The other day, I
just checked my phone balance. Although it was enough to last at least a week,
the cautious person that I am, I wanted to add some money for buffer. So, I
logged in to my usual recharge portal and most importantly I checked for any
offers or discounts available. I spent about fifteen minutes sifting through
sites and trying various coupons, but none seemed to work. While I was at it, I
simply bumped into an offer on recharge on a rival site, on which I didn’t have
an account. So what did I do? Yeah, you guessed it right! I spent another five
minutes creating an account and used the offer!!
Now, take a step
back and understand this apparently disloyal behaviour. The amount I saved was a meagre 20 rupees, an amount I will
not think twice before spending on a Panipuri. Yet I spent 30
minutes searching for the best deal. There were two things on my mind: the
feeling of satisfaction that I get when I avail a discount and the feeling
of not being cheated by paying more for the same product or service.
And now that I
think of reasons why I started behaving like this, the answer is clear; traditionally, we have been brought up
by mothers who bargain on small amounts while buying vegetables, and fathers
who look for discounts and sales before purchasing shoes or clothes. Even as
kids, we were lured to buying Lays and Boomer more because of the Tazo and
Tattoo that came with it, for ‘free’! Exactly this Indian behaviour has been
noticed by e-commerce sites, and that is the secret behind the
never-ending End of Season Sales.
It is the long
exposure to the deals that are so freely available; marketing tactics used by
ecommerce companies, banks and many more institutes, be it for customer
onboarding or retention, that birthed such behaviour of taking great pains to
search for deals before any purchase. The companies use it as a means to track
the sources of incoming traffic in both an online and offline scenario. It also
opens gates to a plethora of analytics and consumer behaviour sciences, which
can be used later to customize, as much as possible, the product and service
for the one individual customer: the dream scenario of any marketing team,
given that costs are not an issue.
However, this comes
with a slight twist: while the offers are great, it changes the consumer
mindset and expectations. Just as it did to me! Consumers then begin expecting
discounts, and if they aren’t available they are not exactly ‘happy’ to get the
product. Also at times, they actually wait for the sale to take place, before
making a purchase.
Further, using a
rewards program to ensure customer loyalty or acquisition does yield great
results but also requires huge marketing dollars and at times, deep pockets. But
this is usually short lived. In the longer run the firm has to take a step to
curb such promotions, in order to sustain profitability. And if there is little
product differentiation (just as in ecommerce) and switching cost is low (in my
case, I made the switch, even if it is considered costly!) the firm will
eventually lose the customer to a competitor with deeper pockets. Also, trying
to revert the evolved consumer mindset to a primitive stage of buying products
at the display price, without discounts, may prove futile.
However, another
classical scenario will be to have markups on all products and services, and
let the knowledged ones take the discount and the benefits of it; while the
not-so-knowledged guys suffer. This will require a cartel to be formed, just
like Coke and Pepsi, both having a mutual understanding to keep margins high.
Any deviation from the subtle agreement will lead the scenario to collapse. The
markup-and-discount scenario is tougher to maintain in a market where there are
a lot of players. The story of all airlines cutting prices and eventually
bleeding to near extinction, is a great example of such a deviation. And since
e-commerce companies are also a lot in number, the cartel scenario seems
difficult as well.
So what can an individual
like you and me, do at best? I would suggest jumping the tide and availing all
those offers, coupons and discounts that exist, while they do exist. Do not let
yourself feel cheated and pay a premium for the same product that your friend
got a heavy discount on! Ya, sometimes, they do run into thousands of rupees.
Is it too much of a task, hunting for offers? Initially, yes. You may have to
visit a few sites, compare offers from different places, do some research; but
when you get a hang of it, it’s just like driving a car! There are also several
products like CouponDunia, GoPaisa and Offo that you can use for your refined
searches. And yeah, do not leave out the smaller offers as well! Remember, it’s
the small drops that together make the ocean.
So go ahead, find
the best deals out there, to eventually ‘earn’ yourself that extra plate of
Panipuri! And do not forget to ask for the extra Papdi at the end!! J
