• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, February 23, 2011

According to the Coupons.com Digital Coupons Trends Report for 2010, more than $1.2 billion in digital coupons savings was issued in 2010, representing a 41% growth over the year before. Digital coupons dramatically outpaced the growth of their newspaper counterparts compared to coupons distributed in newspapers of 7%.

Steven Boal, CEO of Coupons.com, says that "... more and more consumers are making digital coupons a part of their shopping routine... across the entire digital domain, including the Web, social media, consumer electronics, mobile phones, etcetera... (and) brand marketers are increasingly engaging with consumers via digital offers... "

Recent data shows that users of digital coupons have higher household incomes and are better educated than users of newspaper coupons and the general population overall, dispelling the perceived low-brow stigma of couponing.

The consumer who prints digital coupons has an average household income of $105,000, 26% higher income level than the U.S. average. 36% of those who use digital coupons have a college degree, compared to 28% of those who use newspaper coupons and 26% of the general populace,

Adults with household income of over $100,000 are twice as likely to have redeemed coupons printed from an online source than adults with household income less than $35,000.Also, adults with college degrees are almost twice as likely to have used coupons in the prior six months as those who didn't graduate from high school.

Cereal was by far the most popular coupon category in 2010, followed by Yogurt.

Most Popular Coupon Categories
Category	Rank
Ready to Eat Cereal	1
Yogurt	2
Refrigerated Dough	3
Portable Snacks	4
Vegetables	5
Baby Products: Other	6
Soup	7
Air, Rug & Fabric Care	8
Cheese	9
Lunch Meats	10
Source: Coupons.com, February 2011

Increasingly, consumers are taking advantage of mobile devices to access, print and save coupons. The top categories for coupons accessed via mobile applications, including Coupons.com and Grocery iQ, are:

Top 10 Coupons Accessed by Mobile Apps
Category	Rank
Ready to Eat Cereal	1
Yogurt	2
Refrigerated Dough	3
Portable Snacks	4
Vegetables	5
Air, Rug & Fabric Care	6
Baby Products: Other	7
Dinner: Multi-Serve	8
Lunch Meats	9
Nutritional Snacks	10
Source: Coupons.com, February 2011

The South is big on savings: more than one-third of the top 20 frugal cities are in the Southern region of the United States. For the second year in a row, Atlanta takes the top spot on the Most Frugal U.S. Cities list for 2010, according to the report. On average, regular users of Coupons.com in Atlanta printed or saved to a loyalty card more than $1000.00 dollars in coupon savings from the site in 2010, almost twice the amount of savings in 2009.

Top 20 Frugal U.S. Cities
2010 Rank	City	State	Savings Index
1	Atlanta	GA	997
2	Tampa	FL	569
3	Cincinnati	OH	497
4	St. Louis	MO	420
5	Minneapolis	MN	329
6	Charlotte	NC	303
7	Nashville	TN	291
8	Cleveland	OH	289
9	Pittsburgh	PA	250
10	Raleigh	NC	235
11	Kansas City	MO	233
12	Washington	DC	207
13	Miami	FL	202
14	Dallas	TX	198
15	Oklahoma City	OK	198
16	Boston	MA	192
17	Denver	CO	170
18	Seattle	WA	153
19	Columbus	OH	147
20	Wichita	KS	146
Source: Coupons.com, February 2011

Coupon access via mobile device varies by city regardless of their position on the overall Most Frugal Cities List. Savers in Oklahoma City, New Orleans, Las Vegas and Philadelphia are quick to look to their mobile device to maximize savings and advance on the On-the-Go list relative to their position on the Most Frugal U.S. Cities list, while Minneapolis, Cleveland and Seattle were lower on the On-the-Go list relative to their position on the Most Frugal U.S. Cities list.

Top 20 Most On-the-Go Frugal Coupon Cities
2010 Rank	City	State	Savings Index
1	Atlanta	GA	906
2	Tampa	FL	531
3	St. Louis	MO	490
4	Cincinnati	OH	374
5	Oklahoma City	OK	363
6	Dallas	TX	282
7	Charlotte	NC	280
8	Pittsburgh	PA	246
9	Tulsa	OK	241
10	Miami	FL	238
11	Minneapolis	MN	235
12	Washington	DC	232
13	Nashville	TN	226
14	Raleigh	NC	222
15	Wichita	KS	219
16	Kansas City	MO	214
17	New Orleans	LA	198
18	Cleveland	OH	196
19	Denver	CO	177
20	Memphis	TN	165
Source: Coupons.com, February 2011

Representing over 16% of the U.S. population, more than 49 million American consumers are now using online coupons, up from 45 million in 2009. Of the 49 million online coupon users, 14.8 million have not read or looked into the Sunday newspaper within the prior six months, a 13% increase over 13.1 million in 2008.

Weak economic conditions have been a primary factor driving the use of coupons overall. U.S. consumers appear to have an insatiable desire for deals and savings, as is evident by the increased popularity of the broad range of saving offers, such as digital coupons, daily deals, flash buying and online coupon codes. Research consistently shows that even when economic conditions improve, 8 out of 10 U.S. adults plan to continue to engage in couponing activities, concludes the report.

For additional information about the study, please visit here.