It is a better option to give discounts on fresh products, rather than have multi-buy promotions. This strategy is evident from WES' survey, the Consumeter. WES is a Belgian marketing research firm.
Four times a year, WES sends questionnaires to 1.500 Belgians. These people, aged between 18 and 74, are a representative sample of the population. They need to answer questions on diverse subjects.
Late last year, questions were asked about how Belgian shoppers react to marketing campaigns and promotions at retailers. According to the Belgians, Colruyt seems to offer the best promotions.
A 50% discount
Fresh products, for example, broccoli, that are marked down by 50% are more popular than the ‘1+1 free’ discount. The reason for this is that fresh products do not keep for long. Multi-buy items are, therefore, not attractive. This theory is confirmed by sales of products with a long shelf life. The 1+1 promotion works best with house brand shampoo and brand-name drinks, such as Coca Cola Zero.
A 33% discount
The same reasoning can be followed for the -33% discount category. Broccoli that is marked down by 33% per head is much more attractive than broccoli which is 2+1 free. For longer-lasting products, there is little difference between the -33% and 2+1 free promotions. A fresh product that is -33% is also considered to be much more attractive than products with a long shelf life that at selling at a 33% discount or 2+1 free.
-25% discount
Here too, the same reasoning counts for fresh products. Products such as broccoli and yogurt are more popular as single-buy items than multi-buys. Then again, here, the multi-buy option is more popular for longer-lasting products.
Saving promotions or coupons?
Belgians use coupons more than they make use of saving promotions. Thirty-five percent of them use coupons often, 37% sometimes and 23% seldom to never. When it comes to saving promotions, 25,5% say they usually take part. For both the saving promotions and coupons, the same thing applies - the older the person, the more often they take part in these campaigns.
Which supermarkets have the best promotions?
Belgians find that Colruyt offers the best promotions. Colruyt is followed by the discount chain stores, Lidl and Aldi. These are the top three in Flanders. Albert Heijn is, however, short on Aldi's heels. In Wallonia, it is a neck-on-neck race between the discount chain stores. Here, Aldi narrowly wins. In Brussels, Colruyt is in first place, followed by Delhaize and then Aldi.
Which promotions are currently the most successful?
Using images in the Consumeter, it was tested to see which promotions are the most successful among Belgians. Different promotions were shown in random order to the consumer panel. In turn, the respondents had to give a score of one to ten as to which promotion they found the most attractive.
Logically, the images promoting a 50% discount were more attractive than those with a 25% discount. Here, the different mechanisms within a certain category are considered.
Rounded-off prices
The question is often asked whether rounded-off prices work better than those ending in the number nine. Currently, different Belgian chain stores more often offer promotions with rounded-off prices. In the survey, a loaf of bread and a pack of pasta were shown. Both for either 2 for €2 or 2 for €1,99.
People found the ‘2 for €1,99’ price for the bread to be somewhat more interesting than the ‘2 for €2’ price. There was no difference in preference for the pasta. In general, there is, therefore, little difference between these two mechanisms. So, WES could not conclude that rounded-off prices are more popular with Belgian people.
For more information
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