Online couponing

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Online couponing has been a marketing tool as a variant of couponing (use of discount stamps ) since the spread of online shops .

process

So-called voucher codes are issued via voucher portals . These voucher codes can then be entered by the customer when paying for consumer goods on the corresponding page. The discount is given either in the form of a percentage or a fixed amount. The coupons are issued by the companies and distributed in various ways. This can be done directly, for example, by sending the voucher codes to the customer via SMS, email or offline by post, or indirectly via newsletters, voucher portals or offline as an insert in a newspaper or magazine.

The task of the voucher portals is to collect the available voucher codes and make them available to the user. The aim is to encourage the user to purchase goods through the discount granted.

Online couponing, i.e. the price reduction by entering voucher codes, is often mistakenly confused with the business model of Groupon & Co. However, these two business models are very different. Voucher portals that are active in the area of ​​online couponing provide a selection of free voucher codes that generate an immediate discount for online orders without registering and without purchasing a voucher. With providers like Groupon, however, the consumer has to buy a discounted voucher that has a certain voucher value.

Mobile couponing

Mobile couponing is another form of online couponing that has arisen due to the rapid spread of smartphones and tablets . This form of couponing has already established itself in America, and it is becoming more and more important in Germany. The application is very simple: The consumer receives the voucher on his smartphone and shows it when paying at the checkout. These coupons are sent both via email and SMS. They are optionally available via mobile portals and special applications. A barcode or digit code appears on the display of the mobile phone, which is typed or scanned in and the customer is encouraged to buy an item directly via smartphone or tablet.

Criticisms

Providers are sometimes critical of voucher portals , as customers often only look for a suitable voucher after the actual purchase decision has been made , which means that the provider does not win any new customers, but still both grant the customer a discount and pay the voucher portal a commission got to. In addition, many voucher portals do not pay sufficient attention to the topicality of the published vouchers, which in turn can lead to negative shopping experiences for the customer in relation to the respective provider when trying to redeem them.

From the customer's perspective, the points of criticism arise primarily from the high level of complexity that is given by numerous special regulations and restrictions. In particular, the minimum order value, period of validity and other restrictions on selected products or customer groups must be specified here.

Legal Aspects

The article Dienst / Scheibenpflug, JurPC Web-Doc, deals in detail with the civil law issues relating to voucher purchases on online voucher platforms. 147/2012, Para. 1 - 103. The article examines the legal nature of the online voucher, the content and the parties to the voucher transaction. In addition, it gives an overview of individual legal aspects of couponing with a focus on consumer law issues. The focus is in particular on the elimination of remaining amounts in the event of only partial redemption and the limitation of the period of validity of a voucher.

The Cologne Court and the Berlin Regional Court have so far taken a position on the validity periods of online coupons. The effectiveness of the time limit for vouchers purchased via voucher platforms is analyzed in the article Dienst / Scheibenpflug, Consumer and Law 2013, 83. The authors assume that in the case of heavily discounted service vouchers, it may even be appropriate to set a validity period of less than three months in individual cases.

Web link

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Article Wirtschaftswoche
  2. ↑ Difference between Groupon, DailyDeal & Co. and voucher portals!
  3. ↑ Voucher portals put to the test ( Memento of the original from June 8, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.adzine.de
  4. ↑ Minimum order value and validity of online vouchers
  5. ↑ Sebastian Dienst / Philipp Scheibenpflug, Civil law legal issues with voucher purchases on online voucher platforms (couponing), JurPC web doc. 147/2012, paras. 1 - 103.
  6. ^ AG Cologne, judgment of May 4, 2012, Az .: 118 C 48/12.
  7. ↑ LG Berlin, judgment of October 25, 2011, Ref .: 15 O 663/10.
  8. ↑ Sebastian Dienst / Philipp Scheibenpflug, Validity periods for online vouchers at Groupon & Co., VuR 2013, 83. (PDF; 168 kB)