UK consumers’ appetite for coupons has continued to grow with shoppers redeeming 688 million coupons last year, an increase from 604 million coupons in 2013.
According to coupon experts Valassis Limited, coupons and vouchers worth £1.7billion were redeemed last year showing that the coupon craze is far from over even though the economy is strengthening.
In particular it is retailer issued coupons that have increased, up 21% from 2013 – 466million to 564million. The figures from Valassis, which works with retailer clients that collectively have a grocery market share of 84%, show that it is retailer issued coupons that are driving the growth.
Charles D’Oyly, managing director of Valassis, explains: “We believe this is due to price match initiatives now employed by many grocery retailers. Since these were introduced four years ago, retailer issued coupon redemptions have more than doubled, up 146% from 229million in 2011.
D’Oyly continues: “The redemption of newspaper subscription coupons is also on the up – from 18million in 2013 to 20million last year. We’re seeing upward movement following three years of decline after an all-time high of 40million coupons in 2009. The overall increase in redemption may indicate that coupon use is now viewed by consumers as standard behavior when it comes to saving money.”
