Peter Casey of NimbleCommerce writes “Despite questions over the future of some of the biggest daily deal providers, e-deals and offers are still going strong”

NimbleCommerce European Director predicts e-commerce trends for 2013

Despite questions over the future of some of the biggest daily deal providers, e-deals and offers are still going strong and, according to NimbleCommerce’s European Director Peter Casey, still have plenty of potential in the European Market.    NimbleCommerce

1. Deals and display advertising – As the industry becomes more sophisticated, and big data allows us to be even more targeted, offers and promotions will move into the mainstream. With the declining effectiveness of CPM-based advertising, brands are looking for alternatives and brand advertisers will use offers in addition to display advertising as a strategic part of the marketing mix.

1. 2. Decline of the ‘daily’ deal – Publishers are already moving away from the time-limited, deep-discounted offers that have been labelled ‘daily deals’ in exchange for methodologies that are more sustainable. In 2013, we will see businesses move to an inventory of ‘always on’ and ‘on demand’, location-based offers.

1. 3. Mobile technology – Mobile and tablet technology still has huge potential for e-deals and offers, and businesses need to be equipped to interact with customers through these channels in 2013. Ninety per cent of purchases made through the NimbleCommerce platform in 2012 happened on a desktop, but in 2013 we expect mobile and tablet purchasing to make up 40 per cent of all transactions.

1. 4. Phone not paper – With the development of Apple’s Passbook and Google Wallet, we will see changes in the way customers redeem offers.  We are already seeing a shift towards paperless, mobile redemption and card-linked offers, and next year we expect at least ten per cent of offers to be redeemed this way. Mobile- and card-linked offers will also help open the door to more national brands and merchants.

1. 5. Loyalty – Card-linked mobile and digital wallet technology is opening the door to some unique loyalty schemes. Instead of one-off deals, publishers will opt to attract customers with clever loyalty programmes, providing offers based on individual behaviour and location.

Peter Casey is European Director at NimbleCommerce, the leading marketing and promotions platform and the world’s first offers network. He has over 25 years’ experience across both IT and sales management and served as a global project manager in the City of London financial markets.