Online Shoppers More Frugal

No joke, huh?
The results of a survey by ForeSee Results were just released, and they show that customer satisfaction among most of the top 100 (by sales volume) internet retailers dropped in the past year. The ratings of over half of the top 100 dropped, while only 16 improved (the biggest improvement was Kohls.com, up 6% over last year). One of the reasons the survey company found was that price was much more of a determining factor on satisfaction compared to prior years.
Bank of America released the results of their Consumer Purchasing and Saving Habits Survey last week which also confirmed the Frugal Is Cool phenomenon. 80% of the consumers surveyed said they were more aware of how they were spending their money. They also found “a new culture of thrifty spenders is emerging to make every dollar stretch further.” Their tools: more research and comparison shopping before making a purchase, eating in more, the use of online and mobile banking tools to monitor their finances more closely, and the use of retailer and credit card rewards programs.
The results of these surveys aren’t surprising in the least, given the current economic climate. People are making more informed financial decisions, finding ways to make the most of their money, using more coupons (for example, see my friend Ginger’s blog, Attention Target Shoppers, which matches up current newspaper and printable coupons with sales at Target stores), and yes…people are relying more on online shopping rewards programs to help squeeze every little bit of value out of their dollar.
Kohls.com has higher customer satisfaction ratings this year, do they? Then why not shop through a rewards program’s link to Kohls and get 2 to 3% cash back while you shop? Similar or higher cashback rates are available for almost all of the top 100 retailers on the list ForeSee provided. Take a look at my most recent cashback rates comparison report and you’ll see which rewards programs have the best cashback shopping rebates.
If you’re using price comparison tools, coupon codes, and paying by rewards cards, you’re still leaving money on the table — up to 30% cashback through rewards programs. Let me know if I can suggest a program for you based on your own specific shopping preferences (if you travel a lot, if you buy for a business, if you prefer PayPal vs. gas cards vs. Disney Dollars, etc.). But optimizing your rewards program usage isn’t as important as simply using any rewards program — getting some reward is better than getting none.

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