Your CNN account Log in to your CNN account Now that the company is going through a liquidation process, Bed Bath & Beyond said it’s the end of the road for the coupons.ĬNN’s Parija Kavilanz contributed to this report. Two years later, company executives called the move a ‘big mistake,” admitting they had misjudged how much shoppers had come to embrace the regular cadence of the Big Blue coupons. In late 2020, the retailer said it was scaling back on its popular coupon program to boost its business. With stores closed for months, and consumers rethinking their nonessential purchases, Bed Bath & Beyond sales and profit took a hit. Then the pandemic hit and walloped the retail industry. Rumors swirled on various social platforms that Big Blue coupons never expire, even though the weekly coupon does feature an expiration date. The “Big Blue” coupons became a pop culture reference as celebrities and late-night talk show hosts popped it into their on-air conversations. Over time, the oversized postcard-like mailer and digital coupon with an eye-popping purple-blue border and font blaring “20% off in-store or online” developed a cult following and became a successful marketing strategy to lure in repeat shoppers, a retail analyst previously told CNN. The store will stop accepting gift cards on May 8, and the brand’s Welcome Rewards points will stop being accepted on May 15.īed Bath & Beyond introduced its oversized coupon for 20% off a single item three decades ago. Now, the retailer is offering “deep discounts” on its products as it winds down operations. The company gave customers until Tuesday to use its ubiquitous coupons. Laura Oliverio/CNNĮarlier this week, Bed Bath & Beyond filed for bankruptcy. The offer lasts until May 31 and is valid in store, according to its website.īed Bath & Beyond coupons are being accepted at other stores. Similarly, the Container Store said Wednesday it is offering a 20% discount on any single item to customers “who bring a competitor’s blue coupon to any store location,” with the offer ending May 31.īoscov’s, a department store with 50 locations, is also exchanging mailed Bed Bath & Beyond coupons for $10 off purchases of at least $50. “At Big Lots, our mission is to help people live big and save lots, which means we’re always thinking of ways to step up and deliver even more value to consumers,” said CEO Bruce Thorn in a press release Customers that bring one of the iconic blue-and-whites into one of its 1,425 stores will receive 20% off a purchase of $50 or more. After all, if there are going to be less coupons overall, then shoppers are going to want them to be relevant to them.Bed Bath & Beyond’s competitors are coming to the rescue of customers looking to use expired coupons issued by the failed retailer.īig Lots said Thursday that it’s “assisting shoppers nationwide” by accepting expired Bed Bath & Beyond coupons until May 7. “If the company can make good use of its data to careful target coupons, that might help soften the blow. “I think Bed Bath & Beyond is going to have to go about this in a careful fashion so that customers don’t feel like they’re suddenly being overcharged or ripped off,” wrote Ms. If that is the approach, it makes total sense.”Ĭate Trotter, head of trends at Insider Trends, noted that care would be key in implementing a new, data-driven coupon strategy. “And in some cases (or entire markets), they may find that it is best to keep the 20 percent coupons in place. “The presumption here is that it will be a data-driven decision, moderated and potentially in phases, with ample market testing to determine the right approach,” wrote Brent Biddulph, general manager, retail and consumer good at Cloudera. “The growth of data analytics offers the company a chance to be more targeted in its coupons and other promotional offers, without scaling back a key marketing tool too drastically.” “Coupons are not just a traffic driver to its stores and websites, but also an essential part of the brand identity,” wrote Dick Seesel, principal at Retailing in Focus. The company will apply analytics to coupon distribution as well.įor some on RetailWire's BrainTrust, the implementation of analytics offered hope of successfully retooling, rather than completely killing, the iconic coupons. The retailer is hoping to leverage investments in pricing tools to modify algorithms across initial, dynamic and local pricing and markdown strategies. In-store innovations and building on its baby business are also expected to help.įrom a marketing standpoint, Bed Bath & Beyond is enhancing its branding and putting a greater focus on personalized messaging. Longer term, the retailer sees its revenues recovering to single-digit growth due to enhancements to assortment, including new proprietary brands and continued growth in personalized products such as teddy bears.
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