The coupon industry has come to an agreement on how to accurately measure the effectiveness of web-based printable coupons, allowing this channel to be compared fairly with other distribution media.
Effectiveness will now be measured by the number of coupons actually printed by consumers. This is in contrast to the alternative method of measuring the potential number of coupons that could be printed, based on the volume of emails sent or the number of visitors to a brand’s website.
Jared Keen, managing director at internet coupon specialist Couponstar, said: “With marketing budgets becoming increasingly tight, organisations need the most up-to-date information available on the cost-effectiveness of the various coupon methods, which the old system didn’t really address.”
It makes a significant difference to benchmarks for factors such as redemption rate, face value, average purchase requirement and average expiration date. Also, the new standard now brings the UK in line with the USA which will also enable country comparisons.
Keen said: “It is a really positive step that the industry agreed to a standard measurement. At Couponstar, we regularly experience redemption rates of over 23 per cent which, under the new measurement system, will now be accurately illustrated in the annual reports on the market.
“When you compare this to the 3.9 per cent redemption rates that were recorded in the latest industry report, calculated using the previous method, it is clear why we have been pushing for the new standard.
“Now that internet coupon distribution is being measured on the same playing field as direct mail, door drop and magazine coupons, we are confident that more brands will see the true cost-effectiveness that internet-printable coupons offer.
“When an advertiser uses an internet coupon vendor that provides the appropriate levels of security they can monitor accurately and in real time how many coupons are printed, providing control over their redemption budgets. This is increasingly important in the current economic climate.”
The internet coupon standard in the US was driven by US clearing houses Valassis and CMS Inmar. Richard Ayres, marketing manager at Valassis in the UK, said: “It has historically been difficult to measure the effectiveness of a campaign, especially with moves into new areas such as mobile and the internet.
“With the introduction of sophisticated technology in the marketplace internet-printable coupons are now much easier to measure. We already actively promote the use of internet-printable coupons to our customers, and the new measurement standard will certainly be included in the Valassis 2009 Coupon Report.”
This month, new guidelines on the use of internet coupons were published by Couponstar and the ISP. They can be viewed at www.isp.org.uk.
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