Savings Through Online Coupons

These are very hard times indeed, so we find so many people trying to limit their spending and save for the proverbial rainy day and taking advantage of online coupons. Even well-known companies are feeling the pinch, so they are trying to outdo each other by offering clippable coupons and online printable coupons. Even if they are doing well, they still have to compete with other companies for the top spot, so they offer coupons.

There has never been a better time for companies to offer coupons. With people, online most of the time sharing photos and wisecracks on Facebook and Twitter, the best way to reach the most number of people is through the internet. Oh, there are still those magazine coupons and newspaper coupons, but with the environmentalists making us guilty all the time about the trees getting cut down for paper and cardboard, then online coupons are the best way to go – print when you need. At least the mouse is not an endangered species.

So why are these retail establishments offering online coupons?

They believe in the power of free coupons to increase the traffic to their websites. Increased site traffic is of course equivalent to an increase in sales. While companies find offering coupons a fantastic promotion and marketing strategy; coupons are now the favorite money-saving strategy of American consumers with other countries catching on to the craze.

In the third quarter, the most popular online coupons in the United States were in the category of Household Cleaners & Supplies followed by Ready-to-Eat Cereal. Other popular online coupons are Yogurt, Soups, Nutritional and Portable Snacks, Fruit Juices, Breakfast Foods, and Refrigerated Dough. Although the No. 1 spot is household cleaners and supplies, the rest of the items are food items, showing how Americans value saving on food items.

The popularity of online coupons grew in leaps and bounds this year in relation to the exponential growth of websites. More brands went onto the bandwagon and issued more coupons which one site reports to be worth around 330 billion collectively. Digital coupons represented the fastest growth in the category. Websites offering fast food coupons, grocery coupons, discount coupons for tourism destinations, medical care, hygienic care, and other personal care items started proliferating, taking advantage of free hosting services. Many more people paid for cheap hosting packages just to provide backlinks to coupon sites. Links to coupon sites are also found inside articles in online articles, website forums, and even blog comments.