Woolworths offers one of the Disney movie characters for every $30 spent, while New World has knife sets.
By Susan Edmunds of RNZ
Woolworths' latest giveaway has captured the attention of children around New Zealand, but why do supermarkets run these promotions and who are they really benefitting?
The supermarket is giving away one of the Disney movie character-themed Ooshies for every $30 spent.
General manager of brand and marketing Abbe Hale said two-thirds of the Ooshies stock had already been given out and 90% of the display cases had been sold.
Full sets have been listed on Trade Me, asking hundreds of dollars, and rare Ooshies are listed on eBay for thousands.
Who's winning?
Supermarkets running promotions hope to encourage shoppers to visit their shops and spend more while they are there.
Retail expert Chris Wilkinson said the promotions sometimes pushed people to buy certain products, if there was the promise of more giveaways with those items.
He said there had been a wider trend towards people doing more frequent, smaller shops, rather than one big transaction, and giveaways related to certain levels of spending could encourage people to spend more each time.
One Auckland shopper said it had changed her behaviour. She had switched her weekly shop from Pak'nSave to Woolworths to collect the set her grandson wanted.
"He's now got them all, so I will be looking forward to going back to Pak'nSave and saving a bit of money."
She said she had sometimes topped up her order with something like a pack of chewing gum, if she was close to getting another pack.
Consumer head of advocacy Gemma Rasmussen said Woolworths' strategy seemed to be about gamification.
"They know there will be children out there to collect all those items. There's a bit of hype around them.
"What they're trying to incentivise you to do is stay loyal. I would say to anyone who's thinking about doing that, think about what that could be potentially costing you, because we do price analysis comparison on the major supermarkets, and time and again, Pak'nSave comes out the cheapest."
Why does it appeal?
Massey University marketing expert Bodo Lang said Ooshies followed several well-established marketing principles and tapped into "deep-seated drivers of consumer behaviour".
"First, the potential market is broad. Many grocery shoppers have children or grandchildren, or know someone who does.
"Ooshies are therefore relevant to a large proportion of shoppers.
"They are also versatile toys. They are pocket-sized and colourful, and their well-known movie personalities give them a presence that belies their small physical size.
"Importantly, there are many different characters, spanning genres such as science fiction, fantasy, action, comedy and superheroes. There is likely to be an Ooshie that appeals to almost every child."
He said the familiarity of the characters helped their success.
"Most New Zealand adults and children will recognise at least some of the characters, because they come from famous family movies and entertainment franchises. This familiarity is a major driver of their popularity.
"Ooshies would be much less successful, if they featured unknown characters."
When inflation was eroding disposable incomes, he said, the chance to give kids a treat that didn't cost anything in the shopping was appealing.
"Ooshies also tap into consumers' deep-seated desire to collect items and achieve a sense of completion by obtaining every item in a set. The fact that some characters are rarer than others adds excitement and encourages continued collecting."
Wider impact
Ooshies have also spawned other business activity.
Dhara Pereira, co-founder of 3D printing company 3D Verse, said she had dealt with orders "pretty much non-stop", since the company started advertising an Ooshies display stand.
"It has been a huge help for us as a small business and we're now working on adding more products for our website.
"The idea came after I saw a similar type of display online and asked my husband, Jono, who does our design work, whether he could create something like it. He then designed our own version especially for our customers."
What about New World?
New World is offering Smeg knives, which Wilkinson said seemed to be aimed at a different part of the market.
He said the New World offer seemed to have higher value, while Ooshies were more of a novelty product.
"Would it really drive destination decisions? Probably for a smaller portion of the market than what Foodstuffs is achieving with its ranges.
"They've moved away from the likes of Little Gardens and things like that... they've recognised that consumers want more from those promotions."
He said Woolworths was rolling out the same promotion in New Zealand and Australia, while New World's was targeted for New Zealand consumers.
University of Auckland marketing expert Michael Lee said he was a Woolworths shopper, so had started collecting Ooshies.
"I don't think it would have changed my shopping behaviour, if I were not already shopping at Woolworths. However, the new Smeg promotion at New World has got my attention and I am considering shopping there for the duration of the promotion, as it involves a much higher end prestigious brand.
"In that sense, the New World promotion has changed my personal shopping behaviour, thereby making it more successful in my opinion."
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