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FSIs

Online Consumers to Spend Less in Stores, Slightly More Online, for Holidays

Online consumers intend to spend less in stores during this holiday season than last, but slightly more online - where they expect free shipping and deals not available in stores, according to The Consumer Internet Barometer from The Conference Board and TNS.

Bargain hunting will remain the driving force behind online sales, notes the quarterly report, which surveys 10,000 households across the...
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Wal-Mart Lawyers Tackle Black Friday Ad Sites, Target Search Engines

Last week, some Black Friday websites received “leaked” Wal-Mart ads regarding deals available at the big-box. But less than two weeks before the shopper’s holiday, Wal-Mart’s legal team has sent takedown notices to those sites, writes MarketingVox.

Moreover, Wal-Mart is apparently also targeting search engines that linked to the content. Lawyers told SearchAllDeals.com, a search...
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Consumers to Open Wallets, Enjoy Holidays

Shoppers are tired of bad news and will open their wallets this holiday season: Consumers say holiday rituals are more important this year as they take comfort with friends and family, according to new research by IRI.

Moreover, consumers say they plan to make better use of merchandising and promotions to maintain appearances.

Among the main findings of IRI’s survey, “Rethinking Retail: Holiday...
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Consumers to Spend Less, Use Coupons This Holiday Season

Nearly half of US online adults (45%) plan to spend less money on gifts this holiday season than last because of the state of the economy, and one in five plan to spend significantly less, according to a Harris Interactive survey commissioned by RetailMeNot.com.

Fully 89% of online adults think coupons are a great way to save money, and about a third (35%) of those who will be spending less...
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Consumers Using More Coupons

Seven in ten consumers (72%) use more coupons now than six months ago, some three-quarters of them (equating to about half of all consumers) ascribe the increased use to the troubled economy, according to a recent study by Prospectiv, writes Brandweek.

About 8 in 10 (81%) of the 1,386 consumers surveyed say they use coupons for grocery items. About half (51%) of those polled said their main...
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Retailers Busting out Extreme Back-to-School Discounts

To encourage shoppers to buy more back-to-school items, retailers often implement “loss leader” strategies: that is, selling items at a loss or even giving them away in hopes that the reductions will attract shoppers who will then buy other, more profitable items.

This year, the discounts are earlier, deeper, and more creative than in previous seasons, writes the New York Times.

Fifty cents...
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Online ‘Coupon Clickers’ Number 36 Million

The number of people turning to the web for coupons has soared to 36 million in 2008 - an increase of 10 million people from 2005 - and almost a quarter of the 148 million Americans who use coupons now find them online, according to a Coupons, Inc. study.

And nearly half of those “Coupon Clickers” are between the ages of 22 and 44, the Simmons/Experian Research and Coupons, Inc. survey, the...
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Back-to-School Specials via Mobile Phone

Mobile coupon campaigns - where consumers subscribe or text to receive offers from desired retail brands - are being put in place for the back-to-school retail season, writes Internet Retailer.

Stage Stores Inc. is sending deals to shoppers who opt in to the program through Cellfire.com. The Bealls, Palais Royal and Stage brand fashion and footwear coupons can be redeemed at one of 398 Stage...
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Gas Prices Force US Consumers to Reduce Discretionary Spending

More US consumers are taking steps to compensate for rising gas prices, with nearly two-thirds (63%) reducing their spending - up 18 percentage points since June 2007, and up 14 points in the last six months alone - according to new research from The Nielsen Company, MarketingCharts writes.

More consumers are combining shopping trips (78%), and more than half of consumers are now eating out less...
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FSI Coupon Face Value Up 7.3% to Record Level, $169B Worth Distributed

The weighted-average face value (WAFV) for free-standing insert (FSI) coupons increased 7.3%, to $1.34, in the first half of 2008 (compared with 1H07) - the highest WAFV on record, according to Marx Promotion Intelligence, a division of TNS media intelligence - via MarketingCharts.

Manufacturers delivered (via FSIs in Sunday newspapers) more than $169 billion in consumer incentives in 1H08 - up...
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