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Survey: 85% of consumers return to a retailer when notified of a discount

October 31, 2013

Nearly 90 percent of Americans repeatedly buy products retailers have on promotion, according to a new survey conducted by Synqera, a global technology startup that uses big data to bring personalized digital experiences to the physical retail store. Within the survey, 85 percent of respondents said they would return to brick and mortar stores when alerted to upcoming sales of previously purchased items.

Also, while 92 percent of U.S. consumers use some kind of shopping list (68 percent specifically use or bring a paper list) to stay organized, most Americans frequently make unplanned purchases, and half describe themselves as impulsive shoppers.

"We know there's an appetite for customer engagement and retention through clear communication of promotions and sales both prior to the visit and throughout the in-store experience," said Filipp Shubin, COO of Synqera. "Consumers are still immersed in the brand experience while at the checkout desk and are ready to receive more information that's relevant to them."

Other findings from the survey:

• ninety-six percent of adults like to receive some sort of information from stores they frequent;
• more than 4 out of 5 Americans are more likely to return to a retailer if they were made aware of upcoming sales on products they previously purchased;
• impulsive shoppers are most influenced by discounts when making unplanned purchases; nearly half are influenced by in-store ads;
• most shoppers prefer to be made aware of relevant information through email or traditional mail; nearly half like to be made aware at the store entrance;
• eighty percent of Americans are interested in seeing/doing something while waiting to pay for their purchases; most would be interested in seeing coupons/in-store specials; nearly one-third would be interested in relevant partner/retailer promotions;
• eighty-five percent of Americans believe that their grocery shopping experience could be better;
• nearly 2 out of 5 believe grocery stores would benefit from new item suggestions that are in their price range; and
• nearly one-third would enjoy self-help kiosks where loyalty program accounts could be accessed.

"Last holiday season showed a considerable move towards 'showrooming.' While stores saw hundreds of millions of visits from shoppers, sales fell. Consumer confidence plays a role but so does innovation in the stores. There's a demand for solutions based on insights like ours at Synqera that pinpoint exactly when and where consumers want to be reached," said Shubin.

The data for this survey was collected Oct. 7-10 via Instant.ly, with 1,018 online respondents aged 18-70.