by web$aver
August 18, 2026
Share
Today’s grocery shoppers are price and value conscious. High grocery prices have increased price sensitivity across nearly every category. For most consumers loyalty to a specific Brand is not an unbreakable bond, but rather a temporary state of consumer preference.
This brand preference dynamic can create opportunities for savvy CPG Brand Managers seeking new consumers.
Most grocery categories are mature, with entrenched Brands and low growth. For CPG Brand managers the question is not just how to acquire new consumers in this challenging environment, but how to win and retain share from competitors.
The average grocery shopper is a creature of habit reaching for the same products regularly. Breaking through that routine and getting a consumer to pick your Brand instead of a competitor’s is one of the major challenges in CPG marketing.
The good news is that coupons and cashback offers are among the most proven and cost-effective promotional tools available to achieve that. They are effective at introducing new consumers to your Brand and initiating long term consumer relationships.
Find out what a coupon or cashback offer campaign can do for your CPG Brand!
Consumers don’t need to dislike their current Brand to try your Brand. They may simply need a reason to make a different choice. A valuable promotion provides that reason by lowering the risk of trial and making your alternative more attractive.
Online coupons and cashback offers help consumers overcome their risk aversion, financial and otherwise, to switch from their preferred Brand or try a new Brand.
Here are five ways Online coupon and cashback offer promotions can influence consumers to switch from their preferred Brands:
- Reduce the risk of switching and trying something new:
A clear, immediate discount or attractive cashback offer reduces the perceived risk of trying a new Brand or switching from their preferred Brand. For price sensitive shoppers and category switchers, this nudge is often enough to move your product from the “Maybe later” category to “Worth trying now”. Especially when the offer is prominent at the point of purchase.
- Promotions interrupt habitual consumer purchasing behavior:
Habitual buying relies on autopilot navigation. Most grocery category purchases are automatic, shoppers reach for the same set of Brands without much thought. Shelf habits are broken by pattern interruption. A prominent coupon or cashback offer in the right channel at the right moment causes the consumer to pause, reconsider and make an active choice rather than a passive one.
- Create a competitive advantage at the shelf:
When products are otherwise comparable, a visible promotion can become the deciding factor between your Brand and a competitor. This factor is particularly important in challenging economic times and periods of high food prices and inflation such as Canadians are experiencing today. As a result they are open to and actively seeking ways to save money.
- Opportunity to turn the product trial into a Brand experience:
Getting the consumer to experience the product gives the brand an opportunity to demonstrate quality, performance and value beyond the initial promotion. Positive product trial experiences compound over time and the consumer may find that they prefer the Brand they sampled because of a coupon over the Brand they were accustomed to purchasing. - Target competitor’s consumers more effectively:
Promotions can be directed toward shoppers already consuming the product category and therefore more likely to respond to an attractive offer, making the investment more focused and strategic than a broad discount campaign. Offering cashback incentives appeals to value-motivated consumers who seek brand-switch opportunities if the incentive aligns with their expectations.
Every week, millions of Canadian consumers purchase CPG products from competing Brands out of habit rather than genuine preference.
A well-executed coupon or cashback offer campaign can put your Brand directly into the consideration set of consumers who normally buy a competitor and create an opportunity to win the customer on product value.
Rather than viewing coupons and cashback offers as simple discounts, savvy Brands leverage them as investments in new consumer and market share acquisition.
Promotions are effective at acquiring new customers, eroding competitor loyalty and building a base of new trial-driven consumers who chose their Brand through experience rather than habit.
The data is unequivocal. Consumers are ready and willing to switch Brands when presented with the right incentive. The only remaining question is whether they will switch to your CPG Brand or away from it.
With over 10 years leading the Canadian online coupons marketplace and 150 Million coupon issued we know coupons. We’ve worked with 90% of Canada’s leading consumer packaged goods brands providing them with the online coupons and cashback offer solutions that generate real value for their business. Whether your strategic objective is customer acquisition, customer lift (Increased transaction size and frequency) or customer retention webSaver can help.
