Bright Future for Online Coupons

Nearly half of the Internet users who use coupons have said they are familiar with online coupons, according to a new report by NPD Online Research.

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Forty-nine percent of the Internet users who use coupons said they are aware of online coupons, and 31 percent said they obtain coupons online. Less than one-quarter (23 percent) reported actually using coupons retrieved from the Web. Almost half (45 percent) of the respondents who told NPD they used coupons obtained over the Internet were male.

NPD’s research found a strong future lies ahead for online coupons. Among those aware of online coupons, 87 percent said they plan to use online coupons in the future, and 80 percent reported their use of coupons will grow in the future.

“Since only half of Internet users know about online coupons, there is a lot of room for growth,” said Pamela Smith, Vice President of NPD Online. “Awareness should increase with Internet organizations like America Online starting to promote relationships that will help consumers more easily take advantage of coupons online.”

[IC_ARTICLE_OBJECT [SHOW IC_Article_ID] “table2”] Half of NPD’s survey respondents said they find coupons through general surfing of the Internet. Online advertising sparks the interest of 23 percent, with males slightly more likely to respond to advertising than women. Ten percent took up online coupons on the recommendation of friends or family.

Two clear leaders did emerge as the place to go for online coupons. Forty-six percent of the participants in NPD’s survey said they go to coolsavings.com, 41 percent cited valuepage.com. Other sites mentioned in the survey include valpak.com (12 percent), hotcoupons.com (12 percent), and directcoupons.com (10 percent).

The demographics of online coupon users look like this: 55 percent are between the ages of 25-44, one-third of online coupon redeemers have a household income over $75,000, 36 percent between $45,000 and $75,000, and 31 percent earn under $45,000.

When compared to other coupon sources, the Internet has a 3 percent share. Newspapers lead the way with a 48 percent share, followed by store circulars (26 percent).