85% of UK Consumers Seek ‘Some Sort’ of Discount

The UK is a nation of technologically-minded bargain hunters, with as many as 85% of consumers seeking some sort of discount, whether shopping in-store or online.

A number of other trends jump out of a new survey by predictive analytics firm Blue Yonder, including one that bodes well for incentive publishers. Of the 2,000 shoppers surveyed, four in ten claimed to use voucher codes on purchases.

Consumers are confident that shopping online would cop them a 20% discount on brick-and-mortar prices, and this figure rises with tech-savvy 16-34 year olds who have grown up around technology.

Overall, the stats show that the desire to grab a bargain is leading consumers – especially millennials – to use all methods at their disposal, whether this is price comparison sites, voucher codes, showrooming and even in-store bartering.

Just 15% of respondents reported doing nothing to get a good deal, while half claimed to use price comparison sites to bag a bargain, closely followed by voucher codes at 41%.

Incentives on the up

The findings are positive for incentive publishers, whose place in the retail space has been questioned by some in the performance marketing industry in recent months.

In a PerformanceIN article, digital agency 7thingsmedia put forward that the majority of its retail clients had been ‘keen to move away’ from voucher code sites to instead focus on content publishers.

However, the findings from Blue Yonder suggest that voucher codes continue to play a dominant role in online buying, with the millennial generation’s propensity to snag a quick deal bolstering this position into the foreseeable future.

Blue Yonder’s UK MD, Rakesh Harji, warned that retailers’ sales were “literally being taken from under their noses”, noting also that millennials are “far from frivolous” with their money.  

“What they are willing to pay is the new standard in pricing. It highlights the importance of optimising your online pricing and continuously analysing your customer behaviour and the competition to remain a player in the market.”