Internet users are cutting and using electronic coupons
Nearly half (49 percent) of Internet users who use coupons said that they are aware of on-line coupons, according to a recent survey conducted by NPD Online Research, Port Washington, N.Y.
Thirty-one percent of participants said that they obtain coupons on-line, and 23 percent reported actually using coupons retrieved from the Web. Forty-five percent of NPD respondents who confirmed using coupons obtained via the Internet were male. And the trend should continue. NPD found that more people are already planning to use coupons more often and in increased quantity. Among those who are aware of on-line coupons, 87 percent said they plan to use on-line coupons in the future, and 80 percent reported that their use of on-line coupons will grow in the future. "There are great opportunities for on-line couponing," reports Pamela Smith, vice president ofNPD Online Research. "We know that usage and future intentions tend to be overstated somewhat in surveys, but there is clear evidence that consumers are going for on-line coupons. We also see that nearly half of those who are aware of on-line coupons are using them. Since only half of Internet users know about on-line coupons, there is a lot of room for growth. Awareness should increase with Internet organizations like America Online starting to promote relationships that will help consumers more easily take advantage of coupons on-line. Manufacturers and retailers are going to need to be on top of this."
Surfing is the primary way of discovering coupons on-line, with half of survey respondents reporting that they first became aware of Web-related coupons through general browsing. On-line advertising sparks the interest of 23 percent, with males slightly more likely than females to respond to Internet ads. Recommendations from friends and relatives influence on-line coupon awareness for another 10 percent of those surveyed. Promotions not linked to the Web, such as in-store or point-of-sale advertising (7 percent) and newspaper ads (4 percent), also raise awareness. Others reported that they learn about on-line couponing from direct mail, e-mail and news articles.
When asked which Web sites they went to for on-line coupons, respondents reported two clear leaders. Forty-six percent of the participants said they go to coolsavings.com and 41 percent cited valuepage.com. Other sites mentioned included valpak.com (12 percent) hotcoupons.com (12 percent) and directcoupons.com (10 percent). Online coupon users tend to be between the ages of 25-44 (55 percent). A third of the on-line coupon redeemers have household incomes over $75,000, 36 percent have incomes between $45,000 and $75,000, and 31 percent earn under $45,000.
Looking at those who used coupons in the last month, on-line coupons already capture a 3 percent share of total coupon use among respondents, according to NPD. Newspapers dominate with a 48 percent share, followed by store circulars (26 percent), mail packs (12 percent), magazines (4 percent) and other sources (7 percent).
The NPD coupon survey was conducted as part of an NPD Online Research omnibus survey. In early
March, 2,673 individuals from NPD's Online paneL a Web-representative sample of consumers prerecruited to participate in surveys, responded to the questionnaire.
Spending for athletic footwear dipped in 1998
Consumer spending for athletic footwear declined 6 percent in 1998, due largely to a weak third quarter, according to a national survey that has tracked the market since 1992. Consumers rep0l1ed they spent $13.804 billion for athletic footwear in 1998, compared to $14.732 in 1997. The number of pairs purchased also fell by 6 percent, to 325.4 million from 346.6 million. The 1997 figures were the highest reported during the study period.
"The results in the third quarter told the story of the year," says Gregg Hartley. executive director of the Athletic Footwear Association (AFA), North Palm Beach, Fla., which announced the findings. 'This is normally the industry's strongest sales period, but consumer spending fell 20 percent. For the rest of the 1998, sales were roughly the same as 1997.
"The industry may have recovered somewhat in the last quarter of 1998 in the sense that the sharp third-quarter slide did not cany over," Hartley says. Sales for October through December were $3.739 billion in 1998, compared to $3.751 the year before.
The survey, by the NPD Group. Port Washington, N.Y., found that running shoes took over first place as the most popular category, barely edging out basketball. Running shoe sales rose I percent to $2.355 billion from $2.332 billion. Basketball shoes sales fell 22 percent to $2.328 billion from $2.985 billion
"It's tempting to blame the NBA lockout for a decline in the popularity of basketball shoes," Hartley says, "but the fact is that a fashion swing to running has been going on for at least three years. This probably would have happened in any event."
Hiking shoes, up 13 percent to $969 million from $858 million, and walking shoes, up 13 percent to $1.228 billion from $1.216 billion, were the only other categories to show gains. Sales of cross-training, "athleisure," tennis, aerobic, baseball and soccer shoes and sports sandals all declined. The average price paid for a pair of athletic shoes dipped fractionally in 1998, to $42.42 from $42.50 the year before.
Spending for men's athletic shoes dropped 7 percent, to $5.671 billion from $6.087 billion in 1997. Sales of women's athletic shoes fell 5 percent to $6.316 billion from $6.681 billion. Sales of children's athletic shoes were down 7 percent to $1.587 billion from $1.715 billion.
Toll-free numbers used in 58 percent of magazine ads
Fifty-eight percent of magazine advertisements contain a toll-free number, with 82 percent using the 800 prefix, according to a new Response Marketing Group study of magazine advertising. A sign of Internet popularity, 58 percent of magazine advertisements also contain an Internet address.
Overall, 78 percent of advertisements feature either a toll-free number or an Internet address, or both, and 82 percent of magazine ads use some form of direct response. "Magazine advertisers know the value of direct response," says Sandra Murray, president of Response Marketing Group. "Consumers may be ready to learn more or to buy immediately after seeing an ad. Without a direct response mechanism, they have no way of acting on their impulse."
Thirty-four percent of advertisements with toll-free numbers display the number prominently, the study found. Only 15 percent with Internet addresses display the address prominently. "URLs in magazine ads are clearly secondary response mechanisms," says Murray. "Toll-free numbers are still the response device of choice."
The flood of 888 and 877 numbers has had little impact on magazine advertisements. "Consumers have had 30 years to get familiar with 800," Murray says. "They've only been exposed to 888 for the last two years - advertisers see this as a big risk. They can't afford to gamble on consumers misdialing their phone numbers."
Industries using toll-free numbers in ads most often are home improvement, attorneys, lodging, and sports. Ads in sports, automotive, and computer magazines contain toll-free numbers most frequently.
Industries using Internet addresses in ads most often are real estate, water, delivery service, and computers. Ads in computer, news, and financial magazines contain Internet addresses most frequently.
After toll-free numbers and Internet addresses, the next most frequently used response mechanism is a street address, found in 17 percent of ads. E-mail addresses are found in only 4 percent of ads. Coupons are found in 1 percent of ads.
The study, Toll-free Numbers in Magazine Advertising, analyzed over 4,000 advertisements. A similar study, Toll-free Numbers in Television Advertising, released in September 1998, found 24 percent of television commercials containing a toll-free number, and 19 percent containing an Internet address. Both studies are available for on-line viewing at www.800response.com.
You mean they don't grow bananas in the U.S.?
Where's it from? That's the question consumers are asking about their produce. Eighty-five percent of consumers agree the government should require country of origin labeling on produce. And although they say they want to know where their produce is from, consumers are uninformed about the origin of their produce.
Just 63 percent of consumers say the grocery stores where they shop carry imported produce. However, 94 percent of consumers said they have bought bananas. Bananas aren't grown in any commercial quantity in the United States, so consumers are either not aware of where their produce is grown or they're all shopping in that rare grocery store that doesn't carry bananas.
Those are some of the findings of Fresh Trends 1999, an ongoing study of consumer trends in the produce industry. Fresh Trends 1999 is conducted by The Packer, a business newspaper serving the fresh produce industry, and Vance Research Services, each a part of Vance Publishing Corp., Lincolnshire, Ill..
In addition to the findings about consumers and imported produce. Fresh Trends 1999 also discovered that consumers are buying more packaged produce, are eating more produce at breakfast and dinner than at lunch, are holding steady in their purchases of prepared meals and are purchasing new varieties of fruits and vegetables.
Consumers are interested in how the package looks, as well as the information the packaging contains. Ninety-two percent of consumers said the visibility of produce in a package is highly important to them. Consumers also want the package to have a purchase-by or use-by date, a clearly stated quantity or weight and nutrition information.
Nearly 60 percent of consumers say they are purchasing more packaged fresh produce than they were a year ago. However, 48 percent of consumers say they prefer to buy bulk produce because they are able to handpick their fruits and vegetables. Consumers are most likely to eat fresh produce during breakfast and dinner. Forty-five percent of consumers typically including produce in their breakfast, and 48 percent with dinner.
Fresh Trends 1999 also discovered consumers think they are eating the same or more produce compared with 12 months ago. Fifty-five percent of consumers said they are eating about the same amount of fresh produce, and 30 percent said they are eating more produce than 12 months ago. Reasons for eating more fresh fruits and vegetables include diet, health and lifestyle changes.
While home-meal replacement seems to be a growing trend in supermarkets, it appears consumers are holding steady in their purchases. Thirty-eight percent of consumers said they purchased a prepared meal in the past six months, the same as in Fresh Trends 1998.
Consumers are showing a willingness to try something new - buying more varieties of apples, including fujis and gala apples and lettuce. In 1995's Fresh Trends, just 10 percent of consumers purchased fujis apples. In only four years, the figure rose to 29 percent of consumers in Fresh Trends 1999. Likewise, the purchase incidence of galas has increased from 13 percent in Fresh Trends 1995 to 30 percent in Fresh Trends 1999.
The two apple varieties also made the "first time purchased" list with IIpercent of consumers buying fujis for the first time in the past year and 9 percent buying galas.
Consumers also are experimenting with their salads. Both spinach and romaine have grown in popularity, with more than half of consumers purchasing them this year alone. Fifty-two percent of consumers said they have ever purchased spinach and 51 percent said the same about romaine. Both are up from two years ago with romaine gaining with a seven-point increase.
Colleges encourage on-line applications
An estimated 39.7 percent of American colleges enable applicants to the college to apply directly through the college Web site. Of the 60.3 percent of the colleges that do not currently enable applicants to apply through their Web site, 51.4 percent plan to do so within the next year, according to a study of college marketing practices published by Primary Research Group in New York.
The study - The Survey of College Marketing Programs - is based on data from a random sample of 68 North American colleges, with full time enrollments ranging from 250 to 41,000 students. and a mean of 5,450 students. The data in the report is presented by type of control of the college (public/private). level of the college (two-year/four-year), and enrollment size.
Other findings of the study include:
- 56.25 percent of the colleges in the sample conduct focus groups: 65.71 percent of the colleges that conduct focus groups use in-house resources only to do so. The most common type offocus group involves high school seniors that are current or potential applicants to the college.
- 43.28 percent of the colleges have a director of marketing on staff; 36.07 percent of the colleges describe their marketing efforts as decentralized.
- The colleges in the sample print a mean of 19,270 view books per year, a minimum of 500 and a maximum of 100,000. On average, private and four-year colleges and colleges in the larger two size groups (3,501-6,000 students and 6,000 or more students) print more viewbooks than do theircounterparts.
- 70.97 percent of the colleges conduct direct mail campaigns. (In 1997-98, the colleges that conducted such campaigns sent promotional materials to a mean of 48,540 households. at a mean cost of $24,344.)
- 39.3 percent of the colleges produce videos about the college to send to prospective students: 16.7 percent of the colleges produce videos to show to send to high school guidance counselors or to show at college fairs.
The report comprises three volumes: Management Practices, Print Advertising, and Electronic Advertising. Each of the volumes may be purchased individually. For more information visit the company's Web site at www.primaryresearch.com.