eCoupons Provide Relief for Strapped Shoppers, with an Asterisk

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Is your car eating more and better than you are? Do you gain yourself gazing longingly at your pet’s food dish? Are high prices keeping your cupboard emptier than Old Mother Hubbard’s? Perhaps there is some serve for you.

The Associated Press has issued a anecdote on ABC’s space Abclocal.go.com titled “Do you have eCoupons? ” The article reports the increasing need and interest in coupons.

Today, there may be many coupons in your mailbox as well as your Sunday paper. However, in addition to that, there are now websites that advise where to come by coupons online and, that can be augmented by visiting a specific store’s site for their in-house bargains.

The featured shopper in the article, Betty Dim, is quoted as saying: “I think a lot of times I can walk out of the store saving like 30-40 sometimes 50 percent.” This statement refers to standard coupons. Now she is also searching the internet for coupons as well. Her favorite site is couponmom.com. Other favorite sites are moneysavingmom.com and grocerygame.com.

Coupons were first started by the Coca-Cola Company. They gave their employees and sales reps certificates for complimentary samples of the drink. This ingenious methodology of advertising was continued in the early Twentieth Century by Post Cereals. In both cases the marketing method launched the companies above their competitors.

The coupon is used historically in direct relationship to grocery prices. The higher the prices, the more coupons are sought.

“All About Coupons” reports the following significant facts: 86% of the United States uses coupons; shoppers saved approximately $2.6 billion last year by using coupons; the typical coupon was worth $1.15 in 2006 and manufacturers offered more than $330 in coupon savings in 2006.

The internet sites aforementioned not only offer coupons but also instruct shoppers to sites where coupons are offered.

While my wife and I clipped coupons when we were first married, we haven’t lately. I visited couponmom.com. They have free membership, free downloadable coupons, and grocery deals by state to name just a few services.

Unfortunately, there is a downside to this coupon bonanza and it is something you should check out before you expend a lot of time searching the internet. After I had printed some coupons I found that the grocery stores in my station would not accept internet coupons.

In talking with a store manager, it apparently relates to a profit margin of from ½ to one percent. In other words, they can’t afford another debt to sales ratio. However, they are also concerned about fraud in the area of internet coupons.

It appears that eCoupons offer a lot of benefits for today’s strapped consumers, with an asterisk.

References:

http://www.couponmom.com/
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story? section=news/business&id=6280648
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coupons
http://www.couponmonth.com/pages/allabout.htm