Coupon Queen: It’s becoming a smartphone world, but what if you don’t have one?

Also, of significance, I do not have a cellphone. Yes, you read that correctly.

So, you can imagine my dismay when I went to the cashier to check out, and the cashier rang up an item for full price when I specifically bought the item with the idea in mind that the item was priced at 15 percent off.

That’s what the store’s sign appeared to me to say. When I questioned the cashier, she said that the sale price was only effective if I used my cell phone to scan the item.

I explained to her that I did not have a cell phone.

She looked at me as if she had encountered someone from the Stone Age!

After she composed herself, she said it was just store policy. I paid the full price, but I was fuming angry.

I feel as though this type of advertising is deceitful and not fair to those of us who, for whatever reason, do not have a cell phone.”

Meredith W.

“Dear Jill,

Why do so many stores have online coupons that require you to use your smartphone now?

I have a cell phone but have no intention of signing up for a data plan. I view that as having to pay for coupons.

I do not know why stores are focusing on what I believe must be a small percentage of shoppers with smartphones versus making discounts available to every one of their shoppers.”

Ernie C.

I don’t believe stores are intentionally restricting discounts to smartphone users.

On the contrary, the number of people with smartphones has reached a majority, and advertisers are opting to reach people where many of them are at these days: Right in the palms of their hands.

According to Zenith Media, smartphone saturation is near 70 percent in North America.

Nearly 7 in 10 people have a smartphone, and this number continues to grow. In parts of Europe and Asia, smartphone ownership exceeds 90 percent of the population!

Along with that, mobile devices such as smartphones are now the primary way people access the internet. At least 73 percent of all time spent on the internet is via smartphones.

Additionally, Zenith Media estimates that 59 percent of all advertising will be directed to mobile devices in 2018.

Consider the many forms of advertising currently available to realize how monumental this is – mobile is receiving more dollars than television, radio, print, in-store signage and even traditional web banner ads aimed at desktop computers.

With so many eyes on mobile devices, it’s easier to understand why marketers are focusing on capturing the interest of smartphone-enabled shoppers.

As I’m someone who wants to take advantage of all coupon offers available to me, I do use stores’ smartphone apps to load electronic coupons in store, as well as using many traditional paper coupons.

If you’re without a smartphone, it’s understandable that you may feel like there’s a party going on of which you’re not a part.

However, depending on your store, you may still be able to take advantage of some of these offers.

Quite a few retailers offer the same coupon discounts within the stores’ own websites, allowing you to load and redeem these offers without a smartphone.

If you have a smartphone without a data plan, you may be able to load and use these offers by connecting to a free Wi-Fi connection in store, as many retailers offer free Wi-Fi while shopping.

Additionally, if you don’t want to jump into the smartphone world, you could also consider getting a tablet.

These handheld computers aren’t terribly larger than phones, and they can run many of the same coupon and store apps that a smartphone can.

Tablets use Wi-Fi to connect to the internet, and they can be a cost-effective way of wading into the world of apps without being saddled with a monthly access fee.