What is it?
First of all, we need to figure out what coupons are. They are a kind of document that allows a customer to buy certain goods at a discount. An example of it may be a campaign of Coca-Cola which was the first company who has provided its customers with coupons giving them a free glass of the drink. Extreme consumers are not those people who cut them out of newspapers and use them once in a while. It is specifically about the shopper who devotes an enormous amount of time for looking for coupons and then buys so many products using them that a threat for the company existing appears.
The reasons for couponing usage
- Popularity
Although this trend appeared at the end of the XIX century, couponing is still popular today. We find out about it from our neighbors, television, and radio and so on. As far as I’m concerned it’s due to the fact that many managers consider it to be a good mean of advertising and involvement of more people. When coupons are distributed to ordinary people but not to extreme consumers, who use it too actively, they can help to attract new buyers and increase revenue significantly. That’s why couponing is still used actively even after such a great amount of time since it has appeared.
- Savings
The most popular reason among extreme consumers for using it is an opportunity to save some money. In such way, they can spend this money on something else and increase the budget of their family. A bright example of such shoppers is the shopper who used his coupons and paid only $5 instead of $2500 for the desired product. I think you can count on your own how big his savings were in this case.
- Burst of Adrenaline
A great amount of extreme consumers claims that they do that because they feel a burst of adrenaline after using coupons because they are capable to fool the system and spend less money than other people buying the same products.
- Availability
The only way to get discount in such a way earlier was to cut coupons out of newspaper. Nowadays it has become much easier to get them. In the era of high technology, extreme consumers can receive them with the help of the Internet, television and their mobile devices. Some managers use social media offering coupons to their customers. There are many websites, visitors of which have an opportunity to print them. Coupons also may be got with the help of television. There are many programs where you can win a pair of them. Development of mobile devices has also played into the hand of extreme consumers. More specifically, there are many applications offering to send coupons straight on your smartphone. Modern technologies help extreme consumers to spare a great amount of time.
Negative effects of couponing
Extreme consumers have no idea about the negative effects which are caused by their actions. In reality, they affect the company, every other consumer and themselves as well. One marketer claims that there are such negative effects on:
- The company
The shopper who actively uses a lot of coupons doesn’t think about the possible consequences of their actions. First of all, their lust for savings has a bad impact on the income of the company. As a result, the company may appear not to be able to withstand such pressure and go bankrupt.
- Other consumers
Every other consumer is also influenced by couponing. First of all, there may be problems with accepting coupons from extreme consumers. It takes a great amount of time to enter them into a computer base. It may result in outrage of other customers. The shopper who is in a hurry and wants to buy a small number of products, for instance, may get angry. It’s only one example of a negative effect on another shopper. Another one is lack of an alternative. It’s harder for an ordinary consumer to buy some product because extreme shopper often wants to buy a specific product and takes everything from the shelf. So, there are not so many goods for ordinary shopper left.
- Extreme consumers
Speaking about the negative influence of couponing I cannot mention the impact it makes on extreme consumers themselves. There are a lot of examples of getting addicted to this activity in an effort to get more savings. Extreme shoppers may become too obsessed with coupons and spend the majority of time trying to get as many coupons as possible.
To sum up, I would like to say it’s really important to find a middle ground dealing with questions about couponing, specifically for the company. It’s essential to find a good marketer and managers who will be able to set up the right system of coupon offering and to control the situation. It’s better to spend a little more money and hire a professional marketer who knows how it works than to go bankrupt.
