• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, August 2, 2011

According to the NCH Resource Center, U.S. Consumer Package Goods (CPG) marketers distributed 167 billion coupons in the first half of 2011. Although the number of available coupons was down 6.2% from the same period in 2010, it was 5.7% higher than the first half of 2009, when CPG marketers were rapidly increasing coupon distribution due to economic conditions. It was also 18.4% higher than the first half of 2008, prior to the economic impact.

Coupon Distribution Growth (Volume in Billions; All Media)
	First Half:
	2008	2009	2010	2011
Coupons Distributed (Billions)	141	158	178	167
% Change/from previous year	-6.6%	12.1	12.7	-6.2
Source: NCH Marketing Services, July 2011

Although fewer coupons were offered during the first half of 2011, consumers remained responsive to the coupons available to them. Total redemption reached 1.75 billion coupons, a moderate 2.9% increase over the same period in 2010. As the first half progressed, coupon redemption saw a marked increase due to a number of factors, including: the permanent shift toward a value-oriented consumer mindset; rising food and gas prices; and increased availability of digital offerings.

CPG Redemption Volume (Billions; All Media)
	First Half:
	2008	2009	2010	2011
Coupons Redeemed (Billions)	1.325	1.575	1.700	1.750
% Change/from previous year	-3.6	18.9	7.9	2.9
Source: NCH Marketing Services, July 2011

The largest share of coupons, 89.6%, was allocated to Free-Standing Inserts (FSI) via newspaper and shared mail delivery methods. This reflects an increase of 2.1 share points from the first half of 2010.

Coupon Allocation (% of Total Coupons Distributed)
Media	% of Total
Free Standing Insert (FSI)	89.6%
Handout in-store	4.4
Direct mail	2.4
Magazine	1.3
In/on pack & cross-ruff	1.0
All others	<2
Source: NCH Marketing Services, July 2011

 The average face value offered during the first half of 2011 was $1.57, up 5.4% from the same period last year. Additionally, 27% of all coupons distributed in the first half of the year required multiple purchases, up three share points from the same period a year ago. Marketers also continued to limit the duration of offers, with a 10.1 week average fuse from drop date to expiration date. This continues a trend shift first observed at the end of 2010, when the average expiration was cut by a week and a half to 10.1 weeks.

CPG Coupon Purchase Requirements (All Media)
Condition	1st Half 2010	1st Half 2011
Average face value	$1.49	$1.57
Multiple purchase requirement (% of total distribution)	24%	27%
Average offer fuse (weeks/all products/all media)	11.3	10.1
Source: NCH Marketing Services, July 2011

 Among retailers, redemption volume increased in the first half of 2011 across several channels, including: drug stores experiencing 26% growth; other store types including dollars stores up 11.2%; and mass merchants up 10.4%. This trend is consistent with pre-recession shopping behaviors where non-traditional retail channels were seeing a growing share of redemption volume at the expense of traditional supermarkets.

Retail Coupon Redemption Volume (1st Half 2011)
Channel	% Change vs. 2011
Grocery stores	-3.1%
Mass merchandisers & supercenters	10.4
Drug stores	26.0
Military commissaries	-4.8
All other	11.2
Source: NCH Marketing Services, July 2011

 

Redemption by Media Type (Offers Distributed 1st Half, 2011)
	% Redemption
Media Type	Grocery Average	HBC Average
Free Standing Insert	0.9%	0.4%
Newspaper	0.8	na
Magazine	1.0	0.8
Direct mail	3.3	1.8
Regular in-pack	4.1	4.5
Regular on-pack	6.9	14.6
In-pack cross ruff	2.4	2.4
On-pack cross ruff	4.4	10.3
Instant on-pack	22.6	28.5
Instant on-pack cross ruff	8.9	9.1
On-shelf distributed	9.5	9.2
Handout/electronic dispensed	8.8	6.3
All other in-store handouts	3.1	2.3
Internet home printed	16.9	13.6
Military	10.6	na
Source: NCH Marketing Services, July 2011

In total, consumers saved $2.0 billion with coupons through mid-year 2011, up 5.3% from the first half of 2010.

For more information from NCH, please visit here.