
Coupons and gift cards are tools with which to get the customer in the store. Once there, it's likely that more goods will be sold.
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I think you hit the nail on the head Nathan. Although my late DIL had the coupon thing down so pat, she'd walk out of the store with a cart full of groceries for which she paid next to nothing. She even conducted a couple of couponing seminars.
 
Coupons are often used instead of site-wide sales
to maximize profits through price discrimination, targeting discounts only to price-sensitive shoppers rather than lowering prices for everyone. Coupons drive higher, more targeted traffic, build brand loyalty, encourage the purchase of other, non-discounted items, and track marketing effectiveness.
 
bobcat said:
We all know how coupons work, but it seems that the why may be a bit more confusing.
I understand the reason behind loyalty cards to give discounts for shoppers who are returning customers, It makes sense.
I'm just not very clear on why people are required to clip a coupon (Physically or digitally) in order to get a special price.

Is it just psychological in that a sale feels more passive, and a coupon feels more like a reward? Is it a dopamine thing?
Maybe the thinking is that poor people have more time on their hands to hunt for coupons, but I'm not sure if that's always true.
It seems that price-sensitive shoppers would hunt for sales, and customers who don't care would just buy items whether on sale or not.
That seems to be Costco's method anyway. IDK
Click to expand...
Saving money isn't necessarily a 'poor people' thing..
In fact, I had a weird experience a few years ago- received coupons in the mail for product I didn't use, and couldn't get homeless people to accept them because they 'didn't want anybody to think they were poor'!!
 
I got a new set of glasses/spectacles last October,
when I collected them I was given a "Golden" offer,
I could get a second pair, to the same prescription
for half price!

Last week I went back and ordered another pair, ones
that go dark in bright sunshine, I still drive and the
sun in the spring and autumn is blinding, so that one
coupon worked for me, I save Ā£132.

Mike.
 
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