It’s all about the…offers, points, deals, price promises, bargains and vouchers!

Most mums use these words as an everyday part of their shopping vocabulary. They seek them out, talk about them, feel good when they get them. But in our world of discount normality mums can get overwhelmed with all the offers out there – and struggle to identify what is a real bargain.

And what happens if mums miss out on these offers - does it damage how they feel about your brand?
We asked mums about offers and discounts and here's our top five tips we think you need to know.

Mums share offers 88% of mums tell friends and family about offers they spot.  This covers a wide range of discounts, from ones they pick up on holiday to something they come across in a newspaper or online. Mums share in the school playground, on Facebook and when out with friends. 

Mums actively seek out offers (81%) looks for discounts at the supermarket, online, at the local convenience store or at the local discount outlet. Mums are often focussed on finding offers or discounts for a particular brand. 

Mums will wait for discounts Mums will be patient and collect vouchers over weeks to get discounts. 2/3 of mums said they wait to buy certain products or brands during promotional weeks or events. 

Mums still like paper vouchers 59% mums read the local grocery vouchers coming through the door, they'll even look out for vouchers coming through the door. Most mums won't automatically chuck them in the bin.  

Mums, grandparents and kids like charity shops Over half of mums shop in charity shops (and many like school /summer fairs). But it is not just mums, we hear that children seek out their favourite books, games or toys at bargain prices and tell their friends too.

But all is not rosy in discount land. Mums told us that they get confused by overlapping offers and sometimes this leads to them missing out on offers. If they do miss out they are often left with a negative perception of that brand and might take their spending power elsewhere. And, of course, mums will tell others about their experience - good or bad. That means it's vitally important to have a clear but inclusive discount strategy. 

These findings were taken from the Big Mum Opinion online survey conducted by MumPanel if you’d like a full free copy of the full Big Mum Opinion report please email lynne@mumpanel.co.uk

Mums and grocery shopping - trends from The Big Mum Opinion

Over the next few weeks we'll be sharing trends we've drawn out from our large scale consumer insight report from 3000 UK mums - The Big Mum Opinion. This week we're talking grocery shopping

1. Mums 'multi-shop' for groceries. Over 78% of mums use more than one shop (including online) to buy their grocery shopping in a typical week. And 28% use three or more. 70% because of offers and 39% because of better quality fresh food and vegetables.
2. Mums love loyalty schemes, but rarely pick one to be 'loyal' to. Mums told us that their loyalty to stores is now shared - they are often loyal to two or three supermarkets.
3. It's not all about supermarkets. Although supermarkets are a staple, mums told us that they can shop in a bargain store (17%), farm shop (9%) and supermarket (80%) in the same day or week for their household groceries.
4. Offers and the quality of a product are not mutually exclusive. Don't be fooled into thinking that because mums love offers they are necessarily willing to compromise on quality, convenience or ethics. Quality of product is still incredibly important to many mums and they won't go for a cheaper product if they perceive it to be of an inferior quality.
5. Mums like a choice of communication channels too. In-store marketing is still very important to mums - they are in the shopping zone and think it is a good time for brands to talk to them - even the online and social media savvy mums say so. Mums multi-shop and they also use multiple communication channels to decide.

If you'd like to read the full Big Mum Opinion report you can get your hands on it here.