“Dear Jill,
I am sick and tired of limits on coupons. First, they were unlimited. Then, some went to limit four per person. Then, they got even more restrictive as to how many you can use per day and are even limiting how many people in your house can use those coupons per day!
If brands print coupons and put them all over the place (newspaper, apps, websites), why don’t they want people to easily use them?”
Lisa U.
In last week’s column, I tackled the issue of a shopper who signed up for multiple store loyalty cards in order to take advantage of one-per-card free item offers.
Some shoppers are simply not content to enjoy a single discount and want to receive multiples. Others feel they are entitled to as many discounts as they can possibly procure.
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It’s important to keep in mind that no one owes us coupons. No brand is forced to issue coupons or discounts to its shoppers.
Coupons are promotional tools designed to push shoppers into choosing one product over another. The discount we as shoppers receive on the item is an incentive to purchase the item at a lower price.
Once we’ve purchased the product, the brand hopes we like it enough to continue purchasing it on a regular basis.
I receive a lot of email from shoppers who believe brands issue coupons to help low-income shoppers.
It’s true that these kinds of discounts help shoppers of all income levels, but the largest users of coupons likely aren’t who you’d suspect.
According to a Mainstreet.com study, households earning more than $150,000 are twice as likely to use coupons than lower income brackets.
Coupons are not aimed at any single demographic, so let’s eliminate the idea that they are a sort of goodwill gift from brands to us.
Again, they are an incentive designed to reduce the price of a product to a low enough price point that we take the plunge and purchase.
So, if brands want their coupons used, why don’t they want all of their coupons used?
Consider this: A brand would rather 10,000 individual people use a single coupon to buy a single bottle of laundry detergent instead of 1,000 people each using ten coupons to buy ten bottles.
Why? The former scenario places their product in the homes of 10,000 people, while the latter places multiple bottles in fewer households – and the brand paid the same dollar amount out for each of these promotions.
The scenario in which 10,000 coupons are redeemed by 10,000 different households is what the brands are investing in when they create a coupon promotion. Reaching the largest number of people is the most effective spend of their promotional dollars.
When you use a coupon, you’re effectively entering into a contract with the manufacturer and the store.
You agree to abide by the terms of the coupon to receive a discount. In turn, the manufacturer agrees to reimburse the store for the dollar value on the coupon if they accept the coupon from a shopper.
If you do not like the terms of the offer, you don’t need to use that coupon – it’s very simple.
I’ve long advocated for getting multiple newspapers in order to legitimately acquire multiple coupons.
I subscribe to four copies of the newspaper, because it helps me stock up on a reasonable number of items for my family while abiding by most coupon limits. (Several stores in my area limit shoppers to four identical coupons per transaction.) I abide by my stores’ coupon limits as well as any limits printed on the coupon.
While you may not be a fan of some of the limits manufacturers and stores have placed on their coupons, remember they’re within their rights to do so.
They’re also within their rights to lower coupon values, or completely withdraw from issuing coupon promotions.
The best way to encourage brands and retailers to continue offering coupons is to simply use them properly.
