Recommendations For The Best Specials, Discounts, Coupons And Deals In The U.S.
Friday, April 17, 2015
Thursday, April 16, 2015
SpecialsAgent Is Happy To Do The Work For You! Simply Tell Us Once What Promotional Offers You Want. We'll Do The Rest!
SpecialsAgent understands you're not inclined to spend time searching websites and apps for promotional deals. However, we also understand that if a nice deal falls in your lap for a store, brand or product on your short list, now that's sweet.
That's the simple idea of SpecialsAgent. Visit us just once and tell us what you like. SpecialsAgent monitors just about every promotional offer out there in real time. We'll deliver to you just what you're looking for and how you want it...daily or weekly...email or text.
SpecialsAgent, your concierge for promotional offers!
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Most Consumers Actually Value Convenience, Service, Location and Brand As Being More Important Than A Promotional Price.
Just about every consumer enjoys a great value when they shop. However, that doesn't mean everyone is buying on price alone. In fact, according to a study by Experian Marketing Services, a store's environment, the brands it carries, convenience, location and service are all more important than price for the majority of consumers surveyed.
They survey results classified consumers into 6 segments by how they seek or use various deals. Interestingly, the largest such segment of consumers are "Deal Indifferents" who are unlikely to change their behavior because of a deal. Another sizable segment is the so-called "Deal Rejectors" that have higher-than-average discretionary income and a willingness to part with it but steadfastly prefer convenience, service and brands over price. This research summary is written for business owners but may be of interest for curious consumers who appreciate behind-the-scenes learning regarding promotional offers.
Monday, April 13, 2015
Friday, April 10, 2015
Consumer Trust In eCommerce Shopping For Discounts And Values Is As Strong As Ever. Amazon & eBay Lead The Way.
The E-Commerce and Online Auctions industry has experienced a decade of growth as many consumers have become accustomed to shopping for values and making purchases online. Of course, Amazon and eBay lead the way but there are many other options. The industry was briefly slowed by the recession; however, the economic recovery has been a boon to industry revenue.
This research is not written for consumers and indeed is of significant cost but the online summary may be of interest for those curious about the business topic.
Thursday, April 9, 2015
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
SpecialsAgent Makes It Easy To Stay Abreast Of New Free Apps, Top Music Singles & Albums...Right On Our Home Page!
Things are constantly changing on iTunes! Top music singles change. Featured albums change. Top free apps change. SpecialsAgent makes it easy to always know what's hot. Within the left margin of our home page are three lists that display the up-to-the minute status of iTunes music and apps.
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Monday, April 6, 2015
Promotional Offers Allow Merchants To Segment Their Customers Based On Their Willingness-To-Pay.
For many people, promotional offers, discounts, coupons and deals are fun and typically lead to a satisfying feeling of value. However, savvy merchants know that many of their customers could not be bothered to search, collect and redeem offers. As a result, it gets tricky for merchants to keep both customer segments happy...and coming back!
A recent article in the Harvard Business Review addresses the concept of self-segmenting fencing. The idea is that consumers reveal their willingness-to-pay by selecting either the high or low pricing options. That is followed by a tactical "fence" that separates the two segments. For example, that fence could be a coupon or an email list. When done right, premium customers should enjoy at least one important attribute that the low-price seekers don't get. The grass should never look much greener on the other side of the fence!
Friday, March 27, 2015
Thursday, March 26, 2015
Do Restaurateurs Invest In Daily Deals? This Cornell University Survey Asked 273 Of Them If They Do, And What They Know About It.
The prestigious Cornell University of Hotel Administration conducted a survey of 273 restaurant owners and mangers regarding daily deal promotional offers. Most of those taking the survey were associated with independent, not chain, locations.
Half of them had invested in a daily deal as a marketing tool at least once. Those restaurant executives that used a daily deal reported that 60% of the purchasers were returning customers (not the primary goal) but the balance of 40% were new customers (that's better!). Importantly, 35% of the new customers came back at a later date without a promotional offer incentive.
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Digital Promotional Offers Come In All Types But Usually Share One Bond: They Are Part Of A Merchant's Affiliate Marketing Program.
As consumers, we accept that most websites and blogs with interesting content also display advertising in order to make some money. At times, of course, the ads can be annoying but for the better sites the ads can actually be inviting. It's important to note that nearly all of such ads convey a promotional offer that is part of a strategic "affiliate marketing" campaign.
Merchants cultivate partnerships with "affiliate" sites to display their promotional offers. In turn, the owners of the website or blog receives a commission IF the consumers clicks over to the merchant AND makes a purchase. Most consumers understand the concept. However, the actual implementation is a marketing and technical challenge for merchants. The Forbes article below is written for merchants but may be of interest for consumers who appreciate behind-the-scenes background.
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Do Daily Deals Work For Small Businesses? The Short Answer Is: Usually Yes. Watch This Wall Street Journal Video For More.
Online daily deals have been around for years and by now smart merchants have a good handle on just how they work for their business. Of course, merchants are hoping that once a consumer uses a deal they'll come back. That's not always the case so experienced merchants know they can "walk before they run" by testing the impact of various offers before they go full speed.
Sometimes a deal is so strong that a merchant can't handle the new business and ends up with unhappy customers! Other times the deal is so weak that consumers don't even bite. Still other times the expiration date is either too short or too long. There are many considerations for the merchants and this video from the Wall Street Journal shares some of that thinking.
Monday, March 23, 2015
According To One Study, Consumers Prefer Their Promotional Offers In the Afternoon on Tuesday Or Friday. What About You?
Retention Science is a California-based digital services firm focused on helping online merchants with their email campaigns. In 2014 they conducted a study to discover the optimum days, times and messages for online merchants to deliver promotional offers by email. Their results tracked and consolidated 100 email campaigns delivered to 20 million users resulting in 100 million transactions.
So what did they find? Well, in a nutshell they found that mornings is not the optimal time to hit "send". Rather, afternoons and evenings are better. While many merchants send their emails out on Monday morning for the start of the new week, the fact is that Tuesday and Friday are hugely more productive days for email campaigns. Also, in terms of offers, consumers are twice as likely to click on a "free shipping" offer as opposed to a "% Off" offer.
Friday, March 20, 2015
As Consumers Search For Discounts And Deals, They Should Consider Value Perceptions Vs. Value Reality.
How is it that Walmart does
a great job of projecting a low-price image even though their items are not
always the lowest? And why is it that Whole Foods can't
shake the misperception that their prices are always higher? The answers are
that merchants understand and manage very concrete strategies that, intended or
not, send pricing expectation cues to consumers. Of course, this has
a direct impact on the perceived value of any special or deal a consumer
evaluates.
The Harvard Business Review has summarized an academic study that addresses these pricing expectation cues. For example, does a store's high volume = low cost? Not necessarily. Do shopping frills = high cost? Not necessarily. Do unconventional products = high cost? Not necessarily. Understanding these cues and the related values of specials is vital as merchants compete with online sellers while consumers can easily check pricing via their smart phones
Click To Harvard Business Review Summary
The Harvard Business Review has summarized an academic study that addresses these pricing expectation cues. For example, does a store's high volume = low cost? Not necessarily. Do shopping frills = high cost? Not necessarily. Do unconventional products = high cost? Not necessarily. Understanding these cues and the related values of specials is vital as merchants compete with online sellers while consumers can easily check pricing via their smart phones
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Most People Looking For Discounts & Deals On SpecialsAgent Are The Kind Of Folks Looking To Keep Spending Smart And Simple.
SpecialsAgent trys hard to keep a pulse on consumer spending attitudes and behavior. It helps us curate not just high value offers, but smart ones. In the footer of our site you can see some of the blogs we follow.
One of them is The Simple Dollar. That site receives over one million visitors each month and is ranked as one of the Top 10 personal finance sites on Kiplinger. The Simple Dollar provides common sense insights related to credit, investments, college fund planning, retirement, insurance, and so forth. You may want to check it out!
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