IN SUMMARY: In 2018, 244 billion print coupons distributed $497 billion in purchase incentives across 140 billion pages. Looking at digital promotions, there were 8.4 billion print coupons “clipped,” $14 billion in purchase incentives “clipped” and 4.5 billion coupon pages viewed. Source: Kantar
While the buzz seems to revolve around online media and TV consumers are still using coupons and clipping FSI’s. According to Kantar “purely on numbers and volume alone, the Free Standing Insert (FSI) is still king within print and across promotion. This indicates that using print versus digital tactics is not an either/or decision for brands, but is more about strategic choices about how much, when and where to activate in print”.
The CPG sector represented 75% of the total FSI pages distributed which was a -23% decrease YoY. Although total FSI pages declined in 2018, there are still a significant amount of incentives being offered to consumers on a weekly basis. FSI coupons continue to be a valuable “opt-in” advertising vehicle to reach millions of households on a specific day to influence shoppers, drive trips and impact sales, especially for the CPG sector.
Kantar also stated that digital coupons are growing on sites like coupons.com.
Implications for marketers
1ne: Don’t assume that the economy, and consumers, are doing well. Data suggests that the recent tax cuts are leaving most consumers behind as real wage growth is anemic.
2wo: FSI’s are still a great way to drive demand and generate awareness but unless your brand/product experience exceeds expectations your sales will drop once you stop price promotional strategy.
3hree: Don’t ignore digital coupons but track who is using them and ensure they align with your target audience.
4our: Virtual, in-store, coupons also should be considered in your promotional mix (no coupon required as products are promoted via in-store POP). However in-store promotional coupons can be buried in clutter.
Coupon Statistics
- 85% of Americans use coupons (CreditCards.com)
- Discounts and coupons came in as the top-ranking tactic for driving loyalty with 61% of consumers saying they use them (Expedia Affiliate Network)
- 55% of consumers said the dominant loyalty factor was product quality and 25% said great sales/deals (Yotpo)
- 64% of consumers said fair pricing motivates them to try a new brand, followed by free shipping (61%), reviews (57%), word of mouth (46%), great shopping/buying experience (37%), loyalty perks/rewards (35%), ads (15%) and influencer endorsement (4%) (Yotpo)
- 90% of consumers use coupons (Valassis)
- 81% of Americans say finding a great deal or offer is on their mind throughout the entire shopping journey (RetailMeNot)
- 97% of consumers look for deals when they shop and 92% said they are always looking (Hawk Incentives)
- 49% of consumers are making sacrifices and looking for deals to make ends meet (IRI)
- 56% of consumers reported they are more likely to look for deals this year vs. last year, and of this number, 35% are much more likely to look for deals this year (Hawk Incentives)
- 40% of consumers said they feel smart when they can find the best deals (Hawk Incentives)
- 86% of consumers reporting annual household earnings of $200,000 or more said they look for deals (Hawk Incentives)
- 87% of consumers reporting annual household earnings of $20,000 – $39,000 said they look for deals (Hawk Incentives)
- 85% of consumers with reported annual earnings between $100,000 and $149,000 said they look for deals (Hawk Incentives)
- 89% of consumers name price as a top factor affecting their purchasing decisions (Hawk Incentives)
- 62% of loyal consumers watch for or take advantage of rebates from their favorite brand or store vs. 44% of non-loyal customers (Blackhawk Network)
- 42% of loyal consumers use targeted offers from their favorite store vs. 27% of non-loyal customers (Blackhawk Network)
- 52% of millennials used targeted offers from a brand or store that they are loyal to vs. 43% of Gen Xers and 31% of Baby Boomers (Blackhawk Network)
- 27% of consumers look for deals, rebates and advertised prices while shopping (Hawk Incentives)
- 26% of consumers look for deals in loyalty and reward programs while shopping (Hawk Incentives)
- 22% of consumers ask their personal network for deals while shopping (Hawk Incentives)
- 83% of consumers think rebates are great savings opportunities (Hawk Incentives)
- 65% of Gen Zers want to get a lot for their money with discounts, coupons and a rewards program (National Retail Federation)
- 81% of consumers search for dining deals on a regular basis (RetailMeNot)
- 90% of customers have looked for a restaurant deal at least once (RetailMeNot)
- 85% of consumers look for coupons prior to visiting a retailer (RetailMeNot)
- 79% of consumers look for deals in loyalty and reward programs before making a purchase (Hawk Incentives)
- 74% of consumers review circulars and print ads before making a purchase (Hawk Incentives)
- 38% of consumers ask their personal network before making a purchase (Hawk Incentives)
- $3.1 billion was saved by consumers in 2017 thanks to coupons (NCH Marketing Services)
- 42% of consumers save over $30/week using coupons; 30% save over $50/week (Valassis)
- Over half of consumers use a coupon in at least one of every four purchases (RetailMeNot)
- 92% of consumers used a coupon on a purchase in 2016, compared to 93% the previous year (PRRI)
- 87% of Millennials, 91% of Generation Xers and 96% of Baby Boomers used coupons in 2016 (PRRI)
- 53% of consumers indicated they invest over two hours a week looking for deals and savings across all sources (Valassis)
- 25% of millennials and moms spend over four hours a week looking for deals and savings across all sources (Valassis)
- 55% of consumers said they use both digital and paper coupons (Inmar)
- 53% of consumers expressed a desire for all coupons to be digital (Inmar)
- 63% of consumers would increase the
amount of coupons used while shopping if the offers were available online (Inmar) - 53.2% of adults will use digital coupons this year, an increase of 3.3% over 2017 (Inmar)
- 82% of consumers who rely on digital coupons while shopping redeem the offer within a week and 30% apply it less than 24 hours after receiving it (Inmar)
- 43% of shoppers miss out on savings because they forget to redeem digital coupons at checkout (Inmar)
- Digital coupon redemption is projected to rise by 94% by 2022, of which 80% of coupons could be redeemed on a mobile device, and chatbot coupon volume will rise from 25 million to 1.1 billion (Juniper Research)
- 41% of consumers said they use an equal mix of print and digital coupons – up 6% from last year (Valassis)
- 52% of consumers print out digital coupons for use in stores (Valassis)
- 71% of consumers said they would use a featured coupon code from a print advertisement to buy online (Valassis)
- 34% of consumers look for online coupons on a weekly basis, and another 40% do so with print coupons (YouGov)
- 80% of millennials said they used coupon codes when shopping online (CouponFollow)
- 78% of millennials and 79% of affluent shoppers ($100K+ household income) said they would use a featured coupon code from a print advertisement to buy online (Valassis)
- 57% of multichannel consumers use more print coupons (Valassis)
- 79% of consumers say they normally use paper coupons (AYTM Market Research)
