News & Events

MyBuys Messenger - Winter 2008

Survey Results: Personalization + Discounts = Higher Conversion

MyBuys recently revealed the results of a survey conducted on its behalf by Harris Interactive® among 2,382 U.S. adults that focused on their preferences and reactions to retail promotions in light of the current economy. The results indicate that while sales and discounts are broadly popular, marketers must go beyond blanketing price reduction, which annoys customers, and complement offers with personalized promotions, which move shoppers to buy.

In addition to establishing the benefits of personalization plus discounts, the study pointed out that there’s a risk to making recommendations customers perceive as not relevant. The study found 62% of online adults have been influenced to purchase an item after learning it’s on sale and 54% are more likely to pay attention to promotions about discounts given the state of the economy. But retailers who promote price cuts without personalizing the message may not see sales jump—and could even lose customers. In fact, nearly half (48%) of adults are annoyed by online promotions that are irrelevant to them and 43% say they would not visit a Web site in the future if an irrelevant promotion irritated them.

The bottom line? Consumers appreciate deals, but want them on products they actually want to buy. So while sales and discounts are broadly popular, marketers must avoid annoying customers with irrelevant messages.

The study compared results across age, gender and education groups and revealed some interesting contrasts that may influence your online strategy, including:

  • Given the current state of the economy, 60% of online women are more likely to pay attention to discounts as compared to 48% of online men.
  • The majority of online adults age 55+ (60%) say they are more likely to pay attention to sales promotions given the current state of the economy than 18-34 year olds (50%)
  • Among online women 55+, 71% say they are more likely to pay attention to this type of promotion than any other age group of men or women.
  • Consumers ages 55 and over are more likely to be annoyed by irrelevant promotions and/or would consider not visiting a site if an Internet promotion irritated them (74%) as compared to their younger counterparts (62%).
  • Online college graduates are more likely to be influenced to purchase an item after learning that there is a sale, discount or promotion (73%) than those who have completed high school or less (56%).