Digital coupons remain a consistently favorite tool for online shoppers looking to save money. In Wildfire’s 2024 consumer survey, 72% of consumers stated they were more interested than ever before in using online coupons and discounts for shopping. Even EMarketer called out in a headline, “Hunting for promos is central to the digital path to purchase” in a recent article covering digital coupon usage stats.
Many types of online businesses can greatly benefit from leveraging digital coupons effectively to better monetize their visitors/members, deliver more value to their customers, and enhance customer experiences.
One way that companies who aren’t ecommerce retailers can build a digital coupon offering is by providing a shopping portal (aka shopping directory, offer wall, or shopping site) that showcases available coupons and/or cashback rewards available, in one centralized place WITHIN their existing customer experience.
Shopping Portals vs. Coupon Browser Extensions
Unlike browser extensions that trigger notifications based on specific behaviors or on specific retailers as customers shop online, shopping portals are designed for customers who want to browse and explore deals without a particular retailer in mind. This setup appeals to customers who are interested in exploring a category of relevant merchants offering the product or category they intend to purchase, and finding the best deal from among many merchants.
Essentially, shopping portals can complement browser extensions and provide a familiar, rewarding experience for customers.
For companies with a shopping portal, using a strategic approach to marketing the feature will drive the best results. Below are some recommended best practices for businesses looking to maximize customer awareness and usage of their shopping portals, driving customer engagement and revenue from their aggregated digital coupon shopping site.
1. Feature Your Shopping Portal on Your Dashboard or Homepage
Make it easy for users to find your shopping portal by integrating a direct link on high-traffic areas like the dashboard or homepage. Position a persistent marketing tile with a clear call-to-action (CTA) that leads to the offer wall. Adding “light touch” previews of top deals on the homepage can pique interest, especially when paired with messages that emphasize potential savings or rewards.
2. Use Weekly Marketing to Maintain Awareness
Regular reminders are essential for keeping users engaged with your shopping portal. Consider sending a weekly email or notification summarizing new or popular offers available, whether they are cashback rewards or digital coupons. These regular “offer roundups” ensure users know that fresh deals are always available, which can encourage them to visit your shopping portal frequently.
An evolution of this is to build email messages that highlight the shopping portal in general for a given shopping event (e.g. holiday shopping, Mother’s Day, graduation, etc.) For these, we recommend including a CTA that directs users to the full showcase, letting them browse all deals rather than highlighting just a single offer.
4. Launch Campaigns to Drive Usage During Key Shopping Periods
Seasonal campaigns are particularly effective for shopping portals. During peak shopping seasons, such as holidays or back-to-school periods, you can run targeted promotions that highlight the variety of deals available. Send campaign-specific emails that include simple, benefit-oriented messaging to capture attention.
5. Target Users with Personalized Offers
Leveraging user data can make your digital coupon shopping portal or offer wall even more compelling. By tailoring emails or notifications to showcase offers from each user’s favorite stores or relevant categories, you can increase engagement.
For instance, if you know a user frequently shops in a certain category, a targeted email highlighting related digital coupons or related merchants available in the offer wall can make the experience feel more relevant and valuable.
6. Drive Organic Traffic with Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Ensure your shopping portal is optimized for search engines to attract organic traffic. By building an offer wall page with SEO-friendly content, you can increase visibility on search engines, allowing users searching for deals to find your offers easily. Integrate keywords around relevant offers, savings, and cashback rewards to improve search rankings, driving ongoing, organic traffic to your shopping portal.
7. Incorporate “How-To” Messaging to Educate Users
To maximize engagement, it’s essential that your customers understand how the shopping portal benefits them. Include instructional content in your marketing emails and on the offer wall itself that explains how to activate coupons or cashback rewards, where to find top offers, and the advantages of checking the offer wall regularly. Clear “how-to” messaging reduces friction, making users more likely to navigate the platform confidently and return for future visits.
By implementing these best practices, businesses with a shopping portal can enhance the value they provide their customers, and drive meaningful engagement. Through a thoughtful approach to marketing your digital coupons and cashback rewards in your offer wall, you can ensure it becomes a valuable component of the customer journey and a reliable driver of monetization.
