The printed supermarket flyer plays an important role in driving footfall to stores. This is the conclusion of study by the Tinbergen Institute, a part of Rotterdam University, titled “Retiring the store flyer”. Across the globe many retailers have cut back on print marketing believing that an app can replace the beneficial effects of the familiar flyer. This includes the likes of Walgreen in the US Coles and Woolworth in Austrailia and REWE in Germany
For many retailers the printed flyer is the largest element of marketing spend and there is increasing resistance to print both from households and local government. But there has been little work to assess the impact of ceasing to print flyers, either among academics or by retailers themselves.
When Lidl proposed dropping its flyers in the Utrecht region of the Netherlands at the start of 2023, three associate professors took the chance to study the impact, leading to publication of the 49pp report.
In the Netherlands 95% of households receive flyers from retailers each week, providing an opportunity to measure the impact of withdrawal on spend and visitors to the stores, particularly for Middle of Lidl promotions. Print is up against a Lidl Plus app which has the same information as the printed flyer and consumers in Utrecht were encouraged to adopt the app in place of print.
The first finding was that households do not react to promotions using digital in the same way that they do with print. And those not using the app would not know about the promotions in the first place.
The focus was on shoppers where Lidl is not the primary retailer, but the alternative. Where a consumer is a frequent and regular customers, there is no change in this habit, but both visits and spend drop off when households that normally visit rival retailers no longer see the printed flyer. The report says that even for those not making a purchase, the flyer acts as a silent salesman and keeps the retailer ‘front of mind’.
The report suggests better targeting of recipient households to mitigate the cost of print and distribution and to counter environmental concerns. But does not recommend the substitution of digital for print. “Flyers continue to provide value for the average retailer” say the authors.
They also point out that anecdotal evidence says that the loss of print is not popular among consumers. Aldi faced a backlash when ending the flyer in one region of Germany before reversing the decision. The same occurred in the US, Canada and Australia. As for Lidl, after 12 months it too changed tack and citizens in Utrecht have had their flyers restored.
