Taste Of Technology

Last night I had a wonderful time sharing how the Internet greatly impacts spending coupons. I thought that many of my readers may also enjoy reading the information that I collected and spoke about yesterday... enjoy!

Learn all of the Sharpen Your Scissor’s secrets to spending less and saving more through the use of coupons. It is once again in vogue to spend coupons instead of cash or credit. Tough economic times call for tightening up on loose spending habits.

Coupons have been clipped for decades. Savvy marketing for coupons has long since infiltrated the newspaper, magazines, store shelf displays, home mailers and now, the Internet.

Each year nearly $400 BILLION in coupons are made available to consumers, yet less than 1% of coupons are ever redeemed. With the introduction of print-at-home Internet coupons, coupons are once again being spent by the fistful.

Consumers who earn $75,000/year or more are the leaders in coupon redemption. Ironically, those with an average yearly income of $25,000/year or less, are the least likely to spend coupons.

With technology improving and continuing in its innovation, a coupon’s “spendabilty” also continues to morph. Print-at-home Internet coupons are being spent, which has increased the overall number of coupons being spent simply by manufacturers directly marketing to their target audience. Many US consumers daily surf the web, often viewing little advertisements promising savings by spending coupons.

Also gaining in popularity with tech-savvy consumers is the loading of coupons onto a store reward card, such as a Kroger Savings Club card, even college savings credits can be deposited electronically to a U-Promise account. Currently, IPhone and Blackberry applications are also in development.

With the rise in new information come those who teach its use. “Shopping blogs” have cropped up all over the web to teach less informed consumers the wave of the digital coupon future.

Many bloggers will compile a list of store sales with “in-print” and “printable” coupons that correspond with sale priced items. This technique allows consumers to receive the lowest price possible when purchasing these items.

Different blogs offer an array of ‘advice:’

“Coupon match- up” blogs, such as macombmoneysavers.com, offer every single deal available for the lowest possible price. Locally (Metro Detroit Area), Jolyn, the blog author, matches coupons to the deals for the areas largest grocery chains.

Educational blogs, like sharpenyourscissors.net, educates consumers on best practices of coupon spending and informs consumers of how coupons really work.

Also available in ’digital print’ are sites that host a myriad of Internet printable coupons such as coupons.com and redplum.com. The runners up for non-paper coupons include shortcuts.com and cellfire.com. Each allowthe depositing of digital coupons directly onto a savings club card. You have to love invisible savings!

The only downside to the rise in technology driven coupon spending is the risk manufacturers take in hosting printable savings live on the web. Unfortunately there are those who will always seek out ways to corrupt coupon spending, digitally or not. Good thing that technology continues to improve itself!

Information written by Laura Webber of sharpenyourscissors.net