COUPONS: A JOURNEY FROM CUTTING TO CLICKING TO TAPPING

“Future Holds Smoother

and Bigger Savings”

Couponing has evolved over the decades – It all started off with Coca Cola and eventually led to cut off newspaper coupons. As the 21st century arrived, coupons were taken to the Internet, as online shopping was introduced. As we look into the future, we see couponing being taken to a whole new level. With the dawn of the ‘Smartphone Era’, it isn’t a surprise that the bright future of coupons can be seen being taken down this road. Here is a look at the past, present and future of the world of smart saving.

128 YEARS OF COUPONING – A

LITTLE WAYS DOWN THE ROAD:

It all began with Coca Cola – In 1887 Coca Cola started offering free drink

  First Printed Promo Codes – It came to life a few decades

down the road, in 1909, as C. W. Post used it to sell cereal  The Great Depression – Around 1930s, with the onset of

the great depression, there was a rise seen in usage of coupons

  Rise of Grocery Shopping Coupons Era – 1940s, several

grocery stores started to attract customers with coupons  3.5 Decades Later – More than 35 billion coupons were

being distributed in the US  Newspaper Coupons – Things go easier as coupons were

now available within newspapers for cutting and using.

NEW AGE – NEW METHODS OF COUPONS, RISE & FALL:

Coupons take to Computers! – With the advent of Internet and computer technology, coupons were made downloadable.

  2002 Record – This year saw the record $3.5 Billion savings by

Americans via coupons  Mobile Phones Attack! _ In 2009, retailers start to introduce coupons

on mobile phones (more on that later)  Entering 2012: This year saw three billion coupons redeemed! It was

also the year it was observed that 7% of all of the shoppers were using coupons

  Entering 2013: While Inserts from newspapers were used 78% percent

of the time, a grand rise in deals and coupons websites was seen, which brought the statistics up to 61% online coupon hunting

  Present Day, 2015: According to statistics, around 75% of the shoppers

said that with the option of digital coupons, their decision making about a purchase becomes much easier.

MOVING ON, THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT WITH SMARTPHONES:

In 2010, it was estimated that 32% of people shopping for grocery were using online digital coupons, a major chunk of which were using smart phones

  79% of all smartphone users preferred downloading money-off

coupons  In 2012, 13.5 percent of all smartphone users used digital coupons  In 2013, the total count increased from 13 to 16.5%  In 2014, It was estimated by e-Marketer Webinar that 75% of all

adult mobile coupon users were redeeming their coupons online  In 2015, the ratio has increased to 82% of all digital coupon users

using smartphones and it is predicted that in 2016, 87.4 percent of adult couponers will be redeeming their digital coupons through smartphone rather than through tablets or any other device.