When Customer Incentives Become the Expectation

Annie DiMatteo - 9.10.2009 11:31 AM

A friend of mine recently moved to Denver and bought a new house.  Being new to Colorado, she was unfamiliar with American Furniture Warehouse.  As she was perusing the ads a few weeks ago, she was absolutely elated to see that AFW was having a huge Labor Day Sale.  I just sort of chuckled to myself, and went on about my day.  I figured I would let her stay excited; she'd learn soon enough.

What she will come to know, is that AFW is ALWAYS having a sale; there is nothing really special about this particular "Labor Day Sale."  Last month it was a "Back to School" sale, and next month it will be a "Boss is Out of Town" sale.  There is really no special incentive or reason to shop at AFW that weekend over any other weekend - their stuff is always on sale, for one reason or another, or for no good reason at all.

This got me thinking; are companies abusing "incentives" to try to get people to purchase from them?  Because of misuse/overuse, it does nothing to change the behavior of the purchaser; it becomes an expectation, rather than an added incentive.

Frequent Incentive Abusers

• I will not rush out this weekend to buy a coffee table at AFW just because they are having a "Labor Day Sale."  If I am on the fence as to whether or not to purchase a new table, this "sale" will not push me over the edge.  If I have already decided to buy a table, I will most likely stop at AFW to see what they have, along with a few other places, but their "big sale" will not be the determining factor, or any factor in the decision making process, for that matter.
   
• I will not get excited when I see the weekly flyer from Bed Bath & Beyond for 20% off any one item.  It is now an understood expectation that IF I am going to buy something at Bed Bath & Beyond, I am definitely not going to pay full price, I will just wait for the mail to come that day to get yet another 20% off coupon.  And, if I am on the fence about buying new sheets, that regular flyer in my mail will definitely not be my deciding factor, it will just be standard expectation of my shopping experience at that store, SHOULD I choose to go to Bed Bath & Beyond.
   
• I will not make any large purchases at Ulta if I am not going to get my free gift.  I think it's great that they give away cool gifts with seemingly every purchase, but it is not a deciding factor as to whether I go to Ulta or somewhere else...I just know that if I do go to Ulta, I will not make a purchase unless I'm getting a free gift!

It seems like some retailers are misusing customer incentives, and have made it part of the expected shopping experience.  I won't go out of my way to hit up Bed Bath & Beyond to take advantage of their 20% off any one item coupon, however if I got the same coupon in the mail from Best Buy this weekend, you can bet I would be there day 1, finding SOMETHING to purchase, to take advantage of the offer.  Why?  Because they don't overuse incentives!

Don't get me wrong, I love discounts, and would be thrilled if every retailer offered discounts all the time. I just don't necessarily think it's in their best interest! And, I get the sneaking suspicion that the items at AFW aren't really "discounted," but rather, that is just their regular price.

6 Responses to "When Customer Incentives Become the Expectation"