Millennials Embrace Coupons

The demographic has mostly migrated to digital discounts, but paper coupons are holding their own.

June 28, 2016

NEW YORK CITY – Coupons have moved into the digital age with apps and websites alongside paper circulars, but the most surprising aspect of the new digital coupon age is who’s doing the clipping—and it’s millennials, Bloomberg reports. The demographic of young adults have become ardent couponers, albeit in digital form.

According to Valassis, close to nine in 10 Millennials shop with coupons, with these consumers visiting websites like RetailMeNot for discount codes and signing up for cash-back programs like Ebates. Flash sales and loyalty cards that trigger register discounts are all embraced by young consumers.

Valpak Direct Marketing Systems Inc. now provides coupon codes for local businesses via its websites. In 2015, nearly two million coupons were downloaded from its mobile website and app. While millennials like digital, the move online hasn’t hurt paper coupons. Valpak’s mailed coupon envelopes have kept up a steady circulation, while SmartSource’s print circulars has maintained its subscriber list over the past five years.

“Even in today’s digital world, consumers still use paper coupons at a surprisingly high rate, likely because most digital options do not provide a seamless customer experience,” wrote Forrester Research in a report on the subject. “Somehow, in the upside-down world of couponing, digital is actually more difficult than paper.”

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