Is It Just Me, or is there a concerted effort from the business community to fight back at consumers who are trying to save a little money? I'm referring to discount coupons, BOGO specials, "loyalty" deals and similar enticements that have become relatively standard over the past couple of years but seem to be dwindling down to next to nothing of late.
Consider those great offers those of us who signed up for loyalty cards and e-mail "clubs" from retail establishments from department stores to restaurants to drugstores. Not that long ago, just about every week we'd get a printable coupon for a buy one, get one free meal. Over the past few months, though, those offers have all but disappeared; if we get anything besides announcements of revamped menus and "exciting" new meals we're sure to love, it's an offer of one free appetizer or dessert - which you get only if you buy two regular-price entrees (and sometimes two beverages as well). Even the venerable Restaurant.com, which used to sell $25 gift certificates for as low as $2 before "restocking," rarely goes much below $5 any more.
Coupons aren't faring much better. Despite the obnoxious TV pitches from sickingly peppy, perky Coupon Suzy to go to her website and print your little heart out, some notable retailers, like Giant Eagle, now refuse to accept Internet coupons. And in an ad flyer in a recent newspaper, Kmart proclaimed it will double manufacturers' coupons. I was ready to run out the door till I read the fine print - to qualify for coupon doubling, customers must spend a minimum of $25, and a maximum of five coupons can be redeemed at a time.
So what gives? So far, nobody on the retail end is talking, so all I can do is speculate. It's true that online-printed coupons are more easily and conveniently reproduced, and they're more readily available than waiting for snail mail offerings or those in the ad flyers. Beyond that, I can't think of any reason not to accept them except to slow down their use.
The same is true for the limits on coupon doubling; if a customer has 25 coupons with face values of 50 cents each and purchases the required items, why on earth should he or she not be allowed to use them? Here, too, I'm speculating; maybe there are too many folks getting too many freebies (and bragging about it), or maybe checkout clerks simply have had it with the time it takes to match purchases with coupons and get it right. Thus, it's not happening for the benefit of consumers, but rather the retailers.
As for the restaurant deals, I suspect the growing influence of websites like Groupon, LivingSocial and local online promotions like MyValleyDeals are ursurping the old BOGO deals. The why isn't clear here, either. Typically, companies that partner with sites like Groupon coupons give buyers half off the face value; the retailer is responsible for providing the buyer with the whole enchillada. Groupon keeps half of the amount paid by buyers, a benefit to the retailer ostensibly because Groupon and its ilk have a far larger marketing reach than a business and thus can tap a greater number of potential customers.
To be fair, I've read that business interest in these daily deals sites is waning, in large part because they often fail to produce the hoped-for results. Instead of reeling in satisfied customers who will return again (and again) and pay full freight, the deals are creating customers like us. It's true, as least in my case, that I tend to look for deals for products and services my husband and I already love - as at favorite restaurants we frequent anyway - so there's no reeling in to be done. And as for returning to places we discovered as a result of the discount, there's probably a 75% chance we won't, and nearly 100% against it unless we have another coupon.
Besides that, we're reluctant to plunk down ten bucks or for a $20 meal at a restaurant we've never been to (or heard of). More than once, we drove past one for which we'd received a "deal" offer to see if we should hurry back home and snap it up - only to keep right on driving because the place looked like it belonged in a ghetto. Once burned, twice shy - so any business that offers less than a stellar anything can kiss another opportunity goodbye (and had better hope that the disgruntled customer doesn't have a Facebook or Twitter account).
Fact is, we've been thoroughly coupon-conditioned. As one of our friends asked recently, "When was the last time you ate out without having a coupon?" And our answer, like theirs, was "We really can't remember." If we ain't got a fairly substantial price cut, chances are we ain't buying.
That, I suspect, is the real bottom line and the biggest reason retailers are trying their damndest to wean shoppers away from sales and discounts. But will it work? I have my doubts. Retail giant JCPenney ran into sales troubles as customers have turned their backs on its new "Fair and Square" pricing (and hardly ever any sales). Penney officials have claimed the policy "confused" customers; I say baloney - they know exactly what's going on. Just like discounts, customers have become conditioned to sales; further, in their heart of hearts they really don't believe that the "lowest everyday price" really is.
Truly, I do sympathize with businesses, especially the moms-and-pops who have trouble making a profit even when the economy is good. But bad times is what we're having now (and by most accounts it won't get much better for quite some time), and businesses that make it through will have to do whatever it takes to entice customers to buy. To be sure, it's a challenge - much as it was when Walmart hit the ground running and caught the little guys off guard. And just as Walmart didn't go away, neither will consumers' demand for the discounts to which we've become accustomed. Phasing them out just doesn't seem a smart way to go.
Or Is It Just Me?
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