ID.me Survey Finds Two Thirds of Military Members/Spouses Prefer to Purchase from Brands that Offer Military Discounts Over Ones That Do Not

MCLEAN, Va., Nov. 11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ID.me, the leading group verification provider for e-commerce sites, announced the results of their recent survey, conducted online by The Harris Poll among over 300 military members (active duty, reserves, retired, veterans) and/or military spouses, that analyzed the shopping behaviors and preferences of military families. The survey found that roughly two thirds (68%) of military members/spouses prefer to purchase from brands that offer military discounts over ones that do not. 

The survey found Veterans Day is the most popular holiday for military members/spouses to seek out discounts with 58% saying they are likely to seek out military discounts on that holiday, compared to fewer who cited other holidays such as Military Appreciation Week (40%) and Independence Day (39%). Given this information, Veterans Day offers a unique opportunity for organizations to strengthen their relationship with the military community, to acquire new shoppers and build greater loyalty with existing customers.

Key success factors identified in the ID.me Military Shopper Survey include:

• Exclusive Military Discounts Drive Loyalty - Almost 4 in 5 military members/spouses (79%) search for a military discount before making a purchase online. The most popular category (online or in-store) military members/spouses typically seek military discounts for is home improvement products/services (47%) followed closely by technology (41%), travel services (41%), food (36%) and entertainment (33%).
• Spouses Deserve Equal Treatment - Consumers expect that brands also recognize the contributions of military spouses who are often responsible for managing the household, finances and family while service members are deployed. 80% of military members/spouses indicate that military spouses should get the same discounts as service members.
• Discounts Should be Earned - Military members/spouses appear to welcome more friction in the shopping experience, believing that military discounts should only be available to those who earned them. Roughly three quarters (76%) believe brands should always require service members to show proof of military service to be eligible to receive discounts.

"As an Army Veteran myself, Veterans Day always has special significance to me," said Blake Hall, CEO and Founder of ID.me. "ID.me strives to make it easy for brands to honor and recognize members of the military community for the service they provide in defending our way of life. I am especially proud of our accomplishments this year. We have grown to over 5M+ military members and 600 brands. Our network is helping service members and their families to save tens of millions of dollars through the promotions enabled by our technology."

With over 600 brands offering discounts on major purchases such as automobiles and appliances, to consumer staples such as food and clothing, ID.me is the leading online verification provider for military service members. In addition to the thousands of military discounts offered year-round, over 40 brands have partnered with ID.me to offer special discounts to the 40M members of the military community during the week of Veterans Day. To be eligible for the discounts, consumers must verify their military affiliation using ID.me. The online verification process takes just a few minutes and is open to active duty, veterans, reserves, national guard and their spouses.

For a complete list of deals available to ID.me during the week of Veterans Day, visit https://insights.id.me/partner-announcements/42-veterans-day-discounts-2020/. To learn more about how to verify military affiliation with ID.me, visit https://www.id.me/individuals/group-discounts/military. 

Survey Method: The ID.me Military Shopper survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of ID.me from October 29 ? November 2, 2020 among 2,047 U.S. adults ages 18 and older, among whom 384 are military members (active duty, reserves, retired, veterans) or military spouses. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables and subgroup sample sizes, please contact Edward Fernandez.

About ID.me

ID.me simplifies how individuals prove and share their identity online. Our next-generation identity platform provides identity proofing, authentication and group affiliation verification for organizations across sectors. ID.me's technology meets the highest federal standards for online identity proofing, authentication, KYC and AML requirements and is approved as a NIST 800-63-3 IAL2 / AAL2 conformant credential service provider by the Kantara Initiative. More than 28 million users and over 450 organizations use ID.me to verify identity, including healthcare organizations, federal and state government agencies, financial institutions, retailers and nonprofits. To learn more about ID.me and its secure identity verification platform, visit https://www.ID.me/ and follow on Twitter @IDme.

SOURCE ID.me