As great as its growth has been in the last few years, the coupons industry is going through an amazing metamorphosis from the old searching and clipping of coupons out of newspapers to printing coupons on your home computer; finding promo codes, coupon codes and discount codes for online purchases; fast, quick and easy digital coupons via a concierge service directly to your smart phone; investing your coupon savings directly into your kids’ college fund; getting cash deposited in your family bank account when you use a specific coupon code and savings have gone from pennies on a purchase to 65% off travel expenses.
To give you a glimpse of this coming marketing tidal wave of coupon usage and savings check out these stats on the growth of online coupons.
* Offerings by manufacturers and retailers doubled fro m 2008 to 2010 but usage has grown by 360%!
* eMarketer says nearly half of U.S. adults who use the internet, 88.2 million people, will have redeemed online coupons or discount codes by the end of 2011.
* It’s expected that nearly 97 million Americans will have taken advantage of coupons savings by the end of 2013.
Remarkably, 83% of items purchased with manufacturers’ coupons in 2009 were bought by only 22% of families (Nielsenwire). That means that 78% of families – a gigantic, untapped market – is just waiting to discover the amazing savings available through coupons promotions.
Interestingly, Nielsenwire also reports that the “primary drivers of coupon growth in 2009″ were families with annual incomes in excess of $100,000. Contrary to what a lot of people might think, families with the lowest household incomes are not the biggest coupon users. In fact, it’s families with annual incomes over $70,000 who are committed to improving life, make up 38% of “super heavy” users and 41% of the “enthusiasts” category.
With the technological advances making couponing so much simpler, many new families are taking advantage of them. But if you need something more to get you started, consider this: If you bought items or services worth $1,000 using the money from your paycheck (after taxes); the $1,000 was what was left after you earned $1,340 or so. So if you saved $1,000 using coupons, you actually saved the $340 that you would have lost in taxes as well!
If you are part of the 78% who aren’t using coupons yet, it’s time to recognize the very real improvements in ease of usage. However, be careful of the large number of junk coupons sites out there that will frustrate you as all they offer are links to yet another link-through site to yet another. In a follow-up article we’ll give you strategies for avoiding the junk sites.
Jaelle Crider, teacher, writer and consumer; enjoys encouraging others to begin enjoying a better life by saving money and planning for their future. Crider has created this short animated video about saving money with coupons. Subscribe to her ezine for the best and widest assortment of promotional codes for your family plus various other money saving strategies and entertaining articles!
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