September: National Coupon Month!

Since it's Labor Day I thought I'd share a few little tidbits on how we all work hard at earning and Saving money with coupons!!!

Since the first handwritten Coca-Cola coupon in 1887, Americans have been using coupons to save on everything from groceries to clothing to entertainment and more. In 1998, the PMA designated September as National Coupon Month. With coupon distribution and redemption at historically high levels, more attention is being given to this savings tool in today’s economy.

Coupons and coupon codes are used in all 50 states and abroad.  By just spending 20 minutes a week clipping and clicking, you could save over $1,000 annually.

Coupon Facts

1. In total, consumers saved $2 billion in the first six months of 2011.¹
2. First-half 2011 coupon redemption volume reached 1.75 billion, a moderate 2.9% increase compared to the first half of last year.¹
3. The average face value in the first half of 2011 is up 5.4% to $1.57 compared to $1.49 for the first half of 2010.¹
4. Consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturers offered consumers $485 billion in savings in 2010, representing a 13.9% increase over the prior year and 47.4% growth compared to five years ago.²
5. In 2010, marketers once again distributed more CPG coupons than the prior year, reaching 332 billion - the largest single-year distribution quantity ever recorded in the United States, exceeding the prior record set in 2009 by 6.8%.²
6. CPG marketers continue to allocate the largest share of coupons distributed — 89.6% — to the free-standing insert (FSI) in the first half of 2011.¹
7. Sixty percent of consumers are becoming more focused on the price of groceries as gas prices climb.³
8. Seventy-six percent of consumers say their grocery bills have increased up to $50 weekly; 41% have seen a weekly increase of $20 to $50.³
9. Phil Lempert - the Supermarket Guru® - indicates 93% of consumers have seen prices rise on items they buy in the grocery store and are employing tactics to save money:

   • 84% are using coupons;
   • 84% are eating out less often to save in restaurants; when dining out, 52% redeem coupons to save money; and
   • 76% are looking in newspapers for sales.⁴
10. Ninety-six percent of consumers said that they would still use coupons if they struck it big in the lottery. This reflects the value-oriented mindset that took root at the onset of the recession. This learned behavior was shared by shoppers whether their annual income was $20,000 or over $150,000.⁵
11. 56% of 13- to 17-year-olds use coupons or coupon codes, according to the parents of these teens - savers themselves. The teens, however, are using coupons and coupon codes for items most important to them:

    • 25% clothing;
    • 19% entertainment; and
    • 18% beauty care/grooming⁵
12. Seventy-seven percent of consumers say they use the money they save with coupons on basic necessities, a 20% increase from the prior year.⁵
13. Seventy-eight percent of consumers report using coupons regularly, up 14.7 share points from pre-recession levels, and one-third said that they used more coupons in 2010 than the prior year.⁶
14. Once consumers adopt frugal habits, they quickly discover that they like the feeling of saving money. Acceptance of these new habits can be seen in the largest share of response for increased coupon usage in the 2010 survey - 29.3% of consumers stated they are using more coupons for the enjoyment of saving, an increase of 11.7 share points over those stating that reason the prior year.⁶
15. 58% of consumers use cents-off coupons received in the mail or newspapers/magazines.⁷
16. Grocery shoppers have very deliberate and well thought out behaviors, with 56% of consumers reading fliers before or at the store, and 75% of consumers making shopping lists prior to shopping.⁸
17. Seventy-five percent of consumers who consider the Internet to be their primary advertising source used newspaper inserts in the last 30 days.⁹
18. More than one in three male shoppers is shopping multiple stores in order to find the lowest price on needed items.¹⁰

¹NCH Marketing Services, Inc., Mid-year 2011 Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) Coupon Facts Report
²NCH Marketing Services 2010 Coupon Facts Report
³2011 RedPlum poll of nearly 500 of its community of savers on Facebook
⁴2011 Phil Lempert Quick Poll
⁵Redplum.com Purse String Survey, July 2011
⁶NCH's 2010 Annual Consumer Survey
⁷National Grocers Association Consumer Survey Report, 2011
⁸IRI, Quarterly MarketPulse Survey, March 2011
⁹NAA, How America Shops and Spends, 2011

¹⁰Symphony IRI MarketPulse, January 2011

History of Coupons

1887: Coupons are born! John Pemberton, a pharmacist from Atlanta, creates the recipe for the syrup used to make Coca-Cola and distributes free drink cards to people on the street encouraging them to try the new drink at a specific pharmacy.

1891: Asa Candler, the druggist who bought the formula for Coca-Cola for $2,300, arranges with pharmacies to direct mail account-specific coupons to customers for a free glass at the soda fountain.

1894: Coca-Cola converts their free coupon to the format most typical today — good anywhere the product is sold. Retailers send the redeemed coupons to Atlanta with proof-of-purchase of the syrup for reimbursement.

1895: Next stop, the local grocer! C.W. Post distributes the first cents-off coupon worth 1 penny toward his new health cereal, Grape Nuts.

1930s: Coupons are a staple in American households because of the Depression. Everyone needs to save money wherever possible and clipping coupons clips weekly grocery bills.

1940s: Supermarkets sprout across the country and continue the coupon tradition that had begun in neighborhood groceries.

1957: The Nielsen Coupon Clearing House becomes the first clearing house devoted to coupon redemption. Coupons have created a new industry.

1965: One-half of Americans are now coupon users.

1975: Coupon popularity continues to grow. Over 35 billion coupons are distributed and 65% of American households clip!

1998: America celebrates the first National Coupon Month. Children create art designs of their favorite coupons in the First Coupon Month Contest.

1999: Online coupons begin to gain momentum.

2000: Parents learn how to involve children in saving with coupons for National Coupon Month.

2008: 89% of consumers use coupons while shopping at supermarkets as a way to economize during a period of rising prices.

2009: A total of 311 billion coupons were distributed — the largest single-year distribution quantity ever recorded. Shoppers saved nearly $3.5 billion with coupons.

2010: Consumer packaged goods coupon distribution and redemption (as of first half) continue to build on record-breaking growth trends of 2009. Consumer purchase behavior points to a permanent shift toward value and saving as the United States recovers from the worst recession since the Great Depression.  

2011: First-half 2011 coupon redemption volume reached 1.75 billion, a moderate 2.9% increase compared to the first half of last year. In total, consumers saved $2 billion in the first six months of 2011.  

National Coupon Month is a program of the Promotion Marketing Association (PMA) Educational Foundation, Inc., which is an educational public foundation. The views of the National Coupon Month program support the benefits of coupons, and may not reflect the views of all members of the PMA. Visit www.pmalink.org to learn more about PMA.