UK supermarket price war pushing coupon use

Price match initiatives currently employed by many grocery retailers have led to an increased use of money-off coupons in UK supermarkets.

The Grocer reports that the most recent figures from Valassis, which handles more than 85% of coupons in the FMCG industry, indicate that British consumers redeemed 688m coupons totaling £1.7bn in savings last year, an increase from 604m redeemed in 2013.

Retailer-issued coupon redemptions have more than doubled in the four years since they were introduced to the market, from 229m in 2011 to 564m in 2014.

The number of UK consumers using money-off coupons is expected to increase, as more and more people turn to coupons to tackle the rising costs of food and living and have made saving money a priority.

Consumers are actively seeking out discounts, deals, and loyalty programs to get the best value for their money, which means that retailers must intensify their marketing efforts.

Tesco has recently started testing mobile couponing by sending coupons to consumers’ smartphones as they walk past the stores and we can expect to see more similar initiatives in the near future as consumers’ appetite for redeeming money-off coupons increases.