Paperless Coupons–Saving Money, Saving Trees

Happy Arbor Day! Let’s celebrate with a look at trends in paperless coupons.

While paper coupons still dominate the landscape, digital coupon penetration has increased every year since 2012 while paper coupon penetration has slightly decreased according to a recent report from Valassis. And as the user experience at checkout improves, adoption is expected to continue to increase.

Here are some money and tree-saving techniques savvy shoppers have at their disposal:

REDEEMABLE AT CHECKOUT: These apps include deals for a wide array of retailers and brands. Shoppers find deals and scan their phones at checkout to redeem.

RetailMeNot: Users browse coupons and deals through the app, and sort and save the ones they want

SnipSnap: Has a collection of mobile deals and coupons like RetailMeNot, and can also convert printed coupons into mobile-ready ones.

REBATE-DRIVEN: these apps allow shoppers to browse and use discounts on a broad collection of brands that get redeemed as cash or gift cards rather than instant savings.

Ibotta: Users complete tasks (like sharing on Facebook, taking a poll, or watching a video) to unlock deals. Once the purchase is verified, cash is put into a PayPal account or turned into gift cards.

Saving Star: Users link offers to their individual store loyalty cards. When users reach $5 in savings they can redeem for cash.

POINTS-DRIVEN: shoppers earn points for shopping and buying. Points can be redeemed for gift cards.

Shopkick: Users are able to earn “kicks” by making purchases, inviting friends to join, and even by just walking into the stores.

Swagbucks: Users earn points by shopping online, watching videos and answering surveys.

RETAILER-DRIVEN – these apps provide discounts on various brands and categories at a singular retailer.

Target Cartwheel: Users select the offers they want and scan the app at checkout.

CVS ExtraCare: Users select the offers they want and redeem them with their ExtraCare card

Photo Source: business2community.com