When we think of coupon clippers, we might often think of penny-pinching folks who left their “youth” a while back.. say those over the age of 35, like me. That’s not the case according to a recent survey.

A survey report by Platform-A and Information Resources, Inc. states that over 78% of retail shoppers in the USA currently use newspaper coupons.

Out of those, nearly a quarter are likely to be at least 65 years old.

The survey also found 40% of shoppers would be very likely to use coupons accessed online. However, in the younger market, the 18 – 24 year old shoppers, 51% indicated that they would be very likely to use coupons presented to them online; even though clipping coupons from the newspaper really hasn’t been their thing.

Coupons are something I harp on about a lot and that’s because they aren’t being used anywhere near as effectively or as widely as they should be. Forget across the board discount offers on your site, try a coupon offer instead – advertise it on every page; use a tasteful popup or hover ad.

Why? Think lead gathering. People *will* give you an email address in exchange for a discount, even if they have no intention of buying straight away. It’s just the hunter/gatherer within us and it has a gift-ish feel.

Visitors come and go, but when you have an email address, you can then follow up on those people who haven’t purchased – even automate the process with email marketing software.

People also pass coupon codes around and post them online – they have a viral nature. Try it, it works. Most good shopping cart software should have a coupon feature, or you may find there’s a module available for the software/service you use.

Pick up some coupon marketing tips.