Commentary

Digital Coupons Top Newspaper Printed Ten to One

Coupons.com recently issued new data that shows digital coupons grew 100% during the 12-month period ending June 30, 2010, while free standing inserts in newspapers rose 8.4% for the same period. The data shows that more than $1 billion in digital coupon savings was printed or loaded to a store loyalty card via the Coupons.com network in the last 12 months, outpacing the growth of coupons distributed in newspapers 10 to 1.

 Growth is attributed to several key factors, including

  • Continued consumer adoption of online printable, save to store, loyalty card and mobile coupons
  • Increased use of digital coupons by brand marketers, manufacturers and retailers

Steven Boal, CEO of Coupons.com Incorporated,  "... more and more (consumers) are tapping digital coupons as an important part of their savings strategy...  we foresee substantial growth across the entire digital domain... with particular growth within social media and mobile environments."

   According to research from NCH Marketing Services, the Internet was the fastest growing distribution vehicle for coupons during the first half of 2010,  indicating increased adoption by brand marketers. In addition, according to the most recently available redemption data from NCH, the Internet coupon category outperformed other types of coupons with regards to share of redemptions to percent of coupons distributed,making it the most effective coupon method for marketers.

  Representing 20.8% of the U.S. population, 46.4 million American consumers are now using online coupons, up from 40.2 million in 2008. Of the 46.4 million online coupon users, 12.9 million do not read any part of the Sunday newspaper, an 18% increase over 10.9 million in 2008, says the report.

 Searches on Google for "Printable Coupons" increased 67% over a year ago.In addition, consumers are sharing coupons within their networks and brands are using them to entice and reward followers. In a report by Razorfish, the number one reason consumers followed a brand on Twitter or liked a brand on Facebook was access to exclusive deals or offers. 

 Research shows that even if economic conditions improve, 8 out of 10 U.S. adults plan to continue to engage in couponing activities. In addition, users of digital coupons have higher household incomes and are better educated than users of newspaper coupons and the general population, dispelling the perceived low-brow stigma of couponing.

  Consumers who print digital coupons:

  •  have an estimated average household income of $96,000, 14% higher income than the U.S average
  • 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.
  • 33.4% have a college degree, compared to 28.9% who use newspaper coupons and 26.1% of the general populace
  • with college degrees are almost twice as likely to have used coupons in the past six months as those who didn't graduate from high school

For the first half of 2010, Ready to Eat Cereal was the most popular category for both online printable and coupons accessed via mobile apps, and was the 7th most popular category for coupons saved to loyalty cards. Dairy & Eggs was the top category for Save to Card coupons. The variance in the top categories for Save to Card coupons is attributed to the fact that brands geo-target campaigns to areas where local supermarkets carry their products. 

Coupon Access Location

Online Printable Coupons

 

  Save to Card Coupons

 

Coupons  Accessed via Mobile

Category

Rank

Category

Rank

Category

Ready to Eat Cereal

1

Dairy & Eggs

1

Ready to Eat Cereal

Yogurt

2

Lunch Meats

2

Yogurt

Refrigerated Dough

3

Yogurt

3

Refrigerated Dough

Vegetables

4

Baby Needs, Other

4

Vegetables

Portable Snacks

5

Ice Cream

5

Lunch Meats

Lunch Meats

6

Fruit

6

Dessert Items

Nutritional Snacks

7

Ready to Eat Cereal

7

Portable Snacks

Dessert Items

8

Paper, Cleaning & Home

8

Nutritional Snacks

Cheese

9

Breads

9

Cheese

Baby Needs, Other

10

Fats & Oils

10

Bottled Water, Non-Carbonated

 Source: Coupons.com, July 2010

Georgia tops the list of most active states using digital coupons both via Web browsers and mobile apps. Based on the Coupons.com Savings Index. Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina and Utah round out the Top Five for states using digital coupons via a Web browser, while Oklahoma, Alaska, Missouri and Tennessee round out the Top Five for states using digital coupons via mobile apps. The states in the South and Midwest dominate the top ten spots on both lists.

 

Top Couponing States

Web Browser

Mobile Apps

Rank 

State

Index

Rank

State

Index

1

Georgia

195

 1

Georgia

211

2

Tennessee

185

 2

Oklahoma

191

3

South Carolina

173

 3

Alaska

185

4

North Carolina

153

 4

Missouri

155

5

Utah

150

 5

Tennessee

154

6

Ohio

149

 6

Louisiana

147

7

Alabama

147

 7

Texas

144

8

Idaho

135

 8

Alabama

132

9

Rhode Island

133

 9

Arkansas

132

10

Missouri

131

 10

Indiana

127

11

Michigan

130

 11

North Carolina

124

12

Indiana

122

 12

Ohio

118

13

Illinois

119

 13

Florida

114

14

Arkansas

116

 14

Kentucky

114

15

Oklahoma

111

 15

Colorado

110

16

New Hampshire

111

 16

Illinois

109

17

Pennsylvania

108

 17

Pennsylvania

107

18

Minnesota

107

 18

Virginia

102

19

Florida

107

 19

Nebraska

101

20

Massachusetts

106

 20

Kansas

92

 Source: Coupons.com, July 2010

       

Apparel & Shoes was by far the top category for codes and offers used to save on online purchases. Other top categories include Home & Garden, Toys & Hobbies and Computers & Software.

Coupons and Offer Usage Online

Rank

Top Coupon Code Categories

1

Apparel & Shoes-Women

2

Home & Garden

3

Apparel & Shoes-Men

4

Toys & Hobbies

5

Computers & Software

6

Baby &  Maternity

7

Electronics & Photo

8

Books, Music & Movies

9

Auto & Travel

10

Sports & Outdoors

Source: Coupons.com, July 2010

 In addition to the Coupons.com primary research results, additional data throughout the report was presented from: 

  •  Kantar Media solutions
  •  NCH Marketing Services, Inc.
  • Simmons
  • Google Insights for Search
  •  Razorfish
  •  Harris Interactive

For the complete press release and more information about the studies and the report, please visit coupons.com here.  

  

6 comments about "Digital Coupons Top Newspaper Printed Ten to One".
Check to receive email when comments are posted.
  1. MilitaryWives Saving, August 2, 2010 at 7 p.m.

    I am very excited to see the latest research! As the economy hasn't been so stellar, people are looking for ways to cut costs and save money, and couponing is definitely one way to do just that!

    ~Michelle
    www.militarywivessaving.com

  2. Kent Ford from Missouri Press Association, August 3, 2010 at 11:39 a.m.

    Most misleading headline of the day.
    Newspaper couponing is a hundred years old; digital couponing is a couple of years old.
    Logically, which is going to grow faster?
    The real news here is that FSIs in newspapers grew 8.4%!
    And another thing.
    If online advertising is so great, and retailers are doing more of it and less of print, why are retail sales so bad?
    One answer might be that online advertising doesn't work very good.

  3. Don Scott from BH Media Group, Inc., August 3, 2010 at 11:57 a.m.

    Great informercial for online couponing! It doesn't matter what percent growth online coupons are showing it we don't have the same data points with which to compare size and growth of FSI.

    That said, online couponing is a growing force and trend.

  4. Joel Rubinson from Rubinson Partners, Inc., August 3, 2010 at 12:59 p.m.

    Does the writer of this article not understand the difference between absolute levels and growth rates???

    The title is erroneous and should be fixed immediately

  5. Randy Novak from NSA Media, August 3, 2010 at 2:27 p.m.

    I agree with the other recent posts on this one... This is very misleading and I am disappointed to see the headline has not been corrected. It is this type of bias that is rampant in the "traditional vs. digital" media conversation, and MediaPost should know better.

  6. Connie Miller from Mixpo Corporation, August 4, 2010 at 12:01 p.m.

    Other data corroborates the popularity of online coupons (for example, see http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/27122.asp). Now advertisers can generate views and build customers relationships by incorporating printable coupons right into their online video ads. See an example and learn more: http://x-blog.mixpo.com/2010/08/04/give-viewers-the-coupons-they-want/

Next story loading loading..