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DIMABAY GmbH
Schmiedehof 16, 10961 Berlin
Contact:
Tel: +49 (0)30 992 11 92 00
Fax: +49 (0)30 992 11 92 01
Email: contact@dimabay.com
Web: www.dimabay.com
This study was undertaken by:
GfK SE, Nuremberg, Germany
Data preparation for the study contained in this brochure:
GfK SE, Nuremberg, Germany
Copyright 2013
DIMABAY GmbH, Germany
Any publication of data from this study other than research purposes require the prior consent of DiMaBay GmbH and GfK SE.
The Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung, short GfK, is one of the world’s leading research companies and was founded in 1934 in Nuremberg, Germany. With more than 11,500 experts working in over 100 markets across the globe, GfK is the fourth biggest market research enterprise in the world. In Germany GfK is well known for determining the TV ratings and for the widely cited GfK- consumer confidence index (GfK-Konsumklimaindex). In 2012, GfK created a turnover of more than 1.5 billion Euro.
DIMABAY is the European network for coupon advertising and package inserts and was founded in 2010 in Bayreuth, Germany. Europe’s leading mail-order companies and advertisers are a part of the network, which in total consists of several thousand companies. DIMABAY now runs their business model in more than 10 European countries and is also Europe’s leading provider for coupon booklets.
With the rapid growth of the internet at the end of the last millennium, the purchasing behavior of consumers in all European countries significantly changed. At the turn of the millennium the E-commerce sector, with its massive growth rates experienced an enormous boom. There was a sudden change in consumer behavior and a growing number of people began shopping online in search of bargains. Successful online retailers focused on purchasing and tried to offer new products while lowering the buying prices. Some online retailers had products specifically manufactured in China and Eastern Europe to lower the buying prices even further.
For a couple of years now, online retailers have changed their way of thinking. Purchasing is still regarded as an important factor in the success of online retailing; however the increase in competition forced online sellers to rethink their approaches. At the same time demands of the customers began to change. Whilst in the beginning they were searching for a bargain online, parts of their everyday life became increasingly present on the internet.
Subsequently service expectations of customers started to grow; nowadays it isn’t the cheapest provider who is the most successful, but the company who are able to offer a competitive price, fast delivery and good customer service.
Within the E-commerce sector a rising number of factors are critical to success and the focus has shifted from purchasing to marketing and customer service. Ten years ago few companies would have taken the time to thank online customers for their business, whereas in more recent times it has become increasingly common for companies to add a small thank you gift or notification to outgoing consignments. More than likely this time and money was used to finance the purchasing of larger volumes or to further develop the company’s infrastructure. Nowadays a negligence of these simple customer service practices leads to the insolvencies of online retailers.
Nonetheless, the E-commerce sector is undoubtedly an area with some of the biggest growth.
E-commerce growth by country in 2021 Wachstum 2012
Source: EMOTA 2012, International E-Commerce Forum 2013, Slide 5.
In 2012 alone the E-commerce market grew by double digits in every European country; based on this trend, it can be assumed that the competition will keep on growing. Therefore, online retailers have to dedicate more and more attention towards marketing, in order to remain successful. Against this backdrop, the enormous growth of online marketing and couponing in the last couple of years can be explained.
Online marketing however, faces some major challenges; how to reach target audiences, who can unsubscribe from newsletters, that use of ad blockers, and fundamentally that are resistant to advertising?
Despite the successes of online marketing, print advertising is not dead. New and intelligent approaches merely have to be found. Package inserts generally come in the form of flyers, brochures, catalogues or product samples that are inserted in outgoing shipments by mail order companies.
The success of package inserts lay in the fact that they combine the advantages of both, online and offline marketing.
Offline-marketing and by association print-marketing, present an exclusive and wide-reaching
form of advertising which is difficult to escape. However, offline advertising is considered to be especially expensive and often at times immeasurable.
Package inserts, when used as an offline marketing tool can offer the advantages of online marketing:
• Target group specific
• Performance related billing models
• Measurability of results – the use of landing pages and promotional codes on the advertisement to monitor success
Methodology:
Online questionnaire
Sampling range:
n = 2.400
Länder:
Germany (n = 300)
France (n = 300)
Italy (n = 300)
Netherlands (n = 300)
Poland (n = 300)
Sweden (n = 300)
Spain (n = 300)
UK (n = 300)
Gender:
Men and women, representative of the population in each county
Age:
18 – 65 years, representative of the population in each county
Implementation period:
August 2013
Interviewed groups of persons:
Consumers who placed orders at traditional mail order companies (e.g. catalogue sellers) and/or online retailers within the last six months
Package inserts are eye catching. More than half of consumers interviewed keep package inserts that they find interesting. 87% of all consumers read the package inserts, whilst only 13% throw them away without reading.
Which statement best describes your attitude towards package inserts?
European Couponing 2013 by DIMABAY, n = 2400, all data in percent, Institut: GfK 2013
Besides the purchaser and recipient of the insert an average of two more persons come into contact with each package insert. The average reach of package inserts thus amounts to three persons per insert. It is noticeable that in the markets with a higher –growth, the number of additional persons seeing an insert is still significantly higher. The frontrunner is Spain with 4.3 additional persons, followed by Italy (3.6 additional persons) and Poland (2.5 additional persons).
Imagine you receive a package insert tomorrow. How many additional persons, besides you, come in contact with the insert?
Reach of package inserts (additional persons, who see the insert)
European Couponing 2013 by DIMABAY, n = 2400, n per country = 300, number of additional persons, Institut: GfK 2013
One third of all interviewees prefer inserts from the Beauty & Lifestyle sector. Inserts in the Technology field are interesting of one of fifth of people; the second highest number, followed by Media, Fashion, and Family & Pet Supplies, all of which are relatively equal. The highly specialised segments; Collectables and Business have little demand and finish last with 2% and 1% respectively.
From which of the following categories would you prefer to receive package inserts?
Preferred category, from which package inserts are wanted
European Couponing 2013 by DIMABAY, n = 2400, n per country = 300, number of additional persons, Institut: GfK 2013
One third of all consumers prefer product samples whilst more than a quarter are mainly interested in booklets, followed by 24%, who prefer coupon flyers. Purely informational materials such as brochures/catalogues (11%) or informative package inserts (4%) do not appear to be very popular with consumers.
Which form of package insert do you find the most interesting?
Preferred form of package inserts
European Couponing 2013 by DiMaBay, n = 2400, all data in percent, Institut: GfK 2013
Two out of three consumers are likely to use package inserts if they were tailor made for their individual needs. Usage is most probable in Spain, followed by Poland and Italy (more than 80%). Between the sexes, there are only a few differences to be found.
Imagine, you get a package insert that is tailor-made for you needs. How probable is it that you will use this insert in the future?
Probability of use of tailor-made package inserts
European Couponing 2013 by DIMABAY, n = 2400, n pro Land = 300, all data in percent, Institut: GfK 2013
In this study consumers were surveyed as to how frequently they bought online in the last 6 months. More than 30% buy online once a month and 8% purchase goods online on a weekly basis.
How often do you buy goods online?
European Couponing 2013 by DIMABAY, n = 2400, alle Angaben in Prozent, Institut: GfK 2013
The focus of many online buyers is on Fashion (24%), followed closely by Beauty & Lifestyle and Media (20% each). Collectors items and business products however are hardly bought online.
From which category do you most often buy products online?
European Couponing 2013 by DiMaBay, n = 2400, all data in percent, Institut: GfK 2013
Whilst people in all countries like to buy Fashion products online, there are significant differences in Europe. For 35% of Dutch consumers, Fashion is the first port of call.
From which category do you most often buy products online?
Results for fashion, segmented for countries.
European Couponing 2013 by DIMABAY, n = 2400, n per country = 300, all data in percent, Institut: GfK 2013
In Beauty & Lifestyle consumer buying habits are also different. Spain leads the way in this sector with almost one third of consumers buying these products online, whilst in Germany & the Netherlands only 13% of people buy Beauty & Lifestyle products online.
From which category do you most often buy products online?
Results for Beauty & Lifestyle, segmented by country.
European Couponing 2013 by DiMaBay, n = 2400, n per country = 300, all data in percent, Institut: GfK 2013
Media products, such as books, CDs or DVDs are most likely to be purchased in Sweden with 30% of online buyers purchasing Media products online. This number is twice as high compared to Poland or Spain.
From which category do you most often buy products online?
Results for Media, segmented for countries.
European Couponing 2013 by DIMABAY, n = 2400, n per country = 300, all data in percent, Institut: GfK 2013
Technology products are especially popular with online shoppers in Italy and Spain. In Great Britain, however, they only play a minor role.
From which category do you most often buy products online?
Results for Technology products segmented for countries.
European Couponing 2013 by DiMaBay, n = 2400, n per country = 300, all data in percent, Institut: GfK 2013
Products from the Family and Pet supplies sector are bought the most frequently in France There were big differences in the comparison between countries for the Family and Pet supplies sector; 14% of the French indicated that they most often order products from this segment. By contrast, in Sweden it was only 4%.
From which category do you most often by products online?
Results for Family and Pet supplies, segmented by countries.
European Couponing 2013 by DIMABAY, n = 2400, n per country = 300, all data in percent, Institut: GfK 2013
Consumers from Poland received the most shipments within the last six month, followed by the UK and Germany. The shipments in Germany and the UK, however contained a package insert most often.
In your estimation, how many shipments in total did you receive from mail-order companies within the last six months? How many of those shipments contained package inserts?
European Couponing 2013 by DIMABAY, n = 2400, n per country = 300, all data in percent, Institut: GfK 2013
Package inserts are very common, especially in Germany; only 4% of consumers have never received an insert. At the same time, more than 70% of the shipments in the past six month contained at least one insert. In Poland, however, less than a quarter of all shipments (24.3 %) contained a package insert whilst an estimated 30% of the consumers in Spain and Poland have never received a package insert.
How many of these shipments contained package inserts? How many consumers have never received a package insert?
Percentage share of shipments, that contained package inserts and share of consumers, who have never received a package insert
European Couponing 2013 by DiMaBay, n = 2400, n per country = 300, all data in percent, Institut: GfK 2013
Brochures, catalogues and informational flyers are very common forms of package insert. From the product range of inserts, 38% of the interviewees received a coupon flyer and 18% a booklet.
Which kinds of insert have you received so far?
European Couponing 2013 by DIMABAY, n = 2400, n per country = 300, all data in percent, Institut: GfK 2013
Of the consumers that have received a package insert, 54% indicated that they received on average one insert per shipment. 32% of the shipments contained an average of two inserts.
Of the packages that did contain package inserts, how many inserts on average were inside each packet?
European Couponing 2013 by DiMaBay, n = 1900, all interviewees who received package inserts, all data in percent, Institut: GfK 2013
Across European, an average of 54% of all package inserts are being read. In Poland (73%), Spain (66%) and Italy (63%), the package inserts are being read especially carefully.
Of the package inserts, which you received in the past six month how many did you read?
European Couponing 2013 by DiMaBay, n = 1900, all interviewees who received package inserts, all data in percent, Institut: GfK 2013
Of those consumers who read package inserts, 42% visit the website of the advertiser. 18% of the consumers pass the coupon on to family members or friends.
Please specify, how you use the package inserts.
European Couponing 2013 by DIMABAY, n = 1041, all data in percent, Institut: GfK 2013
When advertising with package inserts, one should always assume the perspective of the customer. Some factors that are often important for Marketing Managers are not as important for customers. The quality of the print, for example, is only considered an important factor for 26% of customers. Likewise, customers prefer an insert with precise and short information in comparison to a very creative one.
It is surprising, how little influence the creativity of the insert has on each customer. Only 38% of consumers find that this is a decisive factor.
What is important with package inserts?
European Couponing 2013 by DIMABAY, n = 2400, all data in percent, Institut: GfK 2013
As well as being used by customers, package inserts create brand awareness for advertisers; 87% of the consumers read package inserts
Product samples, coupons as well as booklets are all popular forms of package insert
If the package insert is tailor made for the target group, the likelihood of usage rises significantly
67% of the consumers are likely to use a tailor made package insert
More than every second package insert is being read
42% of the consumers, who use package inserts, visit the website of the advertiser
Two thirds of all consumers prefer package inserts with attractive offers