Vouchers & Gift Cards Manual 2009: Vouchers - what do consumers want?

Every year, Promotions & Incentives conducts an industry survey into how consumers are using vouchers. As James Quilter reveals, the public's enthusiasm for them shows little sign of abating.

When Promotions & Incentives (P&I) carried out its last voucher survey in June 2008, the economic storm clouds were arguably still on the horizon. Now consumers are getting used to the recession, there are some intriguing questions to be answered. Will thrifty consumers use their vouchers to pay bills and supplement the cost of living? Furthermore, how will the all-important corporate end of the market be affected as companies look to make savings in their own schemes?

To answer these questions, P&I teamed up with Maximiles, operator of online loyalty scheme iPoints.co.uk, for the third consecutive year to ask its members how they view vouchers. In all, more than 1000 people, from within a range of income, gender and age groups, were polled.

One big finding this year is that the popularity of retail vouchers has risen by 9%, with 81% of people now saying that they regularly receive them, up from 68% in 2007. This demonstrates that the high-profile collapse of Woolworths and Zavvi, among other high-street brands, has done little to dampen consumer enthusiasm for retail vouchers, and that this area of the market is continuing to evolve.

This evidence of the popularity of retail vouchers is backed up by Francis Goss, head of motivation at incentives provider Grass Roots. He notes that members of staff taking part in its schemes are switching to vouchers for well-known high-street brands and supermarkets.

Andrew Johnson, director-general of the UK Gift Card & Voucher Association (UKGCVA), is not surprised by the findings. 'I expected (the popularity of) retail (vouchers) to increase,' he says. 'It's reflective of the fact that retailers are being more savvy about what consumers can buy from their stores. Supermarkets have a wide range of products, which is different from five years ago.'

Maximiles managing director Guy Keeling says the growth in retail vouchers has been driven by retailers realising that they are an excellent way to boost sales. 'This is not surprising given that marketers are desperately trying to motivate consumers to make purchases in these more challenging economic conditions,' he adds.