Despite the widespread use of coupons today, they came from very humble beginnings. In 1887, Coca-Cola offered a free glass of coke as part of a paper-based promotion; that paper scrip was the first known coupon!
That led to the creation of the Nielsen Coupon Clearing House (NCH) and the eventual addition of coupons to newspapers. Over time, coupon popularity exploded. By 1997, National Coupon Month was born. And today, coupons can be found everywhere — even on our cell phones!
And while ads from some of America’s biggest stores — including Target, Walgreens, and Walmart — continue to remain among the best places for finding deals, when it comes to discovering other reputable outlets offering money-saving coupons and other bargains, the Internet is an important resource too.
Coupon Survey Results
In fact, a recent survey by Frugaa revealed that shoppers are making the most of online options. The survey found that 74% of consumers search multiple online coupons from sources like coupon websites, mobile apps and social media platforms each week for attractive discounts deals. The survey revealed several other things that could change the way you think about coupon clipping. Here are just a few of them:
They entice consumers to try new products. It turns out that 88% of people try new products simply because a coupon was offered for it. The reason for this is because coupons not only save money for consumers, but they also promote the product and make the idea of purchasing it much more appealing instead of risky.
They make shopping more enjoyable. As you might expect,90% of all consumers say they use coupons to save money — and 68% of those consumers say enjoy clipping coupons. The survey also found that 28% of us spend more than 15 minutes engaging in coupon-related activities.
The older you are, the more likely you are to use a coupon. Again, not surprisingly, the survey also found that Baby Boomers — those born before 1964 — are the biggest coupon users. In fact, 94% of all Baby Boomers use coupons. Compare that to Gen X — those born between 1964 and 1979 — where only 79% say they do the same. On the other hand, Millennials (those born between 1980 and 1996) and Gen Z (born after 1996) are the least likely to use coupons: just 48% and 41%, respectively.
Paper coupons are less popular than digital ones. Even though we live in the digital age, it’s surprising to see that 89% of consumers use paper coupons. And that paper coupon usage has actually increased by 26% over the past decade. Meanwhile, only 63% of shoppers say they use paperless versions. However, one nod to the digital age is that the number of people who use also their mobile phones to store their shopping lists has increased 10% since the end of the Great Recession in 2009.
Photo Credit: rose 3694
You can save money with coupons if you employ a strategy where you only use coupons on things you would plan on buying anyway, don’t let the items go to waste, and resist the temptation to spend your savings on other items.
I agree with the part about using a coupon to try out something new. However, I will add that it’s also better to wait for the item to go on sale before just blindly using the coupon. That way if you find you didn’t like the item, at least you didn’t spend as much as you would have.
Which reminds me, barber stuffed chicken is on sale near me starting on Sunday AND I have a coupon for it (I’ve been wanting to try it for about a year). Can’t wait to see how it tastes!
It excites me most of the time to shop when there are coupons to use. Imagine the percent off of every product I’d get. More than that, I rarely shop unless I have coupons with me.
There are strategies too. Some blogs inform you of wild deals with links to coupon printing sites and the chain stores offering those particular items on sale. That saves time. With online versions of weekly store flyers, it’s simpler to match coupons with items at smaller local stores. This saves gas.
Len, have you ever seen a coupon for fruitcake?
No; but the discount code “HARD AS A ROCK” usually works! 🙂