RevTrax Study Unlocks Digital Coupon Surprises

Older customers are more likely to use digital coupons for in-store purchases, with an average 10% increase in median age yielding a 2.49% increase in activation rates for retail coupons in urban U.S. counties.

That's one of the findings from a new study by RevTrax, an omnichannel promotions platform for brands and retailers to drive and measure in-store sales. The new survey of of digital coupon activations shows the relationship between demographics and digital coupon conversion.

“The data we’re releasing illustrates digital’s ability to provide brands and retailers with more precise and detailed insight into the relationship between coupons and consumer behavior than traditional direct marketing has provided over the last several decades,” said Jonathan Trieber, co-founder and CEO, RevTrax.

The study cross-referenced aggregated, non-identifiable digital coupon activation data from millions of coupons between January and April of 2012, parsed by location, income, age, household, education, political affiliation and employment.

“Marketers have begun to realize that digital advertising should not be aligned just with ecommerce marketing budgets," Trieber commente, "but also with brick & mortar budgets, especially given that 90% of retail sales still take place offline.”

Other highlights of the study include:

• Earning power boosts digital coupon performance with an average 10% increase in median income yielding a 1.59% increase in activation rates for retail coupons in urban counties.

• Women in urban areas continue to outpace men in digital coupon usage with an average 10% increase in the number of males per 100 females yielding an 11.86% decrease in the activation rate for retail coupons in urban counties and a decrease of 2.46% in activation rates for CPG coupons in urban counties.

• College-educated consumers activate more digital coupons (urban counties) with an average 10% increase in bachelor's degree percentage yielding a 0.70% increase in activation rate for retail coupons in urban counties and an extra 0.18% increase in activation rate for CPG coupons in urban counties.

• Employed consumers activate more CPG digital coupons with an average 10% increase in unemployment rate yielding a 0.46% decrease in activation rate for both CPG coupons in urban counties and CPG coupons in rural counties.

• Millennials use fewer retail digital coupons with a 10% increase in percent of people aged 15 to 24 resulting in a 1.20% decrease in activation rate for retail coupons in urban counties and a 1.35% decrease in activation rate for retail coupons in rural counties.

RevTrax clients include Kimberly Clark, Sears, Walgreens, Toys "R" Us and True Value. “RevTrax ensures that True Value coupons are secure and easy for our customers to access with no software to download,” said Michael McCann, Director, Consumer Marketing, True Value.

The full study is available here.