It appears paper coupons are making a comeback as consumers increasingly report feeling overwhelmed by the complicated nature of digital options

In our continuous monitoring of the consumer loyalty and promotions space in the form of discounts, savings, coupons and cashback offers, we are noticing a trend by leading CPG Brands and major retailers, such as the Kroger in the US, towards the increased usage of paper coupons in their promotional strategies and coupon campaigns.

Consumers seem to love the ease of use and simplicity of either printing the coupon at home or clipping it from a flyer, or receiving it in the mail and bringing it to the store to redeem for their savings, as in the days of not that long ago.

No registrations, no app downloads, no activations, no linking of bank accounts, no disclosing of personal information, no multiple factor authentications. Just the simple act of taking a paper coupon to a shop to save money on a product and actually saving the money on the product.

In the Kroger case paper coupons are being brought back to the flyer because consumers found the digital coupons “too difficult to use”.

Get in touch to discuss how we can put paper coupons to work for your Brand.

In a recent survey by Catalina in the UK a third of the shoppers surveyed named paper coupons as their preferred method of receiving offers, compared to a quarter that prefer digital and that was true even among younger shoppers.

In the survey 50% of all shoppers also said they don’t receive enough print offers. 45% say paper coupons are more convenient at the checkout. And 29% said digital coupons are too often “out of sight, out of mind,” so they forget to use them at all. In short, consumers seem to be overwhelmed by the digital offers and how to redeem them.

CPG Brands also seem to understand that although paper coupons are not for everybody and there are plenty of consumers that have no issues with the requirements necessitated by a digital process there are still enough consumers that prefer paper coupons that it makes sense to run coupon campaigns, or make coupons available in the paper format as well.

More importantly CPG Brands appreciate the ability of a dedicated paper coupon, such as a Mail to Home Coupon campaign, to break through the torrent of clutter and distraction that exists in most consumer’s digital environments. It is a controlled dedicated Brand environment and physical representation of the Brand and its products and an invitation for the consumer to save money on the product.

At a time when consumers are under tremendous financial strain and grocery shopping decisions are being driven by the overall cost and value obtained, it is important for the CPG Brands that understand the value of running promotional campaigns for their consumers to actually obtain that value by delivering the intended savings to the consumer.

If the consumer cannot see or cannot use a Brand’s promotions because they are too difficult to use in a digital environment this is a problem.

Paper coupons also have the advantage of being real, tangible and valuable and there is the positive psychological factor that for many consumers they feel equivalent to money. Consumers also claim that paper coupons have a recall factor, that makes it easy for them to remember to use them.

At webSaver we work with some of Canada’s leading CPG Brands on their promotional strategies in the form of online coupons and cashback offers and our recommendation is consistent. It is that if the Brand is serious about seeking to drive redemptions, then the discounts and savings should be offered in the formats preferred by consumers, with the understanding that different consumer groups prefer different formats.

In short, offer discounts to consumers in multiple formats including Print at Home Coupons, Mail to Home Coupons and Cashback Offers and let them choose which one they want to use.

Yes younger consumers may opt for more digitally driven methods which may be of lower cost for Brands to deliver and allow for the gathering of personal information, however those consumers may be less Brand loyal. Whereas more mature consumers may prefer Mail to Home or Print at Home solutions which may be slightly more involving for Brands to deliver, however mature consumers tend to be more Brand loyal.

webSaver has a complete platform for the delivery of paper coupons to your consumers encompassing Mail to Home or Print at Home options to make the execution of your coupon campaigns fast, simple and easy.

If you want your CPG Brand to take advantage of the resurgence in paper coupons contact us now and let’s talk.