A recent article from www.mysanantonio.com explains how printable coupons are being used to drive considerably more sales by discount savvy shoppers.

The study done by GfK knowledge Networks shows that shoppers with coupons spend more, on average, than those without. Millions of dollars worth of coupons online are printed out and then taken into various grocery stores where they are redeemed for some major savings. The research also shows that people with coupons not only spend more, but they also shop more frequently.

The preceding sentences pretty much sum up the majority of the article. What was not elaborated on was the effect that printable coupons have on the use of instant coupons online. Many people will start to realize that they would much prefer to get an instant coupon on the things that they can easily have shipped to their door.

Of course, most people will still prefer to go to the grocery store for the food that they need, even though some people enjoy home delivery for their food. On the other hand, savvy consumers are starting to realize the enormous convenience of shopping at home for many non-food items. This makes even more sense concerning items that have been purchased many times in the past. If you already know exactly what you like to buy, you can order it online without needing to try it on, touch it, taste it, etc.

While there will always be good demand for printable coupons, getting discount coupons online has been, and will continue to be a quickly growing discount area. It just makes too much sense. It is also fairly easy to argue the point that printable coupons will encourage the use of online coupons. These printable discounts will make it easier for less technologically savvy shoppers to make the eventual transition to using online coupons.

It is easy to imagine the hesitation many people might still have using a coupon online. After all, the Internet is still a relatively new medium. This seems especially true if you are middle-aged or older. Some people will always prefer the traditional way of saving money using discounts. However, the fact that people are choosing to find their coupons online instead of the Sunday Paper, shows a trend towards increasing Internet use in general.

So if you do not currently use printable discount coupons, maybe it is time that you considered doing so. You will not only save a good deal of money at the grocery store, but you might also find yourself saving quite a bit online by using the instant coupons that you can find there as well.

Most of us only view coupons as a tool to save money. As it turns out, some consumers are actually spending money on coupons themselves.

According to a recent article from www.appeal-democrat.com, not so savvy consumers are experiencing the downsides to the idea of buying coupons online. There are two major issues here; many coupons become void if they are sold and the second one is that this creates a counterfeit situation. Apparently, many crooks are showcasing printed coupons clipped from newspapers for sale on their websites.

Although organizations like the Coupon Information Corporation helps to monitor and report this type of fraud, there’s not much to prevent scam artists from getting away with it right now. Concerned shoppers can visit their site at couponinformationcenter.com.

It would obviously not be a great thing to end up being suckered into buying one of these counterfeit coupons and losing the money you spent. However, it could get even worse for this particular coupon victim. If he or she were to then try to use the fraudulent coupon, that person could potentially be charged with a crime.

Ultimately it is up to consumers to educate themselves into this somewhat hidden coupon danger. The main reason for this is that large companies that offer coupons will make sure that the terms and conditions of their services prevent them from being liable in this case. In 2011, a woman filed a claim against Ebay and Paypal concerning some counterfeit coupons that she had purchased. She lost the case because of legal clauses that each company had in place.

It is a little surprising that anyone would buy these traditional coupons online. Nowadays people buy Groupons or a coupon from one of their competitors. I can see how this form of couponing can make sense for so many people. It’s like getting your discount coupon and your product or service all at the same time. Don’t get me wrong, Mr. Komodo does not endorse this kind of savings, because it actually is not a form of discount at all. He is just drawing a parallel between these new social coupon companies and the subject matter of this article.

It really is a wonder why anyone would want to buy these coupons when you can find plenty of places where you can find free coupons online.

Hopefully this article has been brought to your attention before you considered making this bad decision. After all, we all like to save money, just as long it is done in a safe and legal way.

In a recent article from the Orlando Sentinel, some major stores and brands are looking to cut down on their discount coupons and various promotions.

Coupon use began to skyrocket shortly after 2008 as companies needed to find ways to keep people shopping. These last few years of heavy coupon promotions and discount offerings have taken its toll on some brands. Many businesses are finding it increasingly difficult to manage their many promotions as well as remain profitable considering some of the extreme discounts that have been offered.

If you would like to find out exactly how a few major brands are changing their coupon policies, you can check out the Orlando Sentinel article. Instead, what will be discussed here are some of their major changes and some potential effects.

Companies are either vastly reducing the coupon savings offered, or even getting rid of coupons altogether. The latter is, of course, highly risky. Let’s touch on that one first. Getting rid of all published coupons? Now that’s a gutsy move. All of a company’s customers that only consider shopping with you because of the coupons that they can use will now be looking elsewhere. This is definitely a test of how strong their brand really is. It is possible that the CEO of such a company is willing to take this risk because he or she knows that they can always reinstate their discount promotions in case too much business is lost. It does not matter if you lower all of your prices instead of offering coupons. Too many people love the idea of getting an extra discount. We’ll see if this pans out for them. Mr. Komodo wishes them luck. They’ll need it.

A much wiser decision would be to gradually roll back the coupon discounts and promotions that are currently offered. In this way, customers can slowly be weaned off of the high discounts that they are used to receiving. This will be much less of a shock. Businesses can promote lower general prices in addition to less coupon offerings to ease this loss of promotional discounts.

In a way, all of this is more good news to those companies that can still effectively offer coupons online. As more brick and mortar stores roll back their discount promotions, more people will be looking for deals on the Internet. Companies that sell both online and off can still utilize this newer medium to remain very coupon savvy. It can definitely be considered a win-win. Stores that mainly rely on in-store purchases must find a way to make it even more appealing for their customers to shop from home. This trend is definitely not going away. The sooner businesses can adapt to this digital future, the more customers they can keep. They can still offer all of those great coupon deals that we all love so much.

A recent article from hometownannapolis.com describes the many issues that surround printable coupons. It turns out that this form of coupon is not that convenient.

A common issue arises when printable coupons become…unprintable. There is an obvious misuse of technology present when a potential coupon user finds an advertisement for a coupon that is no longer available. It should go without saying that if a coupon is visible online, it should be available. Apparently, the online coupon industry is still new enough for major problems like this one to arise.

I suppose that when a potential consumer gets an “out of print” message when they try to print coupons online, it is similar to finding a coupon that has expired. You could call both situations a coupon tease. This can easily leave a bad taste in the mouth of either a loyal consumer or someone who was about to give a new company a chance. Businesses should obviously be doing everything they can to avoid these situations and make the use of their coupons easier and less of a hassle. They need to remember that everyone would like to save money, but only if it is convenient enough.

As more consumers feel comfortable shopping from home, the use of printable coupons will eventually decline. Why go through the hassle of printing out a coupon from home and then making the commute to the store to make a purchase? There are plenty of products and services that can be purchased online where discount coupons have instantly been applied. By the time a customer has arrived at the checkout screen, he or she will see their savings displayed.

Printable coupons will most likely never go away because some companies will always do a majority or all of their transactions offline. However, the companies that have the ability to drastically improve their online sales should go out of their way to make instant savings online possible. Convenience will always be a big part of adding value for a customer. Even if a company offers plenty of coupons and discounts on their products, their customers will still expect more. They will expect to be able to take advantage of these savings in the most convenient and simple way possible.

So the next time you are looking to save on something you have found online, consider avoiding that printable coupon. If you can find an instantly applied discount coupon, you will have not only saved money. You will also have saved paper, time, and gasoline.

Canada is no exception to the way that the Internet is changing the world of coupons and coupon use.

Due to a significant transition away from traditional media to digital means, the way that money is being saved has drastically changed. Canadians have embraced this idea with some pretty considerable numbers. According to a Canadian website, yorkregion.com, “Almost half of grocery shoppers surveyed in Canada will delay making a purchase until the item goes on sale”. This statistic represents some serious savings intentions.

There are some notable differences between American coupon use and their Canadian counterparts, however. According to the article, Canadians are more often to save a larger amount per coupon. On the other hand, it seems to be much easier to take advantage of discount coupons in the States as the use of coupons are much more ingrained in our automatic payment systems. In Canada, there are frequent instances where a given coupon must be manually checked for a valid date and if it actually can be applied towards the purchase. Often times coupons cannot be stacked or combined either.

While tradition coupon use is growing as well, Canadians are certainly taking advantage of discounts and deals that are available on many coupon websites and social sites like Facebook. As widely available and easy to find as coupons have become, the Yorkregion.com article mentioned an important rule to keep in mind; do not use a coupon just for the ability to save money. The purchase should be one that you would have made even before the idea of looking for a coupon came to mind. Mr. Komodo strongly agrees with this idea as well. In fact, he has mentioned it before on his coupon website.

Although Canada’s coupon industry has not quite caught up to speed with America’s as far as ease of use is concerned, this has not stopped them from becoming voracious coupon users. One could easily make the argument that they are more coupon savvy than their American counterparts. Again, the Internet certainly has much to do with the increasingly widespread use of coupons. It is definitely a win-win as consumers can save and companies are generating more business.

In a recent article from abc4.com, consumers are finding it much easier to save a good deal of money in this new digital age.

With the plethora of websites and apps available on mobile devices that offer coupons and coupon codes, saving thousands is more possible now than ever. The article interviewed frugal mom, Nicole White. She had this to say about the way she views discount coupons – “When you have a budget you kind of want to save every penny you have”.

This attitude has caught on in a big way due to technological advances. Coupon use can be considered much more practical now that going through the Sunday paper is not mandatory to find savings. Many people already have their favorite coupon websites and blogs that they utilize to save on the things that they like to buy.

People are starting to realize that they are finding many more ways to get instant savings. This really makes the process so much easier. Sunday paper coupon clipping isn’t going away yet, however. Many retailers realize that a large number of people still prefer to clip their coupons and bring them into their favorite stores.

Unfortunately, some people think that finding and using coupons is just not worth their time. This attitude would probably change once it is realized that you can actually achieve $15/hour or more in savings by looking for and using coupons. The bottom line is that people who always go out of their way to utilize coupons can save thousands of dollars in the course of a single year of shopping.

This is obviously something that is difficult to ignore once it is fully realized. Of course, there are plenty of people that do not need convincing about the benefits of coupon savings considering the current state of the economy. The fact is that now is a great time to be frugal, whether you need to or not.

So whether you are planning on going to your favorite store, or checking out their website, make sure you spend some time looking for a coupon. You might be surprised to see how much you can save, and it will be worth your time.

Mr. Komodo recently stumbled across a good coupon related article from the St. Louis, MO division of The Better Business Bureau.

The BBB has always been a trusted source for good consumer advice, and info about coupons online and coupons in general. The article detailed some basic advice that all consumers should follow before using any kind of coupon.

First of all, we should look at some numbers to see why this advice is most needed. More than 330 billion coupons were supposedly issued in 2010. The total value of all of these coupons were more than a billion dollars. Coupon industry analysis shows that this trend should have increased through 2011 and will even more in 2012.

The point of showing these numbers is to exemplify how important it is for the average consumer to be aware of proper coupon habits. The fact is that a coupon might sound like a completely positive idea, but this does not have to be the case at all.

The President and CEO of the BBB, Michelle L. Corey, said it best – “There’s no reason to buy products simply because you can save money on them“. Mr. Komodo has been saying this for years. This is exactly why he dislikes all of those daily deal sites out there. The bottom line is this – spending is not saving. It is amazing how this simple idea can be lost on so many people.

Now, don’t get me wrong, there is nothing inherently wrong with taking advantage of some free coupons online. However, they should be used on products and services that you definitely need. This is why CouponKomodo.com strives to only showcase the most popular and trusted merchants online. The products and services offered by them are the most widely used and needed items that you will find.

Although much of the advice from the BBB article discusses coupons that are used in physical store locations, there is one piece of advice that bears repeating. That piece of advice is to only clip coupons on products or services that you already use. It also does mention “want to try”, but you should use caution here. Otherwise, you could end up buying a bunch of stuff that you do not end up using. This is what you need to avoid if you want to become a smart coupon user.