Summary
Electronic couponing is finally read to happen. The combination of the current economic climate, the willingness of key leaders (P&G< Safeway and Kroger) to make it happen and the maturity of the enabling technologies means that after years of creeping forward, electronic couponing is ready to dominate
Analysis
The recent NY Times article did a nice job detailing the return of coupons to the mainstream, as a part of the emerging recession economy, but they gave little notice to electronic coupons. I think that the real change that will drive couponing over the next few years will be the delivery of paperless, electronic coupons through all sorts of electronic devices -- from PCs to cell phones to PDAs to iPods. A consensus is emerging among grocery retailers and CPG companies, let by P&G, Safeway and Kroger, that digital paperless couponing is the way to go, and these leaders are aggressively working to make sure that all of the technical infrastructure for coupon delivery and clearing is readily available quickly. Retailers and manufacturers need to be ready for these innovations, and marketing services companies have huge opportunities to create new businesses supporting this emerging industry
David Diamond consults with leading institutions through GLG
Analyses are solely the work of the authors and have not been edited or endorsed by GLG.
