Offer Search is Becoming Standard Shopping Practice, New Research Shows

The report found that offers provide a key opportunity to drive incremental revenue.

New research from Reward Gateway | Edenred has found that offer searching has become a staple in consumers’ shopping journeys.

According to The Offer Economy report, which surveyed 10,111 UK employees with access to employer-provided discount platforms, 62% now actively look for offers when shopping, while four in ten review offers on every purchase.

But while the research found that offer-aware behaviour is now the “baseline expectation” across all categories, offers are also driving new demand, rather than cannibalising full-price sales, the report said.

A total of 62% of respondents shared that offers influence not only where they buy, but what they buy. Indeed, nearly half said that offers facilitate the purchase of an item they could not otherwise afford, with four in ten utilising them to “trade up” to a better option.

Indeed, the report found that for higher-value purchases, offers are expected, with seven in ten only considering an electronics purchase with this in place and nearly two-thirds saying the same for holidays and travel — a pattern witnessed across other categories, including groceries, fashion, experiences and home and garden.

At the same time, the survey results showed that, in categories where consumers always look for offers, they are most likely to trade up when they find a good one.

And while offer-seeking consumers are more active in their search around Christmas, New Year and Black Friday, this behaviour doesn’t switch off, the report found. Just over half seek out offers all year-round.

That said, the data showed that quality is the key lever for conversion, with 69% of consumers acting immediately on a purchase with an offer that stands out, and 57% delaying purchase for a better offer, rejecting both discounts that don’t deliver value and artificial urgency.

Here, message, segment, and moment need to align for impact, the report found, with the placement of an offer also influencing attention, engagement, and conversion.

Commenting on what this reveals about consumers and their purchasing decisions, Jo Hunt, Head of Affiliate Partnerships at Reward Gateway | Edenred, said: “They are deliberate, informed and increasingly focused on value.”

“For brands, this creates a clear opportunity: to drive incremental revenue and higher-value transactions by showing up in the right environments, with the right offers, at the right time,” added Hunt.