Coupons have been around for more than 135 years, but since Coca-Cola made the first one in 1887, their main use and fame have changed a lot. Digital coupons have become more popular and faster. Last year alone, tech-savvy shoppers saved up to $4 billion with them. More than 90% of families said they had used a coupon in the past year.

“Digital coupons” aren’t brand new, but their use and acceptance have changed a lot since the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise in online shopping, which changed the way people buy things forever.

2024 Key Statistics on Coupon Usage

Broad Use: More than 90% of households reported using coupons in the last year, demonstrating their widespread acceptance.
Popular Searches: The “DoorDash Promo Code” was the top coupon query online, reflecting the high demand for food delivery services.
Significant Discounts: The typical discount provided by online coupons in 2022 was approximately 21.9%, offering notable savings.
Email Sign-ups for Deals: Around 80% of shoppers admit they sign up for newsletters mainly to secure discounts, highlighting the effectiveness of promotional emails.
Universal Appeal: Coupon usage spans all income levels, with 86% of households earning above $200,000 annually also engaging in couponing.
Preferred Platforms for Deals: Facebook is the leading platform for coupon searches, with 42% of users preferring it over other social media.
In-Store Mobile Discounts: In 2021, 40% of individuals used mobile devices to apply discounts or promo codes while shopping in grocery stores, showing an increase in mobile coupon usage.

Coupon Trends & Statistics 2024

Coupons have been a big part of store sales for more than 100 years. In the past few years, advances in technology have made it possible for people to save money in a lot of different ways. These include

Mobile savings apps
Chrome plugins
Loyalty programs
Credit card perks and
Cash-back rewards.

The way stores send coupons to customers is also changing because of progress in AI. With AI, personalized digital coupons can be sent to customers in 24 to 48 hours, while print coupons take days or weeks to arrive.

The discount market should grow a lot over the next 5 years because of this. Because of the unstable economy and more competition from other online stores, coupons can be very important for people who want to buy something online in 2023.

Snapshot of Modern Coupon Usage Trends

Mobile Couponing in Stores: 40% of grocery shoppers use mobile apps to redeem online promo codes in-store, integrating digital savings into physical shopping.
Increased Spending with Coupons: In 2022, 38% of shoppers spent more than intended due to finding coupons, indicating that discounts can lead to higher expenditure.
Loyalty Program Engagement: The average American is a member of over 16 loyalty programs to access savings and discounts, showcasing a strong preference for value through memberships.
Mobile Dominance in Couponing: By 2023, mobile devices are expected to account for 80% of coupon redemptions, emphasizing the shift towards digital accessibility.
Real-Time Price Comparisons: A significant 93% of Millennials use their mobile devices to compare prices in-store, reflecting a savvy shopping strategy that leverages technology for the best deals.
Store Choice Based on Digital Coupons: 63% of shoppers choose stores that offer digital coupon redemption, highlighting how digital offers influence retail preferences.
Digital Coupon Use Among Millennial Parents: A staggering 96% of Millennial parents utilized digital coupons in 2020, demonstrating high engagement with digital savings.
Coupon Discovery: Millennial parents (94%) and Millennials (79%) actively use coupon websites to find discounts, contrasting with just 53% usage among Baby Boomers, pointing to generational differences in digital coupon usage.

What are the Most Popular Coupon Websites?

Retailmenot, which gets about 5.3 million users a month, is the coupon website that people visit the most. After them come Slickdeals, Coupon Cabin, CouponFollow, Dealspotr, and Don’t Pay Full, which get between a few hundred thousand and a million users a month.

What is the most common way for people to find coupons?

Respondents to a poll by CouponZania said that brand emails were the most common way they found coupons. Online searches and checking coupon sites directly came in second and third, respectively.

Discount mobile apps and other technologies that help people save money have become very popular. People use them a lot when they shop on their computers, their phones, and in stores. A lot of people used the discount app Fetch in 2022. It had over 14 million daily downloads. This was quickly followed by Upside, an app that helps you save money on gas.

How much do people really save when they use coupons?

People can use online coupons and deals for almost every purchase, both online and in stores. They can find these deals in brand emails, newspapers, social media, chrome plugins, and mobile savings apps. A $5 ticket might not seem like much at first, but if you use them wisely, they add up over the course of the year.

CouponFollow did a study in 2021 that showed that using online coupons could save the average American family up to $1,465 a year.

What are the best months for coupon codes?

Some months have more coupon codes than others, and the deals can be better or worse depending on the season. Rather, be smart and plan your purchases and follow the best days to shop each month.

This chart shows how many coupon codes are available each month, based on how often they are matched. The average coupon savings from month to month is also something we look at.

Online deals are a great way for smart shoppers to save money. They can save you an average of $1,465 per year. Most families can save a full paycheck every year on discounts on everyday items if they remember these tips, keep up with seasonal trends, and use software to save money automatically every time they shop.

Digital vs. Paper Coupons: A Shift in Consumer Preferences

The landscape of coupon usage is undergoing a significant transformation, particularly evident among Millennials. In 2022, a study revealed a decisive trend toward digital couponing. Here’s a closer look at how consumer behaviors are shifting from traditional paper coupons to digital formats:

Millennial Adoption: A substantial 82% of Millennial shoppers opted for digital coupons, compared to 72% who used paper coupons. This preference underscores a broader shift toward digital accessibility and convenience.
Growing Digital Preference: The preference for digital coupons extends beyond Millennials, with an increasing number of shoppers from all age groups turning to digital options since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. This trend highlights a generational shift in how coupons are consumed and preferred.
Convenience and Instant Access: The ease of accessing and redeeming coupons digitally, via smartphones and other electronic devices, is driving their popularity. This convenience allows consumers to leverage discounts more efficiently and on-the-go, enhancing the shopping experience.
Retailer Adaptation: Retailers are rapidly adapting to this change, recognizing the benefits of digital coupons in attracting customers and boosting sales. Digital promotions are becoming a key strategy for retail marketing, reflecting an evolution in how discounts are offered and utilized.
Future Outlook: As technology continues to evolve, the trend toward digital couponing is expected to grow. Retailers are likely to expand their use of digital platforms, offering an array of coupons, discounts, and promotions that cater to the modern consumer’s preference for digital solutions.

This shift represents a significant evolution in consumer behavior, with digital coupons becoming increasingly favored over traditional paper options, paving the way for a more tech-savvy shopping environment.

People look for coupons and deals on social media more than any other place besides brand emails and internet searches. In 2021, Facebook was by far the most popular social media site where people looked for coupons. However, coupons could be found on really all of them.

The History of Coupons

At the start of Coca-Cola, Asa Candler made the first coupon. A free glass of Coke, which cost $0.05 a glass at the time, was part of the deal. From 1894 to 1913, Coca-Cola gave away 8,500,000 free glasses of Coke. This made the brand so well known that it became the most popular drink in the US.

A few years after Coke’s coupon campaign was a hit, other cereal companies started using coupon marketing to get more customers. During the Great Depression, coupons were used for a wide range of food and home items.

During WWII, the U.S. government made “coupons” to limit the amount of sugar, flour, and milk that people could buy. You wouldn’t be able to buy these simple things without an approved voucher.

The Nielsen Coupon Clearing House was the first business that only dealt with coupons. It opened in 1957. Nielsen gathered information on the most popular types of coupons and made the coupons themselves, acting as a go-between for producers and stores. By 1965, more than half of all American families regularly used coupons.

For many years, people used coupons more and more in newspapers, magazines, and shopping malls. Then, the internet came along and made the business grow even faster.

In the late 1990s, when e-commerce first started to take off thanks to the internet, coupon and discount sites like Slickdeals, Retailmenot, Coupon Cabin, and CouponZania started collecting online codes.

Takeaway

Coupons have been an important part of shopping in the United States & the world for more than one hundred years. Online deals have been around for more than 20 years, but the COVID-19 pandemic and rise in online shopping have made the market worth billions of dollars, and thousands of businesses and customers depend on it.

Going forward into 2023 and beyond, digital deals will be an even more important way for stores to adapt to new times.