Company News
Coupon Pandemonium
by DW Green — April 8, 2010
Arriving home from work a few weeks ago, my wife greeted me at the door excitedly. “I saved $172.25 on groceries today with coupons!” she exclaimed.
“Wow, how much did she spend?” I wondered. In twenty-eight years of marriage, I can’t recall a conversation about coupons, excitedly or otherwise.
Is coupon pandemonium commonplace in America today? Well, maybe not pandemonium, but research indicates that both the number of coupons available, and their redemption rates, is rising; from 2008 to 2009, redemption rose 27 percent.
“Without question, coupon usage is undergoing a renaissance,” said Todd Hale, Senior Vice President, Consumer and Shopping Insights for Nielsen. Overall, 1.6 billion coupons were redeemed in the first half of 2009.
“These findings from Nielsen suggest that the increased coupon usage not only helped consumers stretch their budgets but also provided meaningful sales impact to manufacturers and retailers,” said Matthew Tilley, Director of Marketing for Inmar, a company that handles the bulk of coupon processing in the U.S. “Coupons have always been an effective way to encourage trial and repeat purchase and are proving to be a bright spot in an otherwise dreary economic environment.”
We believe that coupon books are extremely relevant in today’s economic environment, and that food retailers should consider including one or two coupon book promotions in their annual marketing budget. COSTCO, for example, has traditionally done an excellent job with quarterly coupon book mailings. Twenty-four, thirty-two or larger page count coupon books allow retailer’s to promote store/department specific benefits, as well as traditional item and price features and manufacturer and private label coupons. Coupon books are a great way to feature signature deli, and bakery items, and showcase meat, seafood and produce departments.
Coupon books can be structured to accommodate multiple weeks of offers to offset distribution costs. There could be four sets of weeklong coupons, coupons with a four-week redemption rate, or a combination of effective dates. Daily deli deals are an effective offering. There are also an array of coupon book sizes and paper stock options that will set your offering apart from competitors. There are no rules with the coupon book “look” or coupon offers—use your imagination and have fun!
This is a short, but sweet Idea of the Week, because I’m off to redeem a Cold Stone Creamery BOGO coupon for some delicious chocolate ice cream!
Filed Under: Company News
