Online Coupon Growth And Recessions

If you put any well known brand name of a consumer good into a free keyword tool such as WordTracker, you’ll generally find the word “coupon” among the top keyword search terms associated with that brand.

Especially during times of recessions, downturns, and economic stagnation, consumers tend to look for good value and deals. What’s different about this latest downturn in the economy, is that many are turning online to find them.

This behavior is leading to growth in online printable coupon sites such as RetailMeNot or Coupons.com. Viewed as a group, you can see the recent share growth in these type of sites in this graph from Heather Dougherty at Hitwise Intelligence:

During recessions, making sure that brands are providing a good value at shelf has always been a critical task for marketers when consumers are watching their dollars and cents.

What is new is that consumers are increasingly looking online as they look for good values in the brands they buy when budgets are tight.