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comScore: Online Coupon Business is Surging in Q4
“It’s a good year to be in the online coupon business” says Mediaweek’s Mike Shields. Yesterday, Shields reported on some comScore data that will bring mixed reactions by many online retailers. comScore’s new report showed strong traffic surges for discount shopping sites in November, particularly on Black Friday (November 28).
Shields writes:
With Web retailers slashing prices and posting sale after sale on their sites, companies whose core business is discount shopping are enjoying hefty traffic surges this holiday season, according to a new report issued by comScore. In November, the coupon site category saw its audience spike by 32 percent to 35.6 million unique deal-seeking visitors versus the previous month.
The price slashing aspect of this report will discourage many retailers but there is hope for all. Shields continues:
Discount havens weren’t the only ecommerce players to benefit from the kickoff of the holiday season, at least in terms of traffic growth (actual sales are a whole other matter). Recession-conscious shoppers turned to toy and electronics sites in big numbers, found comScore, as well as big-box retailers like Walmart.
In the toy area alone, November saw a 24% spike in unique visits over October. Electronics sites saw a 17% increase over this same time frame. Similarly, bricks and clicks retailers Walmart experienced a 50% increase to 44 million unique visitors while Target saw a 26% increase to over 39 million visitors.
Interesting numbers indeed. As Shields concludes, it does look like the data supports the hypothesis that consumers are increasingly using the Internet to facilitate their hunt for bargains and deals this Christmas and holiday season.
That being the case, it’s good news for those in the online coupon and deal space. Likewise, it’s good news for online retailers in general since many more consumers will be exposed to their brand. Such exposure, when paired with a positive user experience, can lead to increased order sizes and followup purchases that can carry them through an otherwise difficult economic cycle.
What do you think? Do you have any data that supports or refutes this report? Interestingly, Yan Bezugliy of ProBargainHunter.com maintains a monthly list of “Popular Coupon Sites” based on top 100,000 Alexa rankings. His November compilation lends support to the comScore report and shows significant increases for most of the 31 “coupon sites” in this list.
Mike Allen
Founder & President
Shopping-Bargains.com
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