Does highlighting the potential for discounts negatively impact on non-eligible customers?

Question

I'm interested to know peoples opinions on this. Does clearly showing a voucher/coupon/discount code field within a quote or payment process negatively impact on the customer experience for people who don't qualify (e.g. don't have a coupon)?

Personally if I see a discount code field in a form the first thing I do is search for a code. I recently had this with Pixelmator and saved £7. Knowing I have a discount code prior to purchase makes me more inclined to purchase and positively impacts on my experience (e.g. Rosenfeld Media give UPA members a discount) but the reverse is true when I don't have a code and the potential is highlighted. It makes me feel that I'm some how missing out and that the company can afford to sell their product cheaper but I'm not seen as important enough to qualify.

Do you know of any research for/against this or had any experience of it through user testing etc?

Should discount code fields be made more prominent or should they be reduced to say a link that shows/hides the field?

Any feedback would be really appreciated.

Answer 1

Our usability testing shows that users definitely do stop what they’re doing and go off to search Google for a code. But, we have rarely seen that this causes a significant customer experience problem. Most of the time users accept that these codes are not always freely available so they carry on with their purchase anyway. So, from the users' perspective so far I can't see this is a major issue.

From a client’s perspective they will often miss out on the full price purchase if a code is freely available on the web, so there could be a more subtle way to allow legitimate voucher code holders use their code (i.e. those people send a code through direct marketing). Perhaps a way around this would be to start providing different entry points into the purchase process (i.e. through a link sent to customers which includes an auto code) or as you say, to minimise the emphasis on them somehow. This would need to be tested and refined carefully before implementing it though

Answer 2

Does clearly showing a voucher/coupon/discount code field within a quote or payment process negatively impact on the customer experience for people who don't qualify (e.g. don't have a coupon)?

If I see a voucher code field and don't have a voucher code, the first thing I do is launch a new tab and search google for a code. I have on several occasions abandoned a sale because I felt a little hard done by when I didn't find a code. I think for web savvy and the more miserly users (like me!) it is a negative customer experience as we feel as though we are missing out on a benefit being provided to other users.

Should discount code fields be made more prominent or should they be reduced to say a link that shows/hides the field?

Personally I''d always do the latter and hide the field through a link, this allows users who have a code to still use it and isn't as big a distraction for users who don't.

Do you know of any research for/against this or had any experience of it through user testing etc?

Look at point 4 on the following link, it has some facts relating to drop off rates and also some suggestions on how to tackle voucher code fields. http://www.zenwebsolutions.com/news/top-ways-to-prevent-shopping-cart-abandonment.html

Edit link is dead - content of point 4 was:

27% of those surveyed claimed they abandoned their cart to search for a code that would offer them a further discount on the purchases they were about to make.

To tackle this issue, there are two suggestions. Firstly, next to the discount box you could add a link that says "Don't have a discount code? Click here to search for one" and provide links to sites you know display your codes.

Whilst this may mean that you end up offering more discounts, at least the sales will be completed - and it will increase the possibility of repeat business.

The second option, either on the last page before payment is made or in the confirmation e-mail, is to display a message saying "We see you're not using a discount code for this purchase, so we'll send you one by e-mail to use next time".

This will encourage repeat purchases and prevent customers feeling that they have missed out. However, if neither of these tactics reduce abandonment, omission of the discount code box may be the best solution.

Answer 3

The obvious semi-solution is to simply not show the discount code field if there are no vouchers currently available. The system knows what vouchers are valid, so it can automatically show/hide this as appropriate.

Of course, this doesn't completely solve the issue because often there'll be a voucher available - just not one your user has…

Answer 4

Pete is trying to solve the problem of validity of coupons as there are lot of people who used coupons and didn't get any discounts.

But here the question is very straight asking about the experience. Whether to show coupon code field or not and how it effects the experience of users. Well according to me I have interviewed a few people who are frequent buyers about this and 20% of them stopped checkout process since they didn't find the relevant coupons.

This ends up with negative feeling in customer's view point. So it is always better to not to display coupon code field.