Coupons’ role shifts as market, buyers evolve

In the heart of the recession, the United States became a coupon-crazy country, clipping, printing and downloading billions of coupons a year. That’s still true, but the coupon industry is rapidly evolving, attracting younger users and more men, as well as zapping out more digital and mobile versions of the classic cents-off paper coupon. “Years ago, coupons were mostly for grocery items, like cereal. Now it’s almost everything you’re buying, from clothes to restaurants to drugstores,” said Jeanette Pavini, household savings expert with Coupons.com. Last year, the number of manufacturers’ coupons issued – for everything from diapers to dog food – was a staggering 305 billion. That’s a lot of coupons to be clipped, printed or downloaded. Yet the number of coupons actually cashed in by U.S. consumers in 2012 slipped 17 percent compared with the previous year, according to NCH Marketing Services in Deerfield, Ill., which tracks annual coupon usage. It’s all part of subtle shifts in couponing, says Charlie Brown, NCH marketing vice president. While paper coupons clipped out of the Sunday paper still dominate, digital coupons on websites, mobile phones and retailers’ loyalty cards are attracting a younger – and increasingly male – audience.