For the past 100 years, coupons have been a valuable way for manufacturers and retailers to market their products and services to consumers by offering them discounts as incentive to purchase their products. In the U.S., consumer packaged goods coupons generate nearly 3 billion dollars in transactions annually. Companies use coupons for customer acquisition, customer retention, to push new products and services, and to move discontinued and overstocked items. Consumers enjoy coupons because they save them money, and there is something deeply appealing about saving money that it seems almost like earning free money. Traditional coupon formats have been prevalent for years, but the emergence of new technologies are evolving the way consumers find and use coupons.
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Types of Coupons
The term "coupon clipping" was coined for the most traditional coupon distribution formats because of the consumer's process of cutting coupons from print publications such as newspapers, flyers, and coupon books. Until recently, using coupons required considerable amount of time and effort to find, clip, and have on hand the coupons that a consumer would use, when they needed them. Personal computers and the internet have opened new mediums for companies to offer and consumers to find and use coupons.
Grocery coupons are perhaps one of the most popular varieties. Grocery coupons are generally offered by manufacturers and brands for purchase of their consumer packaged goods at any grocer or local store that carries their products. These are usually discount coupons with savings from a few cents to a few dollars, but also have variations such as "BOGO" (buy one get one free). Consumers can find grocery coupons on brand, retailer, and coupon portal web sites and print them with a standard web browser, internet connection and printer.
Another common form of coupons is local coupons. Local coupons are offered by particular retailers, stores, restaurants, or services to be redeemed for discounts only at their particular location. These include coupons such as 20% off a purchase at your local clothing store, buy one entrée and get one free at a local restaurant, or a $10 dollar oil change at an auto repair store. Local coupons are distributed through traditional formats, but can also be printed from company web sites and from coupon portal web sites.
A relatively newer introduction to coupon formats is online coupons. Online coupons are offered by companies to be redeemed at an online purchase or service at their web site. These "virtual" coupons usually come in the form of a promo or key code that is redeemed at the company's web site, or in the form of a special link that automatically applies the coupon when it is clicked on.
As new technologies emerge, new mediums for coupon distribution and use are being created, such as the mobile coupon concept. Imagine that you walk into a retailer store and mall, and you receive a text message on your phone that highlights the sales and store coupons for that location. Or you visit your local grocers or brands web site before you go shopping, select the coupons that you want, and have them sent directly to your phone, and at checkout, the cashier scans the coupon from your phone and your coupons are automatically applied to your bill. Though mobile coupons are more of a concept than a reality at this point, companies are working towards this and similar technologies. Some companies, such as Kroger and P&G Brands, are already using a similar concept where coupon can be downloaded from the web directly to the consumers Kroger card. Consumers visit their web site, select the coupons that they want, and they are automatically applied to their Kroger card so that at checkout, savings are seamlessly registered. Consumers can even print a reminder and are sent an email that confirms that the coupons they selected and successfully loaded to their card.
Coupons have been a popular form of marketing for companies, and a way for consumers to actively save money on their usual purchases and of new products and services. While, traditional forms of couponing are still strong, technology is opening new doors and refining the process, making it easier for consumers and more cost effective for companies. Coupon portal web sites, such as MySavings.com, are leading the way in aggregating the various formats currently available in one easy to use system for users and making couponing more popular than ever.
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