Internet coupon site RetailMeNot was up 57% from a year ago on Cyber Monday. CouponCabin was up 65% from last year. BradsDeals.com reported their traffic had increased by 174%, receiving nearly 16,000 visitors an hour!


New entrant into the coupon arena, Groupon.com , where local merchants offer coupons that are realized when enough people go on line to redeem them has saved its users $39,497,624 through using 910,776 "Groupons."
The stereotyped coupon-cutters; mostly women prepping for their trip to the grocery store. Gone! And the stereotyped process: someone sitting at a kitchen table with the "circular" in one hand, and one of those humongous kitchen sheers cutting along the dotted lines. Gone! Gone too, is the taboo of looking for a good deal.
This USA Today article states that one-third of all internet shoppers in October used a coupon. This article suggests that a coupon strategy must now be a staple of merchants or they are at a "clear disadvantage" according to Loren Bendele, CEO of Savings.com.
It's an interesting idea. I personally love the hunt of the coupon. But the question is this, if a "percent off" going forward is almost always available via the searchable coupon, what does that say to the consumer about the published pricing? Is everyday one of those fictional "white sales" where you get a sense that prices are falsely inflated so they can be periodically deflated for the great white sale deal?
Clearly shoppers need a break this holiday season. Let's hope merchants are really giving them one. We all need a little "Miracle on 34th Street" goodness this season, where the merchant's belief that doing the right thing for their customer is in the best interest of the business.
A very sobering line in that USA Today article I reference above is that living through these economic times has behavior-modified all of us as consumers in one manner or another. Our coupon hunting and cost cutting habits we are developing now could stay with us for the long-haul...just like those folks who lived through the depression. It will be interesting to see how merchants continue to adjust and modify their pricing and coupon support, even after this holiday season is over. My two cents: it will separate those who care with those who opportunistically cut because this 'tis the season.
What do you think?