Discount depth, code inventory, and non-discount promotions across retail categories
🤖
The AI Discount Paradox
Highest discounts of any category — but the thinnest code inventory
Metric
AI Category
Context
Avg. discount offered
30%
🏆 #1 across all categories
Code inventory
2.6
Codes per merchant-month — thinnest of any category
What This Means
Discount depth
MAX
When AI companies promote, they go big.
Code availability
LOW
Codes are rare — shoppers have to catch them.
A category still finding its footing. AI companies discount aggressively when they do promote (30% avg.), but codes are rare at just 2.6 per merchant-month — the lowest of any category. This likely reflects a market still experimenting with promotional strategy as consumer-facing AI subscriptions scale.
⚡
Electronics: Punching Above Its Weight
Mid-sized category by retailer count — but deep promotional inventories
Metric
Electronics
Context
Retailer count
5,058
Mid-sized by store count — not the biggest category.
Codes per merchant-month
11.8
🥈 #2 highest intensity across all categories
The Dynamic
Category size vs. code intensity
Fewer retailers, more codes per retailer. Electronics players maintain deep promotional inventories — a smaller competitive field where each merchant works harder to capture deal-seeking shoppers.
Depth over breadth. With 5,058 retailers and 11.8 codes per merchant-month, Electronics proves that category size doesn't dictate promotional intensity. Fewer players, more codes per player — a concentrated, competitive discount environment.
💄
Beauty: Leader in Non-Discount Promotions
Free shipping and free gift rates among the highest across all categories
Promotion Type
Beauty Rate
Ranking
Free shipping offers
6.8%
% of retailer-months with a free shipping offer. Among highest
Free gift offers
4.5%
% of retailer-months with a free gift. Among highest
Category Comparison — Free Shipping
Sports & Outdoors
10.2%
🏆 #1 all categories — leads all in free shipping
Beauty
6.8%
Second tier — strong free shipping presence.
Beauty competes on perks, not just price. With 6.8% free shipping and 4.5% free gift rates — both among the highest of any category — Beauty retailers lean into added-value promotions alongside standard discounts. Sports & Outdoors leads the pack on free shipping at 10.2%.
🔗
Blockchain & Web3: The Free-Gift Outlier
Smallest category by retailer count — highest free gift rate by far
Metric
Blockchain & Web3
Context
Retailer count
410
Smallest category by store count across all categories.
Free gift rate
12.6%
% of retailer-months with a free gift offer. 🏆 #1 by wide margin
Comparison — Free Gift Rates
Blockchain & Web3
12.6%
Far above any other category.
Beauty (next highest)
4.5%
Second highest — less than half the Web3 rate.
Crypto companies gift, they don't discount. Despite being the smallest category (410 retailers), 12.6% of Blockchain & Web3 retailer-months include a free gift — more than 2.8× the next closest category. Web3 companies rely heavily on added-value incentives over straight discounts.