Ten Tips From the Man Who Lives Without Money
October 18, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
Six months ago Josh Stevens found himself being led through the streets of Chicago in a horse-drawn carriage, wearing nothing but a suit made of paper. An accountant by trade, Stevens had just pledged that he wouldn’t touch money–be it cash, credit, check or wampum–for a whole year. His only currency would be an unlimited supply of Groupon coupons; one had been used to supply his transportation, a couple more were ready to be redeemed for real clothing and a few dozen more had been used to assemble his papery outfit.
“I don’t think there’s anything harder than putting on a pair of paper pants without ripping them,” explains Stevens. “It was quite warm in the paper suit. And I couldn’t even move my arm. I’m just glad it wasn’t raining.”
Where to Look for Coupons
October 18, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
Traditionally, the Sunday paper has been the most popular place to find coupons, but that momentum is changing. RedPlum, SmartSource, General Mills, and Proctor and Gamble typically produce the paper’s weekly inserts, but you don’t have to buy a paper to get them. These inserts can be found online and offer exactly what comes in the paper, all you have to do is go their websites, click on the coupons you want and print them out.
This week at Food Lion, when you buy one box of Raisin Bran at $3.54, you’ll get one free. Print two 75 cents off coupons from couponmom.com and you’ll pay 27 cents for 2 boxes of cereal.
Just about every product out there has a website along with a facebook page. They both tend offer exclusive high dollar coupons.
Cellfire Delivers Grocery Coupon Deals on Blaze Mobile
October 14, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
Press Release
SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 13 /PRNewswire/ — Cellfire Inc., the leader in electronic mobile coupon solutions, today announced that Blaze Mobile is offering its users a new way to easily discover coupons and save on their next grocery shopping trip with Cellfire QMobile Coupons. The electronic coupon syndication platform is now available for the Blaze Mobile Wallet 2.0 iPhone™ application and enables consumers access to Cellfire’s network of more than 30 grocery chains across 5,000 stores nationwide and to hundreds of dollars in grocery savings a year.
“In today’s environment, savvy mobile customers are looking for efficient applications to increase productivity while on-the-go,” said Michelle Fisher, CEO of Blaze Mobile. “With the addition of Cellfire’s QMobile Coupons, Blaze Mobile Wallet users have instant access to a complete personal finance, payment and rewards solution for their mobile needs – saving them valuable time and money.”
QMobile Coupons is the only mobile application couponing solution that securely links a consumer packaged goods (CPG) sponsored manufacturer coupon to a consumer’s grocery savings card for a convenient, safe and paperless redemption experience at the grocery store. The solution uses HTML5, Webkit and CSS technologies to enable mobile application partners to monetize its mobile properties through UI insertion of mobile coupons. Consumers never have to leave the mobile partner’s application to access Cellfire coupons. QMobile Coupons can be initiated from a partner’s application through a search query, a banner ad insertion, an ingredient or product placement within a shopping list, the scan of UPC or 2D barcode, or a number of other consumer call-to-action techniques.
“We are pleased to partner with Blaze Mobile to offer consumers another channel for receiving grocery coupons,” said Paul Stanley, Vice President of Product Management for Cellfire. “Blaze Mobile Wallet bridges the gap between rewards and contactless purchases and now, mobile coupons all in a single application.”
Blaze Mobile Wallet 2.0 with Cellfire’s QMobile Coupon integration is now available for download from the Apple App Store.
About Cellfire®
Cellfire is the leading provider of electronic and mobile coupon solutions in the U.S. The company provides merchants and brands an interactive, targeted, and secure solution to reach and engage customers anytime, anywhere with the device of choice. Cellfire offers consumers convenient savings from leading brands, grocers, and other retailers across 5,000 stores nationwide. Cellfire users can find coupons through the Web at cellfire.com, or anywhere on-the-go with Cellfire’s award-winning mobile application. Cellfire is a free service, although standard data or usage charges may apply when using the program with a mobile device, depending on the carrier or data plan. Founded in 2005, Cellfire is headquartered in San Jose, Calif. For more information, visit www.cellfire.com.
About Blaze Mobile
Blaze Mobile develops innovative mobile commerce and advertising solutions that enable secure, convenient, cost-effective transactions and promotions from the mobile device. The Blaze Mobile Wallet enables fast and easy “contact-less” purchases – including movie and event tickets – as well as fund transfer, banking, and personal finance management. It can manage bank accounts at more than 8,000 supported financial institutions, view electronic receipts, and quickly and easily create expense reports. Blaze Mobile Wallet also offers valuable location based services such as maps and points of interest, including ATMs, restaurants and more – all in the palm of your hand. Then Blaze Mobile Advertising Network enables companies to target specific mobile advertisements and promotions to their most important customers, delivering unparalleled marketing and branding capabilities. Blaze Mobile applications are available through the Apple iPhone, T-Mobile, AT&T, NTelos, and the Android Market. Founded in 2005, Blaze Mobile is headquartered in Berkeley, CA. For more information, please visit www.blazemobile.com.
SOURCE Cellfire Inc.; Blaze Mobile
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Target Cardholders Receive 5% off Beginning This Weekend
October 14, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
Press Release
MINNEAPOLIS, Oct 14, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Beginning Sunday, October 17, 2010, guests who shop with a Target REDcard will experience even greater value by receiving 5 percent off nearly all purchases made at any Target store or on Target.com everyday. This clear and simple new program extends to all Target REDcard* products, including the Target Credit Card, Target Visa Credit Card and Target Debit Card.
“This innovative, new initiative will provide Target REDcard holders with tremendous value on our exciting merchandise assortment — everything from electronics to fresh food,” said Terry Scully, president, Target Financial Services. “This program makes Target’s low prices even lower, so there’s no need for Target REDcard holders to shop around.”
The simplicity of this new program makes it easy for Target cardholders to stretch their dollar even further with savings on products from entertainment to household cleaners. They can pick up the latest fashions as well as holiday gifts and decor, and receive an additional five percent off Target’s already low prices.
In addition to receiving five percent off nearly all purchases using a REDcard, guests will receive a coupon good for 5 percent off a future day of shopping every time they fill five prescriptions at a Target pharmacy with a Target REDcard.
This new Rewards program will replace the existing Rewards program in which new account holders receive an initial 10-percent-off coupon and existing cardholders earn coupons for 10 percent off a future day of shopping. The existing program ends on October 16 at close of business.
Guests who currently don’t have a Target REDcard can apply for a Target Credit Card or Target Debit Card in any Target store.
About Target
Minneapolis-based Target Corporation /quotes/comstock/13*!tgt/quotes/nls/tgt (TGT 54.16, +0.09, +0.17%) serves guests at 1,752 stores in 49 states nationwide and at Target.com. In addition, the company operates a credit card segment that offers branded proprietary credit card products. Since 1946, Target has given 5 percent of its income through community grants and programs; today, that giving equals more than $3 million a week. For more information about Target’s commitment to corporate responsibility, visit Target.com/hereforgood.
For more information, visit Target.com/Pressroom.
* Upon approval, you will receive 5% off purchases paid for with your REDcard at Target(R) stores and Target.com (Target Debit Card(TM) cannot be used on Target.com), except on prescriptions, Target gift cards and prepaid cards, Target Clinic(R) services, Target Mobile Solutions(SM) and Target Optical(R) eye exams. 5% discount applies to eligible purchases minus any other discounts and the value of any promotional Target gift cards received in the transaction. See program rules at Target.com/redcard for details.
REDcard(R): Existing Target Credit Cards, Target Visa(R) Credit Cards and Target Debit Cards, and new Target Credit Cards and Target Debit Cards. New cards subject to application approval.
(C)2010 Target Stores. The Bullseye Design and Target are registered trademarks of Target Brands, Inc. All rights reserved.
SOURCE: Target Corporation
Target Communications
Jessica Carlson, 612-761-6724
or
Target Media Hotline, 612-696-3400
Coupons.com’s Launches Grocery iQ Web Site
October 14, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
Grocery iQ, the very popular shopping-list mobile app, went “dot com” today with new companion Web site, www.groceryiq.com. With the site, Grocery iQ shopping lists can now be created and managed on the Web as well as with mobile apps for iPhone®, iPad™ and Android™.
Coupons.com Incorporated, the developers of Grocery iQ, introduced the new site today to offer added flexibility to users by letting them interact with Grocery iQ in their preferred way: using a mobile app or using a Web browser — or even both.
And, with the ability to synchronize lists with other users, households can share lists with family and friends across mobile and Web platforms. GroceryiQ.com is free, as are the mobile downloads.
Mobile Coupon App Shooger Sweetens the Search for Money-Saving Deals
July 29, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
Press Release
Coral Gables, FL (PRWEB) July 28, 2010 — Providing deal seekers with more ways to find money-saving offers, Shooger, a mobile coupon platform, announced today that it has launched a new website, http://www.shooger.com, with web-based search functionality for consumers looking for local, national and online deals and coupons.
In addition to finding deals on the free Shooger app, available on iPhone® and Android® smartphones, users can now quickly search online for offers by category, merchant or keyword and sort offers based on location. Also, users can share deals with friends on Facebook and Twitter.
According to the Yankee Group, 73 percent of mobile phone users wish to receive offers on their devices and mobile coupon redemption will increase tenfold in 2010. As interest in deals continues to grow, Shooger helps consumers save money on everyday expenses like restaurant bills, manicures, car washes and more.
“There are more than 100 million monthly Google search queries for deal and coupon-related terms, demonstrating that consumers are hungry for money-saving opportunities,” said Matt Myers, chief marketing officer, Shooger. “After reviewing deals on Shooger.com, consumers can download the Shooger app and have access to all offers at all times. Ninety percent of people carry their phones everywhere they go and simply showing your phone to take advantage of a deal saves time and is highly convenient.”
Shooger automatically recognizes users’ locations when they visit Shooger.com and/or use the app and both experiences present consumers with relevant, nearby deals. Additionally, users can increase or decrease their search radius and enter other locations or zip codes to find deals elsewhere.
Today, Shooger offers users more than 100,000 local and national deals from 50,000 merchants searchable by category including Restaurants & Bars, Home Improvement, Travel, Automotive, Dentists & Doctors and Sports & Recreation.
About Shooger
Shooger, a mobile coupon platform, offers consumers local and national deals via mobile devices, giving merchants a new way to engage customers, increase sales and monitor advertising performance in real-time. Users can access coupons through a free app on their smartphone or via opt-in SMS text messages across all mobile phones. Privately funded, Shooger is led by a team of interactive media entrepreneurs with a track record of success in innovative technology solutions. Shooger is available for download at www.shooger.com.
Growth of Digital Coupons Outpaces That of Printed Newspaper Coupons
July 29, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
Press Release
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–In the wake of recent research indicating coupons distributed via FSI (free standing inserts) in newspapers rose 8.4 percent for the 12-month period ending June 30, 2010 compared to the year before,Coupons.com today issued new data that shows digital coupons grew 100 percent during the same period. The data shows that more than $1 billion in digital coupon savings was printed or loaded to a store loyalty card via Coupons.com and the Coupons.com network in the last 12 months, outpacing the growth of coupons distributed in newspapers 10 to 1.
“Consumers continue to crave savings, and more and more of them are tapping digital coupons as an important part of their savings strategy,” said Steven Boal, CEO of Coupons.com Incorporated. “We expect more brands and more consumers to increasingly adopt digital coupons, and we foresee substantial growth across the entire digital domain—with particular growth within social media and mobile environments.”
Printed Savings Exceeds $1 Billion
Printed savings from Coupons.com and the Coupons.com digital network for the 12 months ending June 2010 exceeded $1 billion. This includes savings printed or loaded to a store loyalty card and represents a 100 percent increase compared to $529 million the year before. In addition, printed savings in the month of June 2010 exceeded $110 million, the highest ever recorded by the company in a single month. Growth is attributed to several key factors, including continued consumer adoption of online printable, save to store loyalty card and mobile coupons and increased use of digital coupons by brand marketers, including manufacturers and retailers alike.
Increased Brand and Consumer Adoption of Digital Coupons
According to research from NCH Marketing Services, the Internet was the fastest growing distribution vehicle for coupons during the first half of 2010,2 indicating increased adoption by brand marketers. In addition, according to the most recently available redemption data from NCH, the Internet coupon category outperformed other types of coupons with regards to share of redemptions to percent of coupons distributed,3 making it the most effective coupon method for marketers.
Representing 20.8 percent of the U.S. population, 46.4 million American consumers are now using online coupons, up from 40.2 million in 2008.4 Of the 46.4 million online coupon users, 12.9 million do not read any part of the Sunday newspaper, an 18 percent increase over 10.9 million in 2008.5
Additionally, indicative of trends in the consumer vernacular, Internet queries for coupons and related terms increased on search engines. Specifically, searches on Google for “Printable Coupons” increased 67 percent over a year ago.6 In addition, coupons are increasingly speaking up in the social media conversation, where consumers are sharing them within their networks and brands are using them to entice and reward Likes and followers. In a report by Razorfish, the number one reason consumers followed a brand on Twitter or Liked a brand on Facebook was access to exclusive deals or offers.7 Coupons.com has helped many leading brands with their social media presence, generating millions of coupon prints and encouraging millions of Likes and other engagement objectives.
Consumer interest in savings is expected to continue in better economic times. Research shows that even if economic conditions improve, 8 out of 10 U.S. adults plan to continue to engage in couponing activities.8
To support current and continued growth of digital coupons, Coupons.com Incorporated is increasing its workforce and is looking to hire approximately 50 additional people, growing the company’s workforce by nearly 20 percent. The majority of the positions are located in Mountain View, California, with other openings across the country in regional sales offices.
Demographic of Digital Coupon User
Data shows that users of digital coupons have higher household incomes and are better educated than users of newspaper coupons and the general population, dispelling the perceived low-brow stigma of couponing.
Consumers who print digital coupons have an estimated average household income of $96,000, a 14 percent higher income level than the U.S. average.9 Interestingly, adults with household income of over $100,000 are twice as likely to have redeemed coupons printed from an online source than adults with household income less than $35,000.10
In addition, 33.4 percent of those who print digital coupons have a college degree (up from 30.4 percent in 2008), compared to 28.9 percent of those who use newspaper coupons and 26.1 percent of the general populace.11 Also, adults with college degrees are almost twice as likely to have used coupons in the past six months as those who didn’t graduate from high school.12
Digital Coupons, Popularity by Product Category
For the first half of 2010, Ready to Eat Cereal was the most popular category for both online printable and coupons accessed via mobile apps, and was the 7th most popular category for coupons saved to loyalty cards. Dairy & Eggs was the top category for Save to Card coupons. The deeper variance in the top categories for Save to Card coupons compared to the other two lists is attributed to the fact that brands geo-target campaigns to areas where local supermarkets carry their products which results in a different set of coupons available for consumer selection.
Digital Coupons, Popularity by State
Georgia tops the list of most active states using digital coupons both via Web browsers and mobile apps (including Grocery iQ and Coupons.com mobile app), based on the Coupons.com Savings Index.13 Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina and Utah round out the Top Five for states using digital coupons via a Web browser, while Oklahoma, Alaska, Missouri and Tennessee round out the Top Five for states using digital coupons via mobile apps. The states in the South and Midwest dominate the top ten spots on both lists.
Top Categories for Coupon Code Offers
Apparel & Shoes was by far the top category for codes and offers used to save on online purchases. Other top categories include Home & Garden, Toys & Hobbies and Computers & Software.
Top Coupon Code Categories
1 Apparel & Shoes-Women
2 Home & Garden
3 Apparel & Shoes-Men
4 Toys & Hobbies
5 Computers & Software
6 Baby & Maternity
7 Electronics & Photo
8 Books, Music & Movies
9 Auto & Travel
10 Sports & Outdoors
About Coupons Incorporated
Coupons.com Incorporated is the recognized leader in digital coupons, including online printable, save to loyalty card and mobile promotions. For consumers, the company’s products include Coupons.com, the 53rd largest Web property and No. 1 in the Coupons/Rewards category in the U.S. †, as well as Grocery iQ and Coupons.com mobile applications. For brand marketers, the company distributes digital coupons to millions of consumers through Coupons.com and thousands of Web sites comprising the Coupons.com digital coupon network. The company also powers digital coupon initiatives in 1-to-1 online marketing campaigns—including display advertising, email and social media programs. For publishers, the company offers solutions to monetize Web site traffic, including branded microsites, and Brandcaster, a self-service coupons syndication platform. Clients include hundreds of top consumer packaged goods brands (including Clorox, General Mills, Johnson & Johnson, Kellogg’s, Kimberly-Clark, and Kraft Foods), leading restaurant, toy and entertainment companies, as well as top retailers (such as A&P, CVS, Duane Reade, H-E-B, Kmart, Kroger, Safeway and Walgreens). Founded in 1998, the company is based in Mountain View, CA. To start printing coupons, visit www.coupons.com. To learn more about the company visit www.couponsinc.com.
Save on Gas with Fuel Coupons
July 29, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
If you have a long commute to and from your job, gas can guzzle up a big chunk of your monthly budget. Just ask this month’s Frugal $ense winner, Christopher Thomas, who faces a 160-mile roundtrip commute to work every day.
Fortunately for him (and you), he found a simple way to save a few bucks on gas. As they say, every little bit counts.
Get a discount on gas
“Almost everyone has to purchase gas for their cars. And if you’re like me, it’s one of your biggest expenses each month. I went online and signed up for coupons from leading gas companies.” — Christopher Thomas
Read more to learn how to save on gas…
Local Restaurants Find That Deals Bring Customers Back
July 19, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
No need for a cheap dinner of grilled cheese and tomato soup at home.
Consumers these days can eat out — and get a tasty meal — for a less than they used to.
In an effort to shrug off the beat-down they’ve taken during the recession, restaurants are slicing prices, offering deals and adding coupons, all to lure in hungry consumers with a pent-up appetite to eat out again.
“We have people in here every day that had never heard about us and didn’t even know where we were, but they came because of the coupon,” said Brent Joseph, owner of King David Dogs, which last month offered customers an online coupon — $10 worth of food for $5. “It’s really generated traffic.”
Read more about restaurant coupons…
Why Coupon Shoppers Love Rainy Days
July 19, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
Rain checks are an excellent way to ensure you’ll get the products you want, even if the store has sold out. They’re also a way to extend the sale for yourself, buying a little more time to come up with coupons to match to a good sale price.
In a previous column, I discussed a promotion at my store in which dog food went on sale for $3.99 a bag, and there were $3 coupons for the dog food in the newspaper inserts. Clearly, dog food for 99 cents is already a steal. But during that sale, after I purchased my bags of dog food with the coupons I had in hand, I also got a rain check for the same brand of dog food.
