EXCLUSIVE: Here’s what consumers look for in a promotional offer
Certain factors make a promotional offer more likely to catch the interest of a shopper.
Half of consumers don’t care where they receive offers (in-store, online, or mobile), but they want promotions to work consistently across channels. In addition, results of a new study conducted by XCCommerce in partnership with SmartBrief exclusively released to Chain Store Age reveal that nearly 40% of surveyed consumers said they most often notice offers via email or text and 23% said online ads or social media are most likely to draw their attention.
"The 2026 Shopper Study: How Promotions and Incentives Influence Choice" also contradicts findings of many other surveys that suggest low price is the number one factor influencing consumer purchases. According to the study, more respondents care getting a quality deal (80%) than getting the lowest price (58%).
[READ MORE: Survey: Consumers taking advantage of in-store promotions to fight inflation]
And regarding the influence of artificial intelligence on promotions and incentives, the study found that more than seven in 10 responding are exploring AI tools to find better deals, and one in three are using them for deal-seeking.
Other interesting findings include:
- More than eight-in-10 (83%) respondents said valuable savings or rewards is what keeps them loyal to a retailer.
- Three-in-four respondents said it’s important for offers to be personalized.
- Six-in-10 respondents said they will abandon a retailer entirely if they encounter inconsistent pricing across channels.
- One-in-four respondents said they make plans around tentpole events like Amazon Prime Day and Walmart Deal Days.
"Indisputably, shoppers are changing how they engage with promotions, looking to ChatGPT and open-sourced AI tools to accelerate the search," said Danny Rosenoff, CEO, XCCommerce, in an emailed statement to Chain Store Age. "However, more than anything, our research is clear that consumers aren’t looking for more promotions; rather, personalized and consistent incentives wherever and however they shop."
"The 2026 Shopper Study: How Promotions and Incentives Influence Choice" is a report and consumer survey of more than 300 NRF SmartBrief readers conducted in December 2025.
