Text And E-Mail Trail Traditional Media For Couponing

When it comes to coupon distribution, the Sunday paper reigns supreme. But the up-and-comer text and e-mail channels are making inroads, according to Scarborough Research.

What may come as a surprise is that while the Sunday newspaper are the dominant dissemination mechanism, only 51% of households indicated they received coupons through it. In-store coupons were the next-highest channel, with just over one-third of household citing them. These were followed by the mail (31%).

Twenty-one percent have gained coupons through loyalty programs or customer cards, while 20% use in-store circulars. Seventeen percent rely on weekly newspapers, 16% get coupons from product packages and 15% tear coupons out of magazines.

And text messages or e-mail? Eight percent of households said this was how they obtain coupons, just ahead of the 7% that get them from Internet sites.

Scarborough did not indicate how this compared with previous years