Digital Coupons in India: The current state, the year that was and what 2016 has in store – Kulpreet Kaur, Co-founder, Shop Pirate Coupons

shoppirateYear 2015

Year 2015 has been a great year for Digital coupons industry as was predicted in Mobile Commerce Daily report that all mobile users will search for a digital coupon in 2015. The report also predicted that about 96% of all mobile users would search for coupons in 2015 to find the best deal and the greatest value when shopping online. And it actually happened, but off course not 96%. A shift between desktop to mobile shopping was noticed due to increasing use of smartphones, tablets and broadband and 3G/4G internet availability. Ecommerce has grown 10 times since last year and have become $40 billion industry now which makes it one of the most promising industries in India. A shift to buying online continued at rapid pace and mobile devices redemption through variety of devices is influencing this trend. 59% stated that digital coupons and coupons codes influenced their buying emissions compared to other means of promotions. No one likes to lose out on a deal. There’s a strong human emotion and motivation to capitalize on an opportunity to save. Check out this infographic for the detailed understanding:

The State Of Digital Coupons

At Shoppirate.in we have seen growing awareness among users for discount coupons and offers as compared to last year. Categories which ruled this year were Recharges, Cabs, On Demand service like food delivery, laundry etc and Electronics & Gadgets. This year another strategy by merchants that attracted users was ‘Cash back’ option which became a rage this year and more and more customers flocked for it. The market witnesses’ huge competition for cashback offered by banks and players like Mobiwik, Paytm, PayU and more. Customer acquisition was achieved by rolling out exclusive discount offers and coupons. Most of the players like Happy Checkout, Coupondunia, Shop Pirate Coupons enjoyed the benefits of Online shopping festivals by ecommerce giants and whole year has been productive due continuous online sales/shopping festivals. At Shop Pirate coupons it was definitely a good year where the company received approx 60% of their traffic from mobile.

Expectations from 2016:

Year 2015 has set an example for 2016 to follow. 2016 will be customer centric year with focus on capturing each and every click of the user journey. We expect many more exclusive partnerships to get the best discounts for the users. India will overtake the US as the second largest market for smartphones in the world by 2016 as smart mobile devices become affordable, global research firm eMarketer has said. With Government of India’s ‘India Digital Plan’ that promises that by 2019, everyone in India will have a smartphone, the prospects of online shopping is only expected to grow. Overall, we expect to that digital coupons industry will grow 25% in 2016.