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Coupon Use Surges
OCTOBER 31, 2009 --
Increasing numbers of U.S. grocery shoppers are using coupons to cope with the poor economy, showing a sharp resurgence from 2006 when the number of coupons redeemed dropped to 2.6 billion from a peak of 7.9 billion in 1992, according to an article in The New York Times.
“Coupons were not in vogue during our period of gluttonous consumption,” Kit Yarrow, a San Francisco consumer psychologist told The Times. “But now that it’s once again cool to be cheap, they’re back.” Yarrow is author of “Gen BuY: How Tweens, Teens and Twenty-Somethings are Revolutionizing Retail.”
Even better off consumers are turning to coupons to save money, the article said. “The households that tend to not coupon as much are all couponing significantly more this year versus last year,” said Neil Heffernan, senior vice president and general manager for the research company Knowledge Networks/PDI. That company reported that coupon use among young, single consumers with minimal savings rose 14 percent in January and February combined compared to the same months last year. The Nielsen Company reported last month that households earning $70,000 or more a year were among top coupon users.
Manufacturers are feeding the coupon frenzy, as NCH Marketing Services reported that marketers increased coupon distribution by 12 percent and redemption increased by 19 percent in the first half of this year.
Consumer product goods (CPG) marketers have progressively increased coupon distribution by 23 percent over the last five quarters, according to NCH, which said distribution of HBC product coupons increased 10.4% while the distribution of grocery products increased 12.9% for the first half of 2009.
CPG coupon redemption volume has increased gradually over the last four quarters by 33% as 1.575 billion coupons were redeemed in the first half of 2009, NCH reported. CPG coupon redemption volume increased in all key retail segments led by mass merchandisers (including Supercenters) (30.2%), Grocery stores (16.7%), Drug stores (15.7%) while decreasing at Military Commissaries (8.1%) in the first half of 2009.
The average coupon redemption rate for Consumer Product Goods increased by 21.4% on Instant on Pack coupons followed by Internet coupons (16.61%), Electronically dispensed (10.48%), Direct mail (3.80%) and FSI’s (1.05%) for the first half of 2009.
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