If anyone has ever tried to shop for a kitchen appliance, they know the overwhelming feeling of looking through a myriad of advertisements and promotions offered by retailers. Considering promotions such as bundles, mail-in rebates, free gifts, and merchant rewards, it can be confusing and time consuming to determine what deal really is the best one. I am going to define some most common promotions seen for kitchen appliances, as well as my opinion on which promotion brings the most value to the consumer.
Bundles
A bundled promotion is an incentive offered with the purchase of more than one product whether related or not. An incentive can be anything from an extra discount on the product to a free gift or service. Some examples of valuable services included in a bundle are free delivery or free installation, which are commonly offered by retailers such as Best Buy and Sears. I highly recommend purchasing products that have at least one of these services bundled with the product as they can equate to a couple hundred dollars on their own.
Below is a Best Buy ad offering a bundled kitchen package for $3,269, saving the customer an extra $400 on the (already) discounted products. Although each product has been individually discounted, the bundle price offers a deeper discount. This type of promotion provides the customer with the best value and convenience since all appliances would be purchased through the same retailer.
Using the “Advertisement Share” card on gap intelligence’s Dashboard, I created a chart highlighting the number of bundled promotions offered at the following national retailers: Best Buy, Home Depot, JC Penney, Lowe's, and Sears. According to the chart, Best Buy offered the most bundles for refrigerators across all brands, with a total of 89 in 2017.
Below is an RC Willey banner ad pulled from gap intelligence's Data Center,which offers a free Samsung Powerbot with the purchase of 2 or more Samsung appliances. This is a great example of a bundle that offers a free gift as the incentive instead of discounted products.
Mail-in Rebate
Although Mail-in Rebates have decreased in the last few years, it is still a commonly offered promotion, especially in the kitchen appliance world. This promotion requires additional action by the purchaser in order to receive the discount. For this type of promotion, the consumer makes the initial purchase online or in-store for a certain price and then mails in the rebate to the manufacturer. The manufacturers or retailers then send back savings that are redeemable at a later date. Mail-in rebates are often offered in tandem with another promotion. Below is an ad from Lowe's offering a total savings of $2,500 when this LG 4-piece kitchen suite is purchased together as a bundle. Underneath the bundle offer is an additional promotion for up to an extra $500 off via mail-in rebate with the purchase of select 4-piece LG Kitchen suites.
Other Popular Promotions
Free gifts typically consist of purchasing a product and receiving a free unrelated item including universal gift cards. A recent example of a free gift is demonstrated in the Best Buy banner ad below. This ad is offering a free Amazon Echo with the purchase of any LG InstaView refrigerator, which can be used together to view the contents of the refrigerator, stream music/TV, adjust temperatures, and more!
Another increasingly popular promotion available is Merchant Rewards points. Rewards programs differ across merchants but the most common form is the accumulation of points through purchases thatcount towards future discounts/coupons at the same retailer. Merchant Rewards are offered as an incentive from retailers to encourage consumers to come back to their store after their initial purchase. Rewards are most prevalent at department stores such as Kohl's and JC Penney.
Additionally, there are few retailers that offer their own Merchant Gift Card as an incentive with appliance purchases for the purpose of encouraging consumers to come back to the same store to purchase additional products/accessories. This promotion is most commonly offered at Best Buy.
Last but certainly not least among the common promotions observed are Peripherals. This is typically a free incentive offered with the purchase of a related product, which can include free delivery, free installation, or a product accessory. A common peripheral offered through Best Buy is Free Geek Squad Installation with their kitchen appliances, which can be extremely helpful and valuable since it can get pretty costly. Sears, JC Penney and Costco are also some merchants that use peripheral promotions often in their advertisements.
Caution
Be wary of bundled offers that do not actually provide any additional savings when purchased together. A great example of this is the Lowe's ad below. Notice that the ad promotes a 4-Piece Kitchen Suite for the price of $2,826, however, each product has been individually discounted and can technically be purchased separately for the same price. Thus, the bundle price does not offer additional discounts.
The biggest takeaway from this is that sometimes the lowest price does not always result in the maximum value. For kitchen appliances specifically, I highly recommend opting for a bundled offer, especially if you are looking to buy more than one appliance. Not only will a 4-Piece Kitchen Bundle provide the most value and convenience, it makes for a more cohesive looking kitchen. For those looking to purchase only one appliance, keep an eye for bundled accessories or services such as shipping/installation because these can add up when purchased separately. Many consumers over look this detail because they opt for the lowest price so make sure to do your due diligence before making this important decision. Happy appliance shopping!
For more than 15 years, gap intelligence has served manufacturers and sellers by providing world-class services monitoring, reporting, and analyzing the 4Ps: prices, promotions, placements, and products. Email us at info@gapintelligence.com or call us at 619-574-1100 to learn more.
