Text And E-Mail Trail Traditional Media For Couponing

When it comes to coupon distribution, the Sunday paper reigns supreme. But the up-and-comer text and e-mail channels are making inroads, according to Scarborough Research.

What may come as a surprise is that while the Sunday newspaper are the dominant dissemination mechanism, only 51% of households indicated they received coupons through it. In-store coupons were the next-highest channel, with just over one-third of household citing them. These were followed by the mail (31%).

Twenty-one percent have gained coupons through loyalty programs or customer cards, while 20% use in-store circulars. Seventeen percent rely on weekly newspapers, 16% get coupons from product packages and 15% tear coupons out of magazines.

And text messages or e-mail? Eight percent of households said this was how they obtain coupons, just ahead of the 7% that get them from Internet sites.

Scarborough did not indicate how this compared with previous years’ figured, but according to the company “couponing via text messages and/or email is gaining a following among American consumers”.

Those consumers who obtain coupons via text messages and/or email tend to be young, affluent, educated and female. Scarborough said they are 14% more likely than the average adult to be ages 18-24; 51% more likely to be a college graduate or have an advanced degree; and six percent more likely to be female.

“Coupons received via text messaging are typically sent only to consumers who have opted-in to receive them,” said Gary Meo, senior VP of digital media and print services at Scarborough Research. “This increases the relevancy of the offer and the potential for the consumer to act on that offer. An additional benefit is the mobility of cell phones and other personal communications devices, which allow consumers to access the coupon at the point of purchase.”

The Analyst’s Take: According to an April survey from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, 32% of all Americans have gone online via a mobile device. As mobile use increases, could this portend a tripling of couponing through this channel? Might, and here’s another possibility: The early adapters of any technology tend to be less cost-conscious than late adapters, meaning that the 68% of Americans that haven’t gone online via a mobile device might be all-the-more receptive to discounts…