September 2012
Featured in this insight: Consumer goods & FMCG , Financial services, Food & drink, Retail
Survey finds Britons unimpressed by gimmicky supermarket promotions: A recent survey of more than 4,000 consumers by Market Force has shown that the flood of promotions by rival supermarkets actually confuses and frustrates many shoppers.
In total, 82% of the respondents said price-match promises, a popular ploy currently in the UK, have no influence at all over which supermarket they shopped at. A further 47.2% referred to them as "just a marketing tactic."
The market research found the general view of supermarket promotions was mixed however, since 35.4% of the respondents thought them "helpful" in gauging how much they were saving at each store, while 14.5% said promotions "build my trust" in each grocer's value proposition.
Nevertheless, 34.5% called coupons "unhelpful: I think it's a marketing tactic, not a real deal" and 15.6% said coupons are "confusing: I'm not sure what benefit I'm really getting."
The main reasons given for these negative views amongst 57% of the surveyants were that promotions of this sort are either "too complicated" to figure out, "not totally transparent" or do "not communicate the savings very well."
Indicating that shoppers prefer simpler offers, 55% said BOGOF (buy-one-get-one-free) is their favourite type of promotion.
View more of our sector specific insights: Consumer goods & FMCG, Financial services, Food & drink, Retail
