My mother clipped coupons. Every Wednesday, when the ads came out, she would cut out the coupons, and sort them. A trip to the grocery store always included her “coupon envelop”

When my kids were little I did the same, but no longer do. Cutting, sorting, filing and then finding the right one seemed a like more work then it was worth.

Across the board, retailers using coupons saw redemption rates falling, but as the economy slowed down, consumers once again looked for ways to cut costs.  While they are turning to coupons once again, recent studies show there is growing interest to getting the coupons on line.

This information from the Wall Street Journal

• Currently, online coupons account for 1% of all coupons offered nationwide — but their use is growing quickly, with redemptions jumping 140% last year
• Coupons.com, a site that offers coupons from large food manufacturers and national grocers, says its users printed out online coupons valued at $300 million last year, an increase of 140% from 2007.
• Manufacturers are attracted to digital-coupon delivery in part because of its 13% redemption rate — far above the 1% redemption rate for coupons found mostly in newspaper inserts,
• Kroger Co. said it would go national with its free text-messaging coupon program

The best part of this type of promotion; it is just as easy for the retailer as it is for the consumer.  Coupons can be changed on the, promoted with eMail and on social media for a relatively small investment.

Have you added coupons to your marketing mix?