Printed coupons may soon become a relic of the past.
New stats suggest American adults using digital coupons will grow 7.6 percent in 2015 to 121.3 million. But mobile will experience a boom of 18.4 percent, or about 97.4 million people. The figure takes in coupon consumers redeeming on either a smartphone or via tablet.
While 66.4 million people will redeem coupons on tablets, 83.1 million will use their smartphones. Smartphone couponing is growing much more rapidly than the tablet rate.
Companies who offer coupons are getting a clue about mobile. According to eMarketer data, more than two in five of them will employ mobile coupons for marketing.
“That’s up 4 percentage points from 2014 and will continue to rise throughout our forecast period,” noted eMarketer. “By 2017, nearly half of U.S. companies with 100 employees or more will distribute mobile coupons, whether that’s via mobile websites, apps, email, or SMS.”
No more coupons mistakenly left on the kitchen counter, either. Not only are mobile coupons cheaper than paper coupons, they are redeemed more frequently — probably because they aren’t left behind.