Coupons: Selected Trends and Statistics
Historically, there has always been a strong link between the state of the economy, price comparison shopping and the rate of coupon redemption. As unemployment rates and prices rise, coupon redemption rates do too.
The key component of using coupons to maximum advantage is flexibility, careful use – and awareness. The coupon trends and statistics presented below will increase your knowledge about coupons and help you to use this saving strategy effectively.
* Although three billion coupons were redeemed in 2006 (representing $2.6 billion in customer savings), about 99% of all coupons issued were not redeemed. In fact, overall coupon distribution declined by 12% that year, and the coupon redemption rate dropped by 13%.
* $2.8 billion worth of coupons were redeemed in 2007 – the first time since 1992 that coupon redemption volume did not decline.
* An Internet survey conducted by Promotion Marketing Association’s (PMA) Coupon Council in September, 2008 shows that 89 % of the overall population use coupons when shopping at supermarkets, and coupon users surveyed reported average savings on grocery bills amounting to 7%.
* According to the survey mentioned, a typical family saves between $5.20 and $9.60 / week using coupons (customers who devote 20 minutes a week collecting and organizing coupons reportedly are able to save up to $1,000 / year, and the average weekly savings on groceries of the 46% who spend less than ten minutes / week on couponing activities are $7.00).
* PROMO Magazine reported that CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) manufacturers issued over $302 billion worth of coupons in 2007. This represents a 6% increase over 2006 (16 billion additional coupons).
* PROMO Magazine also reported that, according to NCH Marketing, Free-standing inserts in newspapers still represent the vast majority of distributed coupons (88%), followed by handouts (5%), direct mail (2%), magazines (2%), newspapers (1%), in/on-pack (1%) and the Internet (0.4%).
* Nevertheless, there is no doubt that online coupons are gaining popularity. While some estimates indicate an increase of 6% between October 2006 and October 2007, other sources such as comScore, Inc., claim that Internet coupon usage grew by 33% between 2006 and 2007.
* In 2008, visits to coupon websites over the holidays (Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday) were between 15% and 17% higher than in 2007.
* Approximately 20% of US Internet users have downloaded online coupons, and over 40% of those coupons were redeemed.
* Online internet users tend to redeem coupons at offline stores. Cyber Dialogue (an online market research company) indicates that 48% of the shoppers who used online coupons redeemed them at offline stores as opposed 24% who used online promo codes to shop online.
* Surprisingly, a survey by PriceRunner.com shows that U.S. consumers with higher incomes are more likely to use online coupons. The survey of 1000 customers with Internet access shows that 58% of lower income households (below $35,000 / year) had used an online coupon at least once in the past six months, compared to 74 % of households with incomes between $35,000 and $74,000 and 84% of households with incomes of $75,000 or above.
* Most popular online coupon product categories in December 2008 were department store coupons, followed by computer, appliances and electronics. Sixty-nine percent of online coupon searches included specific name brands (JCPenney, Target or Pizza hut, for example), and 31% were generic coupon searches (grocery coupons, online coupons, and free printable coupons).
* According to online coupon aggregator Tjoos.com, coupon use was up in 2008, but average order sizes dropped by 30 % between August 2008 and October 2008.
* Tjoos.com also reported a 31 % increase in emails containing coupons sent by retailers during the same period.
* Finally, coupon users (online and off-line) remain largely female (CyberDialogue says 58% of online coupon users are women and off-line industry estimates indicate that 57% of in-store coupon users are female).
The above shows that there will be a growing trend among manufacturers and retailers to issue more online coupons. This is a natural response to the reported increase in consumer use of the Internet to obtain coupons and the continued decline of print newspaper readership.
The fact that coupon use, traditionally attributed to low income households, is more prevalent among the more affluent is an added enticement to manufacturers and retailers, but it also means that there could be more coupon promotions on expensive articles and name brands.
The information above can help consumers to use coupons wisely. Do not let the expected increase in promotions and coupons entice you into buying items you would not have bought otherwise. Avoid the temptation to buy more than you need or to purchase expensive products simply because you have a coupon that is ‘saving’ you money.