Overdone Discounts Dull Shopping Pleasure
At least in Australia, retailers are discounting and consumers are heaving sighs of boredom. Talk about counter-productive. According to the Herald Sun in Melbourne, "The cut-price deals that have become a continuous feature of the retail landscape have backfired with millions of consumers."
Cynicism is apparently trumping delight at finding bargains, with shoppers beginning to wonder "whether genuine savings are up for grabs."
Those were the findings of survey of 1,000 shoppers across Australia conducted by AMP Capital Shopping Centres.
The article stated that although the study found a proportion of hardcore bargain hunters hooked on sales, many others "have tuned out because of overkill or think sales have become a gimmick."
Overall, 45 percent of those surveyed agreed that discounts "had lost their appeal and no longer acted as a spending trigger" for them, according to the article.
"There are rising numbers of a new post-GFC (global fiscal crisis) group of discerning shoppers who want a great deal more from their shopping experience before they part with their hard-earned cash," Stuart Langeveld, head of marketing at AMP, told the Herald Sun. "They want to be inspired and engaged. They want the promise of a memorable experience before they are tempted to venture into a retail outlet and spend."
The study came out a day before Myer, Australia's largest department store chain, announced plans to launch a customer service improvement campaign in a bid to wean its customers off constant discounts. The retailer plans to spend $20 million to add one million extra staff hours to boost service, particularly in lingerie and shoe departments.
"We've conditioned our customers to buy on special so it's going to take us quite a few years to ease back, what you would call, the reliance on specials," Myer's chief executive Bernie Brookes told the Herald Sun. "(But) I wouldn't be surprised if the removal of discounting becomes the case for the next few years for retailers."
Discussion Questions: Are U.S. consumers beginning to experience discount fatigue? How much of a challenge will it be to wean U.S. consumers off continual discounts seen during the recession?