2019 Promotion Trends: BOGO, Free Product Activity and Feature Price

We recently released our 2019 Print & Digital Trends analysis. Here we take a closer look at Buy One Get One (BOGOs) and Free Product Activity which continue to play an important role within the promotion landscape. Additionally, Kantar now reports Feature Price starting in 2019, as an evolving tactic on retailer digital coupon websites.

For a deeper dive into the 2019 promotions landscape, fill out the form on the right to download a full copy of the report.

BOGO and Free Product Activity on the rise

In 2019, we monitored increases among BOGO and Free Product Activity offers in all sectors except Print Non-Food.

In food, the print increase was driven by shelf stable beverages (+182mm coupons dropped YoY) while digital increases were driven by dry grocery (+15.4% YoY) and shelf stable beverages (+21.6% YoY).

In non-food, the print decrease was driven by personal care (-375mm coupons dropped YoY), while increases were seen for digital in all areas (class +8.9% YoY).

Overall, BOGO and Free Product Activity continues to increase as CPG brands look to offer types that excite and engage shoppers.

Digital Feature Price

Although not technically a coupon, Digital Feature Price is an emerging offer type that was added to Kantar reporting in 2019 for current subscribers. In 2019, Kantar captured over 4,000 Digital Feature Price events on retailer websites. Food accounted for 85% of events (+1% YoY).

Creative Examples

There is a lot of variety in how brands position their offers across the promotion landscape. Here are some examples we saw in 2019.

BOGOs offer an additional free or discounted product with a purchase.  In Print, 70% of BOGO/Free Product activity is non-food. In this example of BOGO in FSI, Rimmel tried to encourage trials of line extensions with a Buy One, Get One print coupon for a free eyeliner when a Rimmel mascara is purchased. 

Free Product coupons offer a free product with no cost to the consumer.  In digital, 81% of BOGO/Free Product activity is Food. In this example of a free product in digital, Chobani promoted a free offer for its Gimmies product.

Digital Feature Price offers appear only on retailer websites and feature a sale or discounted price point rather than a redeemable coupon. In some instances, there are Feature Price offers and a digital coupon at the same time, on the same website. This example shows a special price offer for select DiGiorno or California Pizza Kitchen products for a limited time.

These types of offers add more value for consumers, which in turn adds more value for marketers. For a deeper dive into our full print and digital trends analysis, fill out the form on the right to download the report.