LIVONIA, Mich.—Shoppers saved nearly $3.5 billion with coupons in 2009, according to the Year-end 2009 Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) Coupon Industry Facts Report recently released by NCH Marketing Services Inc., a Valassis company. A record number of coupons in the marketplace contributed to this increase of $800 million, or nearly 30 percent more than 2008.
CPG coupon distribution increased by 11 percent from 2008, to a total of 311 billion coupons distributed in 2009 – the largest single-year distribution quantity ever recorded. Consumers redeemed nearly 3.2 billion coupons in 2009, a 23 percent increase over the prior year. This growth represented the second-highest increase ever recorded for year-over-year coupon redemption. Marketers also increased the average face value of coupons – up to $1.41 in 2009 from $1.29 in 2008.
“With interest in coupons by consumers at an all-time high and lasting savings habits being formed, we expect coupons will continue to be an important tool marketers will use to reach and motivate consumers in 2010 and beyond,” said Suzie Brown, Valassis chief marketing officer.
Personal economic situations are causing consumers to make changes in savings and lifestyle habits. More than 30 percent of respondents to a 2009 NCH Consumer Survey indicated they are now more careful about remembering to bring their coupons to the store, with 74 percent stating they would maintain this new habit. Twenty-five percent of respondents also said they are now clipping more coupons than in the past.
“The state of the economy is influencing manufacturers and consumers as it relates to both distribution and redemption,” said Charlie Brown, NCH vice president of marketing. “This recession has been long enough and unemployment has been high enough to have placed a greater emphasis on spending and savings habits since the last period of deep U.S. recession in the early 1990’s.”
In addition, results from NCH Consumer Surveys indicate 88 percent of respondents plan shopping lists using coupons; up 10 percentage points from before the recession began. Seventy-seven percent of respondents also indicated they regularly use coupons, up from 64 percent in 2007.