According to an article in late 2008 by Stuart Elliott on the New York Times website www.nytimes.com the advertising star was the “humble coupon”. The article stated that if consumers were even buying anything they were more apt to use a coupon with their purchase. It stated that “Procter & Gamble had opened a temporary store in Manhattan where coupons were available. At the store, which opened in December visitors sampled products like Pantene.
Coupons that offer cents off — or percents off — the price of things like groceries, clothing and restaurant meals are particularly popular when consumers need to stretch their dollars. So word that a recession began in December 2008 brought an increase in the number of coupons offered by marketers, as well as redemption rates by consumers.”
Still more, the article went on to mention that coupons were even being considered chic. For example, The Lucky Brand of apparel offered coupons on a funny holiday Web site (luckybuckoff.com). The better computer users played a game, the bigger the discount they earned on coupons redeemable at stores or on the regular Lucky Web site (luckybrandjeans.com).
Coupons prompt consumers to try products and increase the profiles of brand names. Although the numbers for 2008 weren’t available then, in 2007, according to the Coupon Council of the Promotion Marketing Association, 89 percent of the population said they used coupons, compared with 86 percent in 2006. The association says that 2007 was the first time since 1992 that redemption rates for coupons did not decline from the previous year.
Looking back, it appears Elliott and Procter & Gamble were right on. Have you been offering coupons for your business? In times like these, they make sense.
