Tesco has been doing Clubcard mailing for a while -­ posting targeted coupons to shoppers based on products bought/not bought, typical spend, parts of the store shopped, and response to previous offers - and it is now giving them even more rewards through coupons at the till.
The chain is using Clubcard data to target customers with offers based on their shopping behaviour over the previous eight weeks.
This way, customers get specific, relevant deals through money-off vouchers when they pay for their shopping; the coupons appear at the bottom of receipts.
Up to 100 different offers will be available at any one time and these will change every two weeks.About two-thirds of customers will get a couple of offers every two weeks, with a typical deal targeting about 250,000 people. In its Welsh trials petfood and confectionery have proved particularly successful.
Tesco Clubcard director Crawford Davidson says suppliers can use it as a way of marketing products and persuading people to try products so that they can then work out who has taken it up.
"You pick consumers who you believe are your target audience and you get instant feedback," he says.
Davidson says it's something the best customers will get even more frequently. "It's like saying missing you already' when they've left the store.
"We're asking consumers who already shop with us to consolidate their shopping habits and giving them more reasons to shop here."
According to the chain, about 70% of shoppers read the receipt, while 30% of those who get a voucher through the post redeem it when there's a really good offer. He's hoping that using till coupons will mean double digit redemption rates.
But Amanda Aldridge, KPMG's UK head of retail, isn't convinced it is the right way forward. In her opinion, coupons are a hassle.
"Is giving them at the till so different to sending them through the post? I don't think someone would nip straight back into the store once they were given the coupons!"
Davidson reckons Tesco coupons have the advantage over cards, however, because they don't force the shopper to break up a shopping trip to check offers and, he adds, they're a big improvement on manufacturers' coupons which, according to Davidson, have a very high level of malredemption.

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