Students – a generation of savvy shoppers

A study last year by the coupon experts Valassis found that coupon redemptions by UK supermarket shoppers soared by 37% in a year, helping to save consumers £3.2 billion.

Now if you have never before seen the US show Extreme Couponing, then you’d be amazed at how much money can be saved with the humble coupon.  Even our very own Martin Lewis is expanding his money saving mantra by helping the country to extreme coupon.

Whilst the recession of 2008 left us with a new appetite to save money on purchases, we still want it to be seemliness and easy.

In an effort to understand the next generation of main shoppers, we at OMD UK Insight conducted a nationally representative survey of 252 UK students (survey conducted between 11-13th July 2016).

Our survey found that 77% of students redeemed student deals and discounts at least on a monthly basis.  In fact, 16% of them are doing this every week.  With real wages having fallen for the longest period for generations, students seem to be apt at making their income stretch further.

Student deals and discounts

Saving money certainly seems to have been normalised over the last couple of years, with finding deals and seeking discounts becoming a part of everyday shopping.  Our survey found that whilst word of mouth is the most popular way of seeking deals and discounts, 57% of students do actively search online for them.

Student deals and discounts 2

Gone are the days when paper coupons ruled – students want it easy, seamless and targeted to them.  Student-specific deals seem to have great cut-through as 66% of our students said that they are more likely to redeem a coupon, offer or discount if it is specifically aimed at them and 45% of them typically redeem coupons, offers and discounts via an app.

With almost 60% of our students having used myunidays.com in the last 12 months, we are fast seeing a new and long-lasting shift in the purchase journey of the next generation of shoppers which retailers need to be aware of.

With sites and apps specifically aimed at students, they now have no excuse not to try to seek and save money on what they buy; and retailers have one more touchpoint to engage with potential customers.

Source: Valassis / OMD UK Insight

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