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Online: Retail driver from Couponstar
Couponstar Ltd today announces the launch of its innovative new CouponNETTM service, the first online network for distributing consumer-printed coupons and vouchers in the UK.
Through a network of leading consumer websites, CouponNETTM provides a turn-key platform for distributing printable coupon and voucher offers over the Internet.
FMCG brands and high-street retailers are able to reach a vast number of consumers online across all demographics and provide them with the incentive to make a purchase on the high street. Consumers can access promotional offers on branded products by visiting their favourite websites including TV, magazine and radio station sites, as well as lifestyle and information sites, and simply selecting and printing the coupons that are of interest.
A number of leading consumer websites have already signed up to the CouponNETTM program, including: GMTV, UKTV, Lycos UK, Bounty.com, Closer magazine, Daily diet tracker, and ipoints UK, with many other sites due to go live over the coming weeks and months.
With nearly 60% of UK homes online [Source: Continental Research Autumn Internet Report 2006], both retailers and brands are now turning to the Internet to distribute coupon and voucher promotions rather than relying on expensive and low response traditional media such as newspapers & magazines, door drops and direct mail. Hosted and managed by Couponstar, the CouponNETTM delivery network provides marketers with access to a growing Internet audience, making it easy for them to target hundreds of thousands of interested consumers every month, and launch new coupon promotions within a matter of minutes rather than days.
Commenting on the new offering, Oliver Felstead, European General Manager at Couponstar says, "The continuous decline of traditional offline media, increasing postage costs, declining newspaper readership, and changing consumer preferences has greatly eroded the effectiveness of coupon promotions. However, with consumers now spending more time online than ever before, Brand Managers and retailers can no longer afford to overlook the internet as a means of targeting new customers and motivating them to go in store and purchase products."
Felstead continues, "Couponstar's technology is unique in providing marketers with a proven solution to securely and efficiently issue personalised and trackable coupons via the internet, critically bridging the gap between online marketing and consumers' offline purchasing behaviour. Brand Managers can measure success at every point - from clicks online, to coupons printed, all the way through to in-store redemptions. With typical redemption rates of 20% plus - significantly higher than industry averages - our coupon network can help brands cost effectively acquire new customers and drive in-store sales."
As with many other online marketing pricing models, CouponNETTM is strictly pay for performance; that is the advertiser only pays for each coupon printed. Subsequently, the cost efficiencies as compared to other forms of coupon distribution are huge. For example, the relative savings on achieving 10,000 coupon redemptions as compared to door-2-door, direct mail and newspaper methods are 72%, 49% and 68% respectively.
Thresher's has been in the media spotlight recently as a result of its ‘40% off' voucher campaign, where the retailer had very little control over its promotional exposure once vouchers began circulating freely on the Internet. In contrast, CouponNETTM, supported by Couponstar's industry-leading security, carefully controls the number of coupons that can be printed by each individual, as well as the total distributed across all websites within the network.
CouponNETTM, also supports other formats such as video coupons where customers are required to view a short video commercial (TVC) before they can print the offer, uniquely providing marketers with the ability to create a brand experience that can be tracked through to product purchase.
From a brand management perspective, the CouponNETTM campaigns can be tracked end to end via an online reporting system which helps brand managers to evaluate success of campaigns and plan future initiatives.
18 January 2007