 "Online coupon business doubling each year")
The online coupon business, a part of affiliate marketing that offers price comparisons, purchase recommendations, discount deals and cashback facilities, is growing at 80-100 per cent, year on year, according to industry estimates.
The increase in mobile internet users has resulted in demand for online coupons, says PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chief Economist SP Sharma. The redemption of discount coupons on e-commerce websites is doubling every year, according to him.
According to Assocham, Indian e-commerce sales clocked year-on-year growth of 75 per cent and crossed Rs 35,000 crore in October as compared to Rs 20,000 crore worth of sales generated by online shopping portals in the festive season last year.
Assocham reckons the coupon-driven business accounts for about 20 per cent of total e-commerce revenue of $25 billion.
Online coupon platforms like GrabOn, CouponDuniya, CouponRaja, CashKaro, CouponzGuru, CouponRani and Cuponation are offering discounts ranging from 5 per cent to 85 per cent.
These online affiliate marketers support the business of e-stores for a commission ranging from 2 per cent to 20 per cent on the sales processed through them.
More From This Section
GrabOn's founder and CEO Ashok Reddy said his firm had seen a 33 per cent rise in redemptions at 200,000 coupons per day during this festive season against 150,000 coupons a day during the same period in the previous year.
Another coupons and cashback website CashKaro has conducted business of over Rs 125 crore in October, up from Rs 50 crore during the same month last year.
“Other than the discounts offered by e-tailers, our customers receive an additional cashback of 1-15 per cent from our commission. This is credited into their bank accounts and can be used as cash,” CashKaro co-founder Swati Bhargava said.
Along with deal aggregators, e-tailers and banks are also offering discount codes, e-coupons and cashback deals to online shoppers. State Bank of India, HDFC, Axis Bank and Standard Chartered have offered 5-15 per cent cashback of up to Rs 3,000 this festive season, up from 5 per cent up to Rs 1,000 last year.
As banks enter this space, most deal aggregators are exploring other forms of affiliate marketing. Mumbai-based online coupons site CouponDunia has launched cashbacks to retain customers. Hyderabad-headquartered price comparison website MySmartPrice has started a rewards section.