The weak economy is creating a nation of coupon clippers.
Bargain-hungry shoppers redeemed 4.1 billion coupons in the first six months of the year, an increase of 10 percent from a year earlier, according to NCH Promotional Services Inc., a large coupon processing firm in Chicago.
And manufacturers, in response to the demand for cost savings, issued 193 billion coupons in that period, an increase of 7 percent, according to CMS Inc., a coupon processor in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Food companies and the coupon processors said, however, that for the full year the percentage of coupons redeemed would probably be about 7.7 percent, the same rate as last year. The redemption rate may even fall for the year, they said, if food companies end the year with a flurry of coupons.
CMS said that in 1991 “the recession seemed to jump-start consumer response to couponing,” with the redemption rate increasing by 5 percent over 1990.
“There is a strong link between consumer confidence and coupon usage,” said Jane Perrin, senior vice president of marketing for NCH. “Since the end of 1990, we’ve seen a growth in coupon usage among consumers because of the economic situation.”
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