Parents embrace discounts, digital coupons and e-commerce

Dive Brief:

When it comes to grocery shopping, parents are more likely to shop online, use digital coupons and choose specific stores for convenience, according to Valassis' 2K19 Coupon Intelligence Report, which surveyed 1,000 consumers.
About 58% of all parents, and 67% of millennial parents, load electronic coupons onto a loyalty or frequent shopper card versus 40% of all shoppers surveyed. Approximately 60% of parents and 68% of millennial parents look for coupons online compared with 38% of all shoppers.
Of those surveyed, 50% of parents choose a specific store for services like delivery and pickup, and 51% choose a store for products such as prepared foods. About 30% of all parents order groceries online for pickup or delivery, and 37% scan barcodes while they shop. Among millennial parents, 42% order groceries for delivery and 44% scan barcodes while shopping.

Dive Insight:

Most consumers are looking for convenience, especially busy parents, and the shift toward omnichannel shopping has made that easier. Parents, however, are not only adopting online shopping and grocery delivery more than other shoppers, but more are searching for coupons online and loading coupons via mobile app, the report highlights. In fact, 63% of shoppers would choose discounts over tech, according to a recent survey from coupon site Ultimate Coupons.

A recent Coresight study noted that older millennials are "sensible, settled and digital shoppers" who have an eye for a bargain. According to millennial expert and author Gui Coston, the millennial demographic values discounts even more than brand reputation and product quality. At the same time, the group is willing to spend more for convenience and more on groceries than other categories.

Because of this, many retailers have rolled out digital coupon apps including Fareway Stores, BJ's, Target, Food Lion and Albertsons. These apps often have other bells and whistles like recipes, customer rewards and online purchasing abilities. According to an eMarketer forecast, the use of grocery apps will increase by 50% this year.

Consumers, particularly parents, are also making decisions on where to shop based on meal solutions and grab-and-go foods, as well as stores that can make it easy for them to pick up groceries curbside or have them delivered, the Valassis study notes. While 82% of American meals are cooked at home and many parents want to provide healthy meals for their families, they are also often short on time with work and kids activities.

Efforts to boost prepared food offerings are pervasive among grocery stores. Most recently, Wegmans launched a delivery service for its prepared foods, while Schnucks has added a Deli Order Ahead feature for its shoppers to get deli and prepared food offerings quickly.