"Have you got your coupon?" asked the lady at the till. "Certainly not" replied my mother loudly in case anyone she knew was in earshot.

 

Then having done a visual sweep to ensure no lurking next door neighbours, she'd reach into her purse and thrust the dog-eared pieces of paper, she'd fastidiously cut out from the free-paper the week before, at the checkout lady.

 

What a difference a few years make. The common coupon has had something of a renaissance, becoming a fashion accessory for today's money-conscious consumer. The voucher is most definitely the new black. Backing up this assertion is recent Moneysupermarket.com research entitled "Voucher Britain", which reveals that in the UK 1,500 vouchers are redeemed every minute, saving consumers £2.7 billion over the last year.

 

Consumers, in the main, are keen to show their penny-pinching credentials, explicitly demonstrating to their peers how strapped for cash they are and parading their bargains around like 80's women grew their shoulder pads. And this applies to all ages and social demographics. It's not particular to any one group.

 

The advent of digital has been extremely kind to the coupon cause, and with the emergence of fully traceable mobile vouchers (sent via SMS and redeemed through point of sale environments - www.eagleeyesolution.co.za) the coupon industry is in the throes of a revolution. The impersonal nature of online shopping means that it is easier to be a "cheap-skate" when not being scrutinised by another human being and the trend for online discount codes has meant that wider segments of people are becoming used to getting discounts and it grows into a kind of addiction. Customers stock up when there is an offer and then wait for the next offer in the same category to stock up again.

 

Additionally, the rise of voucher aggregators such as Moneysupermarket.com or myvouchercodes.com has made vouchers more acceptable, at least four people from my office will forward round the latest offers. Consumers are clearly responding well to vouchers and these brands that are giving them something back. Great news for the brand as it looks like both sides are benefitting.

 

However my only argument is that when I am shopping online and see a discount code box, this triggers a synapse in my brain telling me that this means there is a discount to be had somewhere. It sets a challenge and I will invest a good 10 minutes in Google trying to find it. I feel robbed if it isn't forthcoming - and on one occasion have actually terminated my purchase, closing the browser mid way through the process in order to buy the item elsewhere, where there wasn't a discount code box. So if it is about giving the customer something back don't make them work too hard for it!

 

By Julian Reiter