We’re in the thick of it now. Holiday shopping mania has begun. Americans across the country are eating leftover turkey and stuffing for breakfast while scanning the web for Cyber Monday deals.
But where are we finding our savings? While newspaper ads are still popular, a new Mintel study reveals roughly a third of coupon-users cite the Internet or email as a source of coupons. (Five years ago, only 19% of survey respondents told us that.)
- 71% of Mintel survey respondents say they get coupons from newspaper leaflets
- 55% use coupons found in or on packages they’ve purchased
According to Mintel’s Fiona O’Donnell:
“While the percentages of coupon users who cite traditional sources like newspapers have held relatively steady over the past five years, the incidence of obtaining coupons from the Internet and email has risen sharply.”
I know I’m tempted by online coupons, especially those that allow me the instant gratification of logging on to a store’s website to redeem instantly. Even the best newspaper ad still requires me to get in the car, drive to the store, park, find the item, wait in line, pay and go home. That’s a lot of time to kill off my shopping “impulse.”
