THE GROCERY GAME TEAMS UP WITH COUPONSTAR TO STREAMLINE ONLINE EXPERIENCE & MAXIMISE CONSUMER SAVINGS

1st October 2007

Grocery shopping forum adopts CouponNETTM platform from Couponstar to provide additional money saving offers to its customer base

The Grocery Game, the leading online consumer forum for saving money on grocery shopping, has partnered with digital marketing services provider, Couponstar, to provide UK consumers with advice on how to maximise in-store savings, alongside relevant offers in the form of consumer-printable coupons and vouchers.

Through the use of Couponstar’s CouponNET™ network, a “white label” platform for distributing coupons and vouchers via the Internet, The Grocery Game can reach hundreds of thousands of interested consumers every month. Additionally they can tailor their advice to reflect both the offers in place across the UK’s leading supermarkets and the latest coupon promotions on CouponNET™, to maximise consumer savings.

A number of leading consumer websites have now signed up to the CouponNET™ program, including: GMTV, UKTV, Lycos UK, Bounty.com, Closer magazine, Daily diet tracker, ipoints UK, Newsquest Media, and My Valued Brands, and interest in the network continues to thrive.
Despite its strong presence in the grocery saving advice arena, The Grocery Game, like many consumers, used to be wary of e-coupons as they were typically for low values and so widely distributed that the products were often sold out. As Teri Gault, CEO, The Grocery Game, explains, “Internet coupons used to be more trouble than they were worth for consumers, with brands typically keeping the values low to try to combat unauthorised reproduction of the coupons. However, Couponstar’s technology has completely redressed this, providing peace of mind to both consumers and brands alike.”

Couponstar’s market-leading secure coupon distribution solutions draws on techniques used in the most secure documents such as currency, providing unparalleled resistance to mal-redemption and fraud. Additionally every Couponstar printable coupon has a unique barcode that can be tracked throughout the distribution, redemption, and clearing process, without requiring any personal information to be collected from the consumer. The additional security and easy-to-spot visual changes can help retailers identify trusted coupons quickly and keep lines moving.

Gault continues, “Consumers are increasingly looking to the Internet for advice on how to run the household more efficiently and save money on the weekly shopping bill. However, to date, little has been done to cater for this desire. More and more price comparison sites are appearing across the industry, however none explain how to convert the information they provide into real savings for the consumer.”

As with many other online marketing pricing models, CouponNET™ is strictly pay for performance; that is the advertiser only pays for each coupon printed. Subsequently, the cost efficiencies as compared to other forms of coupon distribution are huge. For example, the relative savings on achieving 10,000 coupon redemptions as compared to door-2-door, direct mail and newspaper methods are 72%, 49% and 68% respectively.

CouponNET™, also supports other formats such as video coupons where customers are required to view a short video commercial (TVC) before they can print the offer, uniquely providing marketers with the ability to create a brand experience that can be tracked through to product purchase.

Gault concludes, “At The Grocery Game we pride ourselves on providing the best online experience alongside the best, most relevant online money-saving advice and tools in the business, and this is exactly what Couponstar delivers. From the seamless integration of their technology to the continued emphasis on education Couponstar have exceeded our expectations at every stage, and we look forward to expanding with them in the UK.”

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For further information, please contact:
Lisa Williams/Kieran Kent
The itpr Partnership
t. +44 (0)1932 57 88 00
www.itpr.co.uk
lisaw@itpr.co.uk