MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — In the wake of recent research indicating coupons distributed via FSI (free standing inserts) in newspapers rose 8.4 percent for the 12-month period ending June 30, 2010 compared to the year before,1 Coupons.com today issued new data that shows digital coupons grew 100 percent during 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 Coupons.com and the Coupons.com network in the last 12 months, outpacing the growth of coupons distributed in newspapers 10 to 1.
“Consumers continue to crave savings, and more and more of them are tapping digital coupons as an important part of their savings strategy,” said Steven Boal, CEO of Coupons.com Incorporated. “We expect more brands and more consumers to increasingly adopt digital coupons, and we foresee substantial growth across the entire digital domain—with particular growth within social media and mobile environments.”
Printed Savings Exceeds $1 Billion
Printed savings from Coupons.com and the Coupons.com digital network for the 12 months ending June 2010 exceeded $1 billion. This includes savings printed or loaded to a store loyalty card and represents a 100 percent increase compared to $529 million the year before. In addition, printed savings in the month of June 2010 exceeded $110 million, the highest ever recorded by the company in a single month. Growth is attributed to several key factors, including continued consumer adoption of online printable, save to store loyalty card and mobile coupons and increased use of digital coupons by brand marketers, including manufacturers and retailers alike.
Increased Brand and Consumer Adoption of Digital Coupons
According to research from NCH Marketing Services, the Internet was the fastest growing distribution vehicle for coupons during the first half of 2010,2 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,3 making it the most effective coupon method for marketers.
Representing 20.8 percent of the U.S. population, 46.4 million American consumers are now using online coupons, up from 40.2 million in 2008.4 Of the 46.4 million online coupon users, 12.9 million do not read any part of the Sunday newspaper, an 18 percent increase over 10.9 million in 2008.5
Additionally, indicative of trends in the consumer vernacular, Internet queries for coupons and related terms increased on search engines. Specifically, searches on Google for “Printable Coupons” increased 67 percent over a year ago.6 In addition, coupons are increasingly speaking up in the social media conversation, where consumers are sharing them within their networks and brands are using them to entice and reward Likes and 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.7 Coupons.com has helped many leading brands with their social media presence, generating millions of coupon prints and encouraging millions of Likes and other engagement objectives.
Consumer interest in savings is expected to continue in better economic times. Research shows that even if economic conditions improve, 8 out of 10 U.S. adults plan to continue to engage in couponing activities.8
To support current and continued growth of digital coupons, Coupons.com Incorporated is increasing its workforce and is looking to hire approximately 50 additional people, growing the company’s workforce by nearly 20 percent. The majority of the positions are located in Mountain View, California, with other openings across the country in regional sales offices.
Demographic of Digital Coupon User
Data shows that 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, a 14 percent higher income level than the U.S. average.9 Interestingly, 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 $35,000.10
In addition, 33.4 percent of those who print digital coupons have a college degree (up from 30.4 percent in 2008), compared to 28.9 percent of those who use newspaper coupons and 26.1 percent of the general populace.11 Also, adults 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.12
Source: Coupons.com Inc.