ShareThisDesigner boots, Texas barbecue, Droid phones, diet plans: you name it, you can likely find an online discount coupon for your purchase.
Whether printed off the computer and carried into a store or used while shopping online, the use of Internet coupons is soaring.
Want $30 off at Banana Republic or free shipping on Levi's jeans? You got it. Looking for 10 percent off your next Verizon cell phone purchase? It's yours. Want to spend $10 for a $25 coupon to a favorite local Thai restaurant? You can do it.
And finding online coupons couldn't be easier for consumers. Lots of websites -- with names like CouponCabin.com, CouponWinner.com, RetailMeNot.com, Savings.com -- gather and sort them into dozens of categories for easy keyboard perusing. Coupled with promotional discount codes or manufacturer's coupons, they can be a bargain shopper's paradise.
And while traditional coupons still land daily in mailboxes and newspapers, their online cousins are having a growth spurt during the recession.
The total redeemed value of online coupons is expected to almost triple, reaching $22 billion in 2014, according to Borrell Associates, a Williamsburg, Va.-based research and consulting firm.
Recently, we sat down to talk online couponing with Andrea Woroch, a spokeswoman for SurfMyAds.com, a Santa Barbara, Calif.,-based company that owns CouponWinner.com and a handful of other coupon sites here and in Canada, England and Germany.
Q: Coupon clipping was once considered frumpy but has really fired up during the economy's slump. What's fueled the growth?
A: It's definitely cool to be frugal. When the economy was going down, the online coupon market started booming. People are talking about how much they've saved, rather than how much they spent.
Q: Once the economy recovers, will coupon consumption die down?
A: No, it'll continue trending this way. You'll see more frugality in the future ... People who weren't saving or weren't bargain shoppers before are seeing the benefits: It's not hard, it's not time-consuming and there are rewards.
Q: Bargains aren't always what they seem, if there are too many terms and restrictions. How do consumers know they're getting a good deal?
A: You always want to read the fine print to see if there are any fees, expiration dates or restrictions from the retailer. Like jewelry or mattresses might be excluded on a Macy's coupon or a Dell computer coupon offer might apply only to certain PCs ... At sites like Restaurant.com, you have to spend a minimum of $35 and they add an 18 percent gratuity on the $25 value (not the discounted coupon price), so their servers aren't suffering on the deal.
Q: What are some of your couponing tips?
A: Don't stay married to a store brand. Going off-brand can result in savings. Do "stack" codes to maximize savings: use a 25 percent-off coupon in addition to a free shipping code. Target, Sears and Dell are among major retailers that let you use more than one offer on the same purchase. If you're seeing an amazing offer, jot it down and note the expiration date on your calendar so you don't make an impulse purchase. Search to see if there is really something you want to buy. Give yourself time to consider all the options to get the best deal.
Q: What's changed attitudes about couponing?
A: More retailers are offering them and coupon sites and consumer awareness have really grown. (Saving money) helps makes consumers feel good about shopping. Brand loyalty is out the door ... you go to whomever offers the best deal.
In its current issue, Consumer Reports magazine offers these tips from coupon pros at About.com and GeorgineSaves.com:
-- Get organized
Store coupons in color-coded envelopes, a portable file with dividers, a tabbed binder or a photo album.
-- Collect a lot
Nab every coupon you might use. Look in the usual spots -- the Sunday paper, mailed coupon packs -- but also check manufacturers' websites and online sites like Coupons.com, CoolSavings.com and GrocerySmarts.com.
-- Stack coupons
Stacking, a top strategy of coupon enthusiasts, means redeeming at least two coupons -- one from the manufacturer and one from the store -- on a single purchase. The trick is to hold onto a manufacturer's coupon until your store offers coupons for the same product.
-- Be Web-smart
Set up a separate e-mail account for couponing. Because you have to register at most sites before you can print coupons, you'll be bombarded with spam. Be selective about which coupons you print, or you'll spend too much on ink and paper. Because manufacturers can discontinue online coupons at any time, print them close to when you intend to use them.
Search your faves
Use Facebook or Twitter to sign up with a favorite brand and receive their coupons and offers not available elsewhere. Or do an Internet search for brand name and "coupons" or "discount coupons." When you find a good deal on a favorite item, stock up.
And, while shopping the aisles of your favorite grocery or drugstore, look for:
-- Blinkies, those small red boxes with blinking lights; or "pop-up boxes," which lack lights.
-- Tear pads, often near battery kiosks or on freezer doors.
-- Peelies, stuck on the product, which you peel off and hand to a clerk. (Also found on newspaper front pages.)
-- Catalina coupons (created by Catalina Marketing), which print out with your receipt. Some "Cats" offer $5 or $10 off your next purchase.
(E-mail columnist Claudia Buck at cbuck(at)sacbee.com.
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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