Consumers increasingly prefer digital coupons to paper

Almost all consumers use coupons when supermarket shopping (99%), according to Valassis’ report, and almost all (96%) actively seek out promotional offers more often or as much as a year ago.

Demand for coupons and vouchers remains high, especially among younger shoppers. Nearly half (49%) of 16-24 year olds said they had increased coupon use compared to 33% of all consumers.

While paper coupons continue to be popular, Valassis’ ‘Coupon Intelligence Report‘ shows increasing use of digital coupons. The percentage of consumers who say they prefer to get discounts on their smartphone has increased 33% from 2016 to 2017.

However, despite demand, 41% of consumers report that they are receiving fewer coupons than a year ago. Furthermore, respondents reported decreases in coupon availability across most of the usual sources, with 65% claiming they now receive fewer coupons at the checkout and 35% find fewer coupons online.

“Several grocery retailers have pulled back from using basket price comparisons against other supermarkets, which often resulted in the price difference being printed out as a voucher when checking out,” said Charles D’Oyly, managing director of Valassis UK. “This promotional mechanic has been popular since early 2010, but with the rise of the deep discounters and the need to compete on everyday low prices for household staples, it looks like retailers are not issuing as many of those types of coupons and vouchers.”