As Amazon Prime Day comes to a close, research shows that, while 57% of shoppers are focussed primarily by price, discounts are not what drives their purchases.
According to Bluecore’s State of Personal Commerce report, only 36% of shoppers say that discounts have the most impact on their purchase from a brand.
This means that the majority of brands that rely on discounts to acquire customers are unnecessarily giving away margin to the 64% of shoppers who are more heavily influenced by other factors: relevant product recommendations (30%), timing of communications (24%) and engaging content (10%).
According to the study, 57% of shoppers say that price has the greatest impact on their purchase decisions. This is followed by recommendation (20%), necessity (16%) and brand (7%).
While price is a deciding factor for majority of shoppers, Bluecore warns retailers against using blanket discounts as it creates one-and-done shoppers. Instead brands need to share individualised offers based on customer preferences – such as free shipping, exclusive events – to build loyalty and optimize margins.
While 25% of shoppers say that they’re most excited about a purchase when they get a good deal or promotion, even more (30% of shoppers) say that they’re most excited when they purchase a product that is worth the price they paid is most exciting.
The US study also shows that Gen Z shoppers care the most about price, while Millennials are influenced by recommendations: Price has the most impact on purchase decisions across all age groups, it has the greatest impact on shoppers ages 18-24 (59%). And among age groups, recommendations have the greatest impact on millennials’ (ages 25-34) purchase decisions (26%).
