The growth of online media means more eyeballs browsing content and therefore more advertising dollars trying to catch the attention of the viewers.  E-commerce remains a large customer of the advertising space with much spending going into traditional CPM and CPA advertising.  More interestingly, a large amount of spending is going into nontraditional cashback and coupon-based advertising which has proven enormously popular and effective because the consumer is getting discounts and deals that reduce the cost of a purchase.  Here we consider three of the most popular ways that stores have tried to entice shoppers with discounts.  Use any or all of them to save money whenever you buy anything online or at a brick-and-mortar store.

1.  RetailMeNot App – The RetailMeNot app uses geo-fencing to alert consumers when they get near a retailer.  In effect, there is a virtual perimeter set up around the retailer which if the consumer crosses, judging by his or her location as reported by a mobile phone, activates a notification system that reports to the consumer of a cashback or discount.  The goal is to identify and bring in shoppers when they get close to a store they would be most interested in.

2.  Cashback Portals – Portals feature sites or are themselves sites which have arranged a deal with the retailer such that every customer buying through the portal nets the portal some fraction of the sale.  The portal then elects to share some of the gains with the consumer which increases the popularity and usage of the cashback portal.  BrightBuy Discounts is a leader in this space.  Interested readers should locate the BrightBuy coupons section and find all the participating retailers.

3.  Online Coupons – These virtual coupons resemble traditional coupons and are found on sites like Coupons.com which is an aggregator and clearinghouse for retailer coupons.  Retailers submit their coupons to the site and consumers regularly browse for deals.  Many websites are devoted to manual filtering and handpicking coupons every day or week and presenting them on a website

4.  Deal-Of-The-Day – Groupon epitomizes this relatively new breed of group-buying discounters.  Stores work with the company to craft a deal that is then presented in limited quantities exclusively to the members.  If the deal is any good it induces massive awareness and buying.  In theory this boosts the visibility and broadens the customer base for the retailer.  However, for the customer this is just another great deal.

(Photo Credit: sdc2027 / Creative Commons)