The evolution of e-commerce with coupons

Written by Kevin Liew on 11 Jul 2022
70,659 Views • Miscellaneous

Before the age of the internet, getting good deals was a matter of how well you knew the seller and your negotiating skills. But we have come a long way since then and now there is a great divide between the seller and the buyer. There is no longer a personal touch when you shop online or even at a retail store. Yet this doesn’t stop buyers from wanting to get the best deals nor sellers pushing out promotions to up sell certain products or attract more buyers. 

It is now a tug of war between sellers on a never-ending quest to get the most sales and buyers just as eager to get the least price possible. Then comes “Coupons”. The newest tool in the arsenal of sellers. 

Well, calling coupons new isn’t actually very accurate. Far back as 1887, an Atlanta businessman created what we consider the first coupon when he wanted people to try out his new product, Coca-Cola. Needless to say, that worked out very well for him as we can see from how popular Coca-Cola is now. This very success is one of the driving forces that makes coupons so attractive to businesses, even more so in this digital age.

When coupons and promo codes first hit the web, customers loved the concept and took to it strongly. Online sellers alongside advertisers started to embrace coupons in a number of consumer categories, as more and more buyers sought coupons out for a variety of everyday and special occasion purchases. Some even go as far as waiting for promo codes and coupons to be available before pulling the trigger on a purchase.

Its well understood that the ability to showcase coupons online gave sellers and advertisers more avenues to promote their goods and services. This is taken a step further by integrating coupons into their digital advertising so as to garnish new customers and entice them into making purchases. Unique to the coupon, as an effective medium of advertising, was that it actually represented a value that could be enjoyed by the customer. After all who would want to pass up a great deal for something you already had an interest in buying.

As the growth and ever-expanding use of coupons continue to gain traction, we saw the introduction of dedicated coupon websites, where customers could seek out coupons for a range of brands all in one location. These evolved further with increased mobile adoption, and today we are seeing over 50% of shoppers consuming digital coupons on a larger scale

This also directly affects brand loyalty because you have customers coming back to a site or online retailer when they know that coupons are available periodically for the things they are interested in buying. However, this is not the end of the road for coupons, or as one might say “it hasn’t reached its final form”. 

The future of coupons seems to be heading in the direction of personalization. Having customized coupons created to individual shoppers' wants and needs. We can consider these to be Dynamic Coupons. This is very much in line with the current generation's trend to make everything personalized and customizable. Take, for example, your Netflix recommendations are personal to your viewing habits; your Youtube Music recommendations are customized based on what you enjoy listening to. And this is just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak.

While we are getting there, it is still a wise choice to have a place to get up-to-date coupon codes at your disposal. We would recommend trying out Green Promo Codes to start up to date on Coupons for most of your favorite shopping sites and online retailers.

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