Internet Coupon Use Up 83%, but Sunday Newspapers Remain Top Source

Internet coupons have become of increasing interest to consumers, with 11 percent of households now obtaining coupons via the internet - an increase of 83 percent since 2005 - according to (pdf) a recent analysis by Scarborough Research, reports MarketingCharts.

However, the Sunday newspaper remains the number-one place for acquiring household coupons: 53 percent of households usually get their coupons there. (View table of where households obtain coupons, 2005 to 2007.)

Other leading places for acquiring coupons include the mail (35 percent), in-store coupons (33 percent), preferred customer/loyalty cards (22 percent), in-store circulars (22 percent), weekday newspapers (17 percent), product packages (17 percent) and magazines (15 percent).

All of the coupon acquisition categories have undergone growth since 2005, though none at the level of internet coupons.

Top Coupon-Clipping Cities

Scarborough also examined Grocery Coupon Clipping Households - those households that use grocery coupons (specifically) once a week or more. (See table: Top Cities for Grocery Coupon Clipping Households.)

Milwaukee, WI and Rochester, NY are the leading U.S. market areas for these households, the analysis found:

• 40 percent of Milwaukee households and 38 percent of Rochester households use grocery coupons once a week or more.
• Nationally, 27 percent of households use grocery coupons with this same frequency.

Albuquerque, NM, El Paso, TX, and Fresno, CA are the markets least likely to have Grocery Coupon Clipping Households: 14 percent of Albuquerque households use grocery coupons once a week or more; 15 percent of those in El Paso and Fresno use grocery coupons with this same frequency.

Other Findings

• People hailing from leading grocery coupon clipping cities have higher-than-average Sunday newspaper readership rates:
  • Nationally, Sunday newspaper readers are 15 percent more likely than all adults to use grocery coupons in their household.
  • Adults in leading coupon-clipping market Milwaukee are 24 percent more likely to read the Sunday newspaper, and those in Rochester are 32 percent more likely to be readers of the Sunday paper.
• Grocery Coupon Clipping Households shop across categories, including mass grocers such as SuperTarget, traditional grocers such as Kroger’s, and warehouse clubs such as Sam’s Club. However, they are average for shopping at Wal-Mart Supercenter, the grocery store with the highest percentage of grocery shoppers nationally.
• Grocery Coupon Clipping Households tend to spend slightly more money on groceries weekly, $114, versus the national average of $110. They are more likely than the average household to purchase a variety of grocery products across categories - from pantry staples like coffee and ready-to-eat cereal to health items such as yogurt and energy/nutrition bars.
• The demographic profile of Grocery Coupon Clipping Households illustrates that the appeal of coupons is wide-ranging. They are average for having children at home. People across all income brackets clip grocery coupons - however those with higher household incomes tend to be slightly more likely to clip grocery coupons.