If you’re a company and you offer me a coupon, chances are you’ve spoiled me and I won’t shop at your store again unless I have a coupon. I would think that Marketing 101 teaches that “coupons build loyalty,” but for me, it just makes me wait for another coupon thinking, “I won’t be getting the best deal unless I wait.”
This was especially true during the e-commerce boom. It was so common for an online merchant to offer a $15 off a $15 purchase coupon that tons of “deal” sites popped up just to keep track of all of the coupons. If I had to pay more than $8 after shipping for a DVD, chances are I wouldn’t get it… I’d just wait for Buy.com to have their next insane sale.
These days, mega-deals like that are nowhere to be found. But every so often, one pops up that I can’t refuse, like using the ubquitous “20% off any single item” coupon from Bed, Bath, & Beyond (used recently on my Roomba purchase). If I need something from Bed, Bath, & Beyond and I don’ t have a coupon, I’ll wait a few weeks until one arrives.
Take yesterday for instance.
We need to buy two pillows for our guestroom. Normally, we have two Bed, Bath, & Beyond coupons (or one BB&B and one Linens-n-Things, each of which can be used at a competitor’s store) and we’d go to the store, each armed with one coupon, each buying a single pillow. But this time, we only have one coupon (*gasp!*). You can guess what I did… I went and bought a single pillow using the one coupon we had. I’ll buy another in a few weeks.
I know, I’m a cheap bastard. But at least I have a place where I can write about it.
Posted in Miscellaneous