Daily Deals for the Holidays
According to a Local Deals Survey from PriceGrabber, 59 percent of respondents were planning to use daily deal websites for holiday or special occasion gift purchases.
When asked to select all of the holidays and special occasions they plan to purchase a gift for using a daily deal website, 60 percent said Christmas or Hanukkah, 56 percent indicated a birthday, and 23 percent plan to purchase an anniversary gift. The survey of 2,088 U.S. online consumers was conducted from May 20 to 25.
PriceGrabber assumed the daily deal popularity may work out well for gift-getting foodies. Asked to select all of the categories in which they search for local deals, 45 percent cited the food and dining category, with shopping a close second, at 40. Thirty-one percent indicated entertainment and events, and 25 percent search for hotels and travel-related deals.
“The emerging popularity of the experiential gift — such as eating in a restaurant one might not otherwise be able to afford — largely ties into the joy consumers seem to find in sharing discounts with others through the new trend of social buying,” said Graham Jones, general manager of PriceGrabber, in a statement. “Given that the holidays are a time to reconnect with loved ones, we anticipate that fine-dining experiences will continue to be high on wish lists come December.”
The survey also found that consumers have become more realistic around the discounts expected from daily deal sites. According to the survey, 37 percent of respondents indicated that they do not have a specific savings requirement for purchasing a deal; 25 percent said they require saving 25 percent to 49 percent; 19 percent expect a 50 percent to 75 percent discount; and 16 percent hope for 15 percent to 24 percent. Only 2 percent demand more than 75 percent.
“Consumers are demonstrating a healthy attitude when it comes to their expectations about daily deals,” Mr. Jones added. “In the wake of the economic crisis, shoppers are becoming increasingly savvy — they are looking to local deal sites to save money, but they aren’t expecting outlandish discounts to transport them to their prerecession lifestyles.”
Other findings from the survey:
- Eighty-six percent of shoppers said they share the great deals they find with friends;
- Thirty-one percent of consumers purchase one to four deals per month, and 15 percent buy one or more deals per week;
- Sixty-three percent indicated that they spend less than 30 minutes a day sifting through local deal sites.
Discussion Questions
Discussion Question: How do you think the growing popularity of daily deal websites affect holiday shopping and gift giving?
Consumers are looking for value, and daily deal websites are providing it. Why shouldn’t consumers use these sites for gift purchases? Consumers have already told us that gift cards, with known cash values, are acceptable gifts, why wouldn’t that same thinking now extend to daily deals? Instead of giving a cash value gift card, they will now give an experience (a meal, a personal service, a trip, etc.). Retailers should be exploring daily deal opportunities, experimenting with different offers, and fine tuning their offerings for the holidays.
How could it not? I guess commoditizing gift giving is just a natural extension of commoditizing retail and restaurants. It’s like saying I love you…well actually I love you half-off.
Luckily there are still a lot of consumers who appreciate shopping for a personalized gift in a local store.
With few winners on board, manufactures and retailers alike are slow to place anything making money on sale. We are in a “market share for growth” economy and will probably stay here for a few more years. Therefore tampering with profit margins is a mortal decision for any marketing executive. On the other side consumers with disposable income are not only effectively self trained to find the lowest priced deal they also understand the concept of relative savings vs. time and travel. This means that coupon and lowest price gimmicks are short lived and can be fatal to those trying to fool the consumer with money on a regular basis. One might consider these marketing dollars would be better spent looking for improved supplies of what the consumer is willing to pay for today and what products they will be willing to pay for in the near future.
The number of gifting “deals” from daily websites will grow in popularity. Trying to find a gift that will delight someone is difficult–a special experience has an innate appeal to the giver. From unique products to snowshoeing lessons to spa experiences to special restaurant meals, there is a an attraction to the idea of a “luxury” gift at a “great” price. Marketers would be wise to carefully explore positioning goods and services that contribute to repeat business.
These are dubious results. “Lies, damn lies and statistics.” said Mark Twain, and this article clearly falls under this quote. Getting replies from a daily deal company, about a posting on their website, only tells us about the respondents who went to the daily deal website, and decided to reply. It does not tell us about consumers in general, or even those that go to all deal websites, let alone web shoppers. The key here is to draw conclusions from reliable, neutral, sources, that can be applied to a larger population through simple extrapolation. This is a poor sample from a less-than dubious presumption.