Mobile: Now the Standard in Couponing, Ahead of Print and Desktop

RetailMeNot and Placed Study Finds 42.8% Consumers Use Mobile to Search for Coupons

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Feb 04, 2016, 07:00 ET

AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- RetailMeNot, Inc., the world's largest digital offers marketplace (www.retailmenot.com/corp) and Placed, Inc., the leader in connecting ads to store visits, released a new study today titled "The State of Coupons and the Role of Mobile," which delivers one of the most extensive analyses to date around consumer trends in couponing and the impact that mobile has had in changing the shopping planning process.

Key findings, based on 10,843 consumer responses:

Coupons remain the shopper's primary savings method. More than 3 in 5 consumers actively seek out coupons in preference of other types of promotions.
Coupon users plan ahead before redeeming. 85% look for coupons (non-grocery) prior to visiting a retailer.
Mobile apps are the top go-to place to find coupons. More than 40% of consumers search for coupons using a mobile app.
Shoppers' identify their top 5 favorite shopping apps. In order of preference, the top shopping apps are Amazon, RetailMeNot, Walmart, Groupon and eBay.

"Coupons are no longer limited to Sunday circulars; however, coupons are still the number one incentive that consumers prefer," said Marissa Tarleton, CMO, North America, RetailMeNot, Inc. "Mobile has made coupons an on-demand activity, with nearly half of consumers preferring to look for coupons via a mobile app, the number one choice for conducting searches. Retailers who embrace this change in consumer behavior to deliver offers at all stages of the planning process are poised to capture sales in the moment."

Download "The State of Coupons and the Role of Mobile" at http://www.placed.com/resources/white-papers/mobile-now-the-standard-in-couponing

Coupons: Planning
This study found 3 in 5 consumers actively seek out coupons when planning to shop. Mobile apps have become the primary source for deal seeking: 42.8% of consumers typically use mobile to locate coupons, followed by print at 35.9% and across all platforms at 28.8% of consumers.

"These results highlight the need for retailers to have an omnichannel presence when it comes to offers," said David Shim, founder and CEO, Placed. "Print is the medium in which retailers have had decades to optimize against redemption, but the greenfield opportunity exists in mobile and omnichannel coupons."

Coupons: Usage + Apps
When surveyed on frequency of coupon usage, over half of consumers responded that they use a coupon in 1 of every 4 purchases or more frequently. The study also found that 75% of consumers used at least one app to assist in their shopping experience while in-store, and 27.5% used at least three apps.

"Based on the number of deal seekers combined with the shift to mobile and the few number of apps consumers turn to, it is critical that retailers build out an ecosystem of partnerships to reach mobile shoppers," said Tarleton.

Placed asked consumers what their favorite and most influential apps were when shopping. The answer highlighted three things: the popularity of Amazon, the importance of delivering a high-quality ominichannel experience to consumers and using mobile deals to convert shoppers into purchasers in-store. Savings app, RetailMeNot, tops the list at #2 of consumers' most preferred shopping apps.

Top 5 Apps
#1 – Amazon
#2 – RetailMeNot
#3 – Walmart
#4 – Groupon
#5 – eBay

RetailMeNot and Placed "State of Coupons and the Role of Mobile" Study
The RetailMeNot and Placed "State of Coupons and the Role of Mobile" research was through a combination of direct measurement and surveys across Placed Audience, which represents 1 in 300 adults in the U.S., where they've double opted in to share this data. Conducted in October and November 2015, this analysis includes survey responses from 10,843 consumers.

Download the full study at http://www.placed.com/resources/white-papers/mobile-now-the-standard-in-couponing

About Placed, Inc.
Placed (http://www.placed.com/) is the leader in location-driven insights and ad intelligence. Measuring billions of locations across the world's largest opt-in location audience, Placed provides the most comprehensive understanding of consumers' offline behaviors. Connecting the physical and digital worlds, Placed is the industry standard currency for brands, agencies, and publishers to measure ad exposure to store visit, target location at scale, and deliver actionable insights into consumer behavior.

Founded in January 2011, Placed is headquartered in Seattle and is backed by Madrona Venture Group and Two Sigma Ventures.

About RetailMeNot, Inc.
RetailMeNot, Inc. (http://www.retailmenot.com/corp/) operates the world's largest marketplace for digital offers. The company enables consumers across the globe to find hundreds of thousands of digital offers for their favorite retailers and brands. During the 12 months ended September 30, 2015, RetailMeNot, Inc. experienced nearly 730 million visits to its websites, and during the three months ended September 30, 2015, RetailMeNot, Inc. averaged 18.6 million mobile unique visitors per month. In 2014, RetailMeNot, Inc. estimates $4.4 billion in paid retailer sales were attributable to consumer traffic from digital offers in its marketplace. The RetailMeNot, Inc. portfolio includes RetailMeNot.com, the largest digital offer marketplace in the United States; RetailMeNot.ca in Canada; VoucherCodes.co.uk, the largest digital offers marketplace in the United Kingdom; RetailMeNot.de in Germany; Actiepagina.nl, a leading digital offers site in the Netherlands; ma-reduc.com, a leading digital offer site in France; Poulpeo.com, a leading digital offers site with cash back in France; and Deals2Buy.com, a digital offers site in North America. RetailMeNot, Inc. is listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbol "SALE." Investors interested in learning more about the company can visit http://investor.retailmenot.com.