Will consumers use it?

The history of coupons started in the United States at the end of the 19th century: Coca-Cola’s employees and sales representatives distributed the company’s complimentary coupons, which were also placed in magazines and mailed to customers. Finally 8.5 million coupons were used nationwide. In 2010, coupons were used in the value of USD 3.5 billion in the United States. Coupons did not really break through in Hungary yet. Will they succeed now, as consumers are becoming more price sensitive, the number of promotions is increasing and new technological solutions are becoming available? According to Gábor Bombera, the managing director of Infonity Kft. it is certain that coupon usage is about to flourish, but still many are not aware of the opportunities they provide. In Hungary, printed coupons are mostly issued in the short term with some kind of marketing objective in mind.

Marketing experts are still reluctant to rely on long term couponing strategy in order to improve sales. Presently Drogerie Markt is the only one to implement successful couponing in Hungary – combined with their loyalty card system. However, it gives hope that more and more on-line coupons appear, especially on the websites of multinational companies, but coupon-specialist websites have also been started. A great advantage of on-line coupons is its low costs and environmentally friendly character. What is more, usage is measurable, so on-line coupons can also be used to measure consumer habits. It is the coupon issuer’s task to organise attractive promotions and the acceptance of coupons, and to provide an adequate volume of goods. Infonitymedia will guarantee the background for negotiations, record statistical data and safeguard the stable operation of the platform. Mobile phones constitute a perfect platform for disseminating coupons. Kornél Huber, Origo Zrt.’s sales executive highlighted the fact that they have been implementing SMS campaigns since 1997. Today one of their most frequently sold products is a rentable database and its related applications that enable precision targeting.

Origo developed a coupon usage system that can be used on three levels: the simplest is for those who do not wish to build their own database or to measure usage precisely; a more complex version is capable of managing coupons without connecting to the cash register system; the most complex variant involves a central database management system that connects to the cash register system and to a user platform on which partners can manage campaigns themselves. All three applications are more practical, cost effective and measurable than traditional printed coupons. The company also developed a platform that can be used to disseminate coupons at events via their unique Bluetooth system.