Coupons are frequently used as a marketing tool. They are tickets that can be exchanged for a discount or rebate when purchasing a product or paying for a service. Generally, manufacturers or retailers distribute coupons through magazines and mailers. The Internet has also become a popular medium of distributing coupons in recent years. Most commonly, though, promotional coupons are given away through newspapers to target a large number of people.
It is estimated that U.S. businesses distribute around 330 billion coupons with an average face value of 71 cents. This figure increases at an average of 12% for every year since it is calculated. Coupon use is lowest among young adults, who account for a larger share of the population. 70 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds use coupons, compared with 77 percent of all adults. Men are less likely to trade in coupons (21 percent) than women are (25 percent).
Restaurants circulate discount coupons in newspapers in connection with local events. One study indicates that diners change their dining habits when they see coupons residing on their refrigerator.
There are many different types of coupons. One is the coupon that allows you to purchase any product for $1.00 for the retailer listed on it.Another is the coupon that lists a date and time for when you can redeem the coupon. The third type of coupon allows you to receive a monetary discount after mailing in a coupon to the store.
Not all coupons are listed online. People who shop online often don’t bother to clip coupons, although they do when shopping in the store. The few occasions on which it makes sense to clip coupons are when you have a gift that you need to buy for someone else, or when you have a service or product that you use.
People use coupons for many reasons. Originally, people used coupons to minimize costs in purchasing. The need for coupons today is much different than it was many years ago. People use coupons to enhance their shopping experiences. People are looking for ways to cut back and spend smarter. Coupons fit into the bargain picture. They provide additional savings when used.
Not all coupons are listed online either. The ones that are not available online are typically found in newspapers. Many stores also send out coupons to customers. The websites on how to use them and where to find them are posted online.
There are many terminology associated with coupons. steal, coupon, coveted, clipped and used. There are others. Gave, got and best deal are some. The best deals are sometimes referred to as win-win offers. That’s because the customer wins by getting a discount and the store wins by having more customers come in.
With so many uses of coupons, people struggle to know the difference between coupons that are needed and those that aren’t needed. The difference between needed and wanted coupons is the value of the discount. If the coupon provides a discount of $.50, did you really need to buy that much of product? If the coupon provides a 50% savings, did you realize that you now have $.50 free? These are the questions that ask themselves.
There are a variety of websites that help you to find, use and track coupons. The search engines, highlighted in bold, are typically the best places to begin. The goal of these websites is to present the top coupons for your area. It’s best to match these keywords to your area, but you should also check out other coupon sites, such as CouponMountain, Grocery Coupons, CouponCabin.com, and CouponCabin.com.
Once you have located the coupons you want, download them as if you were going to need them. If you don’t need the coupon, don’t worry; you can always throw them out. Most coupons are good for a certain time period, after all.
Once you have located and printed coupons, either download them to your computer directly, if you believe you have the legal right to print them in the first place, or enter them at the cash register to determine what they are worth. If necessary, you may also want to call the store you want coupons for to make sure they have the latest coupons.
If you have found and printed coupons that you would like to use, meet with the store’s customer service manager. The customer service representative is responsible for departments such as accounting, shipping and handling, inventory, quality standards, guest services, and corporate offices. If you have a store manager, ask him or her about the coupons.
You may also be able to get the coupons without a manager, if you are at a mall store. Ask the sales lady if there are any coupons available for the store. You might be surprised to find that the store has coupons available for that store.
You may even be able to get coupons that are worth more than the price of the item themselves.
