Paper Chase: Do Americans Really Prefer Print Coupons?

Paper-based coupon remain a hit with U.S. consumers - for some very common sense reasons.
By Brian O'Connell ,

With seemingly the entire world going digital, it's actually surprising that U.S. consumer appear to favor paper coupons over real ones.

Is that really a fact?

Yes, according to CreditCards.com, which states in a new report that 63% of U.S. credit and debit cardholders who use coupons say they prefer coupons from newspapers, mailings and other paper products. Entering a discount code online is a distant second (17%), followed by presenting a coupon or discount code on one's phone (15%), the company reports.

Additionally, while paper coupon consumption increases with age, even 18-24 year-olds are using paper coupons about twice as much as any other method.

"Dead trees aren't dead when it comes to coupons," says Matt Schulz, CreditCards.com's senior industry analyst. "Plenty of Americans are still opening their snail mail and reading the Sunday paper. I expect paper coupons to lose some market share, though, as consumers and brands get even more comfortable using them electronically."

Consumers still regard paper coupons highly and for some common sense reasons. "I prefer paper coupons because there's less tracking and more privacy," says Robert Barrows, president of R.M. Barrows, Inc., a public relations and marketing firm in San Mateo, Calif. "Also, I don't have to waste ink printing out an electronic coupon."

Barrows also says he knows a paper coupon can't be hacked, and he doesn't want to start receiving tons of offers for similar products he might get with an electronic coupon.

The planning and structural aspects of paper coupons seems attractive to consumers, too. "I think older folks still prefer the paper coupons as they're easier to organize and lay them out in front of you to see what you have," says Kyle James, founder of Rather-Be-Shopping, in Redding Calif. "Also, I think there is a nostalgia aspect working here too."

James, who provides online coupons on his company's site, calls the propensity of younger consumers to favor paper coupons  a real head-scratcher. "With free coupon apps available where all you have to do is present your phone when checking-out at the register to collect your savings, I have a hard time believing many young folks are still printing or clipping coupons at home," he says.

Jeremy Pepper, a Los Angeles resident, says he is a frequent coupon user and says paper coupons are sometimes preferable, because they are coupons he wants - and knows he'll be using. "I do have a few mobile apps on my phone, like Ibotta, Keyring and Cartwheel, but even on the websites I use to check prices, that site pushes me to print the coupon," Pepper says. "And many of the websites that do have coupons, they push to print rather than download to an app."

"Plus, despite the alerts, the apps aren't smart enough yet to know what I do and do not purchase," he adds. "They're pushing me to buy things I would never buy so I use just Keyring for my loyalty cards, and ignore the rest 99% of the time." 

Of course, there's no shortage of consumers and marketers who say paper coupons are archaic and headed the way of the duck-billed platypus.

"Sites like CouponCabin.com offer shoppers the opportunity to not only save with coupons, but earn cash back -- sometimes 10% or more -- at the same time," says Michael Monahan, a spokesperson for CouponCabin.com. "By going digital, shoppers can get easier access to cash back. And who doesn't like cash back?"

"Simply put, if Americans are wedded to paper coupons, they're leaving money on the table," he adds.

Discount coupons usually offer a good deal no matter form they arrive in. That said, paper coupons do have a place at that table, and show no signs of going extinct.

So chalk one up for one old retail mainstay, and that's not often said in an increasingly digital world.

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