Still clipping coupons? Read this…

January 10th, 2010

Tired of clipping coupons and getting paper cuts? Well, I’m going to ease your pain, because coupons are catching up with the digital age and in the process, they’re becoming much more user-friendly. Welcome to the dawning of the age of digital coupons that are truly paperless coupon promotions. With these coupons, you simply load them on a portable device like your store loyalty card or mobile phone. And, since you probably carry a these devices with you anyway, you’re pretty much guaranteed to have your digital coupons with you whenever you need them.

Coupons on Your Store Loyalty Card

A number of the larger supermarket chains and several packaged goods manufacturers have started offering digital coupons either through their own websites or through third-party sites like Cellfire.com, Shortcuts.com, Coupons.com or Zavers.com.

To get started receiving coupons on your loyalty card, you’ll obviously need to have a loyalty card from the supermarket where you plan on using the coupons. In addition, you’ll likely need to set up an account and register your card through whichever service or services the retailer is using to power its digital coupon program. Once you’ve set up the service, you simply visit the retailer’s Website or their third-party site and begin selecting the coupons you want to load to your loyalty card.

To help you remember which coupons you’ve loaded to your card, a number of retailers and third-party services enable you to create and print shopping lists that feature the products for which you have digital coupons. Also check out this neat application which allows you load all your loyalty cards on your iPhone.

Coupons on Your Mobile Phone

The newest trend is to receive digital coupon offers directly to your mobile phone without a need for a loyalty card. These may take the form of alphanumeric coupon codes that a checkout clerk keys into the register, or they may take the form of scannable barcodes displayed on the screen of your mobile phone.

There are a number of websites where you can get coupons delivered to your mobile phone, including: Cellfire.com, MobileCoupons.com, SampleSaint.com, Valpak.com and 8coupons.com. Google has even expanded its service to let local merchants offer mobile coupons through their “Place Pages” on Google Maps.

To get started receiving coupons on your mobile phone, you’ll need to make sure your phone is Internet-enabled. If the coupons are being delivered as scannable barcodes, you’ll also need to make sure you have a smart phone (such as a Blackberry, Android or iPhone) that is capable of displaying the codes correctly.

Don’t cancel the Sunday Paper… yet

If you truly want to maximize the savings you get with coupons, you won’t be able to get rid of the paper just yet.  According to NCH Marketing Services, the leading coupon processor in the U.S., digital coupons only account for about one-tenth of one percent of all packaged goods coupons distributed in the U.S. On the other hand, more than 85% of all packaged goods coupons are distributed through those inserts that come in the Sunday newspaper.

But, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be taking advantage of the many digital coupon offers that are out there. Whether you’re an avid coupon clipper or new to couponing, digital coupons provide an opportunity to save even more money in a relatively hassle-free manner. In exchange for registering your loyalty card or agreeing to receive a few mobile marketing messages from your favorite retailers, you can get anything from a free Grand Slam Breakfast at Denny’s to a $5 off coupon at Target!

And, as every coupon user knows, those little discounts can quickly add up to big savings.

Photo credit: Cellfire.com

Entry Filed under: Shopping