Are voucher codes in decline? Have they run their course?

August 19, 2009
by Mark Johnson

I reported back in December last year that retail voucher searches were on the up and indeed they proved to be very popular over the Christmas period.

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Since then, searches have not been anywhere near as high as the Christmas peak however the breadth of searches for ‘vouchers’ and ‘voucher’ has continued to grow. There is more depth in the variations of the searches too which suggests that users are being far more specific with the type of vouchers they are looking for.

Although the peak around Christmas can be largely put down to online retail vouchers, interestingly an area that has continued to grow strongly is restaurant vouchers which have increased by 75% in the last year.

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A recent report produced by industry analysts Allegra Strategies titled Eating out in the UK 2009 forecasted that the amount spent on eating out would actually drop 0.5% this year to £40.3bn, the first drop in 40 years. And this year, one in nine meals would be eaten out of the home compared with one in eight in 2008. With this in mind, the continued growth in restaurant voucher searches suggests that consumers would like to continue to eat out, but to make it more affordable, are choosing to eat at the restaurants who now have vouchers and discounts as they realise it is an effective way of getting people through the door.

Vouchers for Travel and Theme Parks have unsurprisingly seen a rise in searches in recent months as we enter the summer holiday season and the supposedly “sunnier” months. Vouchers for places like Alton Towers always used to appear in newspapers but with less people buying papers these days predictably these vouchers are now available online. I would think that this is quite an effective way of attracting groups of people and families to the theme park where they will undoubtedly spend money on things like food, drinks, sweets and of course those silly photos that get taken whilst on the rides, thus generating revenue that would easily surpass the discount amount on the ticket.

I can’t help but think that some theme parks and holiday parks miss a trick with vouchers and last minute deals. They don’t have a re-sellable good after all, once the day/week has passed if they haven’t filled their rooms or brought people through the door, then they can’t resell the holiday or day pass again. This year more than ever people are looking for a bargain and a well executed voucher campaign would do the often hard job of getting people through the door – something that many restaurants have now embraced.

Then and only then will they be able to sell them all types of extra goods and services. It is not uncommon for these companies to make a significant part of their profit from the money spent by the customers whilst at the parks and resorts so it seems a bit bizarre to me that companies are often unwilling to give discounts and drop their prices. A new travel report issued by Visa Europe, which surveyed over 1000 holidaymakers, only reinforces the point further as it states that although Britons are searching for and going on bargain holidays this year, when at the destination over a third (39%) admit that they will blow the budget on holiday with nearly two thirds (63%) overspending by up to £200 a week.

I’ve read quite few discussions on whether voucher codes are “like so 2008..!” and now a thing of the past having run their course, but the figures in the tables above and what hitwise are seeing, would suggest that this is not the case. What does appear to be happening is that consumers are becoming more savvy in the types of vouchers they are after and certain sectors where vouchers work affectively are continuing to see growth.

I personally think that there is more to come from this area this year as I still think more theme parks, holiday parks and resorts could offer vouchers to tempt people into purchasing a holiday with them. And come October, I fully expect the big retailers to start thinking about how they are going to boost sales and attract people into their stores and onto their websites in the run up to Christmas with vouchers again being part of their marketing mix.

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