In this age of heavy online shopping, do paper coupons still matter? Analysts at Valassis, in their 2K19 Valassis Coupon Intelligence Report, say that consumers of all ages are using printed and online coupons and circulars in a big way. Naturally, an organization like Valassis has a vested interest in this kind of research, but their findings are still worth checking out.

Coupon Use Rates

In general, 45% of American consumers say that they always or very often use coupons when making purchases. For millennial consumers, that usage percentage is 53%. Researchers also asked American consumers where they prefer to find their discounts. In almost every category, most percentages have increased since 2017. For example, 44% of consumers in 2017 said they like it when coupons are mailed to them. A few years later in 2019, 50% now say the same. The popularity of these discounts shows no sign of decreasing.

Interest in digital coupons isn’t far behind that of their printed brethren. Over 40% of American consumers like online discounts they can download directly to their loyalty programs. In addition, 38% of these consumers want discounts they can download to their mobile devices.

Millennial Parents

These days, some of the busiest consumers are millennial parents. On a regular basis, these parents are looking for ways to save themselves time and money. When they plan their grocery shopping trips, millennial parents often:

• Select paper or printed coupons to bring with them 69%
• Look for printed store circulars/​ads for deals at specific stores 71%
• Look for printed circulars/​ads to choose a store 71%
• Look for online circulars for ads at specific stores 70%
• Look for online circulars for ads at specific retailers 68%

Where Consumers Find Coupons

Across the board, 89% of American shoppers say that coupons save them a lot of money. In addition, 86% of consumers say these discounts also influence the trial of new products.

They don’t always wait for printed coupons to arrive in the mail or the daily newspaper. At least 71% of consumers go to store websites in search of discounts. Almost all millennial parents, 92%, do this. Millennial parents are so intent on scoring deals that 89% use search engines to find discounts, while only 67% of all consumers do so. 

Interest in mobile savings apps is growing too. Millennial parents are using specific apps at the following levels:

• Grocery/​drug/​mass merchant saving apps 92%
• Mobile app 85%
• Cash back/​points app 89%
• In-​store shopping rewards app 85%
• Shopping list app 82%
• Deal comparison app 81% 

Talk with your clients about the importance of coupons as a tool to generate consumer interest in new products and services. To get the big picture on coupon users, check out the AudienceSCAN profile available on AdMall from SalesFuel.