Nearly six in ten retail marketers say they can’t discount any deeper, according to a new study released this July.

Re-aligning promotions to meet current customer needs has taken its toll and most retail marketers now say they can’t discount any more, according to the report from retail knowledge transfer experts Mohive. Questioning 100 marketing experts working in Britain’s biggest retail operations, the study claims:

1. PRICE IS DOWN: A discounting point of about 20 per cent was the most popular option for retail marketers questioned. More than four in ten say this rate represents their average discount over the year so far. Nearly 16 per cent said they were delivering average discounts of ten per cent across all their promotions. A small number (less than four per cent) said that for them, the recession had driven average discounts up to about 40 per cent. No retail marketer claimed that average discounts were in excess of 40 per cent.

2. RETAIL MARKETERS HAVE EXHAUSTED OPTIONS FOR FURTHER DISCOUNTING: Nearly 60 per cent said they didn’t think they could discount any more than they have already; the remainder say they would consider further discounts if necessary.

3. BRITAIN’S RETAIL EXPERTS ARE SHIFTING PROMOTIONAL PRIORITIES IN-STORE: Frugal spending, carefully targeted at elements that promote a good experience in-
store, supported by drivers like direct marketing or web/social networks (which are stable or growing in importance) over classic ad spend or sponsorship (which seem to be losing appeal) appears to be the emerging model of choice for retail marketers working through these current tough conditions, according to the study.

Mohive CEO, Lars Unneberg (pictured below), said: “The real question for retail marketers in the current climate is, ‘What more can we do to improve the performance of the
product campaigns and promotions our business depends on?’ While the vast majority taking part in our study seemed to think they had classic external factors like television advertising, PR or magazine promotions covered, nearly eight in ten now say that internal issues like in-store merchandising or staff ability to recommend and advise, are of growing importance in an environment where footfall is in general decline.”

Lars Unneberg