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Like many people during lean times, Betty Wiemerslage of La Crosse has been using more and more coupons when she goes grocery shopping.
"We always have used them," she said after shopping Tuesday at Quillin's supermarket in the Village Shopping Center. "We're using them more now. They do help" to stretch the food dollar.
"I've always used coupons, because of the savings," said another shopper, Lucy Harris of La Crosse. But she isn't using coupons more than before, Harris added.
Still, coupon use has increased in the past several months because of the slow economy, say the owners of area Quillin's, Festival Foods and Piggly Wiggly stores. They said coupons are available in newspapers and in their stores.
"Usage of coupons has definitely increased in all 13 of our stores," said Dave Skogen of Onalaska, whose family operates Festival Foods stores in this area and elsewhere. That's because of the economy, Skogen said. "And we're offering more coupons," he said.
"In the last few months, coupon usage has increased significantly at Quillin's," said Phil Quillin, president of the La Crosse-based chain of seven supermarkets. "That's also a national trend. Coupons are at an all-time high in redemption, because of the economy. People are looking for value, and coupons offer value."
There was a trend away from coupons several years ago, Quillin said. "There was a lot of coupon fraud," he said. "Several people were convicted of cutting and cashing in coupons when they didn't buy the product. But today, with computers, you can control them better."
Coupon use has increased since about September, said Dave Hegenbarth of rural Galesville, who owns Piggly Wiggly stores in Galesville, La Crosse, Arcadia and Sparta. "It's continued to build month after month, as the economy got bad," he said.
Hegenbarth said he has especially noticed an increase in use of coupons that are available at his stores.
Coupon use rose 15 percent in the last three months of 2008, compared with the same period of 2007, said Charlie Brown, vice president of marketing at NCH, the redemption unit of Livonia, Mich.-based Valassis, which invented the Sunday newspaper coupon sections and owns Red Plum, one of two big coupon companies.
And in a typical year, Americans redeem $3 billion worth of coupons, with fewer and fewer finding themselves too embarrassed to pull out wads of coupons or lug in baseball card albums packed with coupons for breakfast cereal and canned soup.
"There's less negative stigma attached to coupon use during slower economic times," said Ron Larson, a marketing professor at Haworth College of Business at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo.
A recent survey bears that out. Nearly 57 percent of 3,013 consumers surveyed nationwide in December said they were once self-conscious about handing over grocery coupons but no longer care because of the money they're saving, according to a study by ICOM Information & Communications, a provider of marketing data. Twenty-two percent said they were still uncomfortable using coupons.
Forty-three percent said they've used coupons more in the past six months, it said.
Manufacturers of brand-name food products, under pressure from supermarket chains' cheaper private-label items, bought about 5 percent more coupons in the fourth quarter of 2008 to promote their goods at a time when cost-conscious American families are eating more home-prepared meals, said Suzie Brown (no relation to the NCH executive), chief of marketing at Valassis.
Stephanie Nelson of couponmom.com claims that a family of four can save $100 a week on groceries by clipping coupons. Since 75 percent of grocery coupons come from the Sunday newspaper, she recommends buying two or three copies to save dramatically and then scanning the Internet for more.
And some manufacturers are sweetening the deal. Last year, multiple-purchase requirements on health and beauty coupons dropped to 6 percent, from 11 percent in 2007. Expiration dates were lengthened, the average period rising to 2.8 months from 2.6 months, said NCH's Brown.
But the opposite was true for grocery coupons, which saw expiration dates reduced to 2.3 months in 2008 from 2.4 the year before. Multiple-purchase requirements decreased, but only by a tad, to 35 from 37 percent.
The average value of a coupon distributed today is $1.29, NCH's Brown said.
Coupon use and private-label purchases tend to rise during tougher economic times because many people look for ways to save money, said Larson, adding that consumers also might have more time on their hands to clip and sort.
Like many people during lean times, Betty Wiemerslage of La Crosse has been using more and more coupons when she goes grocery shopping.
"We always have used them," she said after shopping Tuesday at Quillin's supermarket in the Village Shopping Center. "We're using them more now. They do help" to stretch the food dollar.
"I've always used coupons, because of the savings," said another shopper, Lucy Harris of La Crosse. But she isn't using coupons more than before, Harris added.
Still, coupon use has increased in the past several months because of the slow economy, say the owners of area Quillin's, Festival Foods and Piggly Wiggly stores. They said coupons are available in newspapers and in their stores.
"Usage of coupons has definitely increased in all 13 of our stores," said Dave Skogen of Onalaska, whose family operates Festival Foods stores in this area and elsewhere. That's because of the economy, Skogen said. "And we're offering more coupons," he said.
"In the last few months, coupon usage has increased significantly at Quillin's," said Phil Quillin, president of the La Crosse-based chain of seven supermarkets. "That's also a national trend. Coupons are at an all-time high in redemption, because of the economy. People are looking for value, and coupons offer value."
There was a trend away from coupons several years ago, Quillin said. "There was a lot of coupon fraud," he said. "Several people were convicted of cutting and cashing in coupons when they didn't buy the product. But today, with computers, you can control them better."
Coupon use has increased since about September, said Dave Hegenbarth of rural Galesville, who owns Piggly Wiggly stores in Galesville, La Crosse, Arcadia and Sparta. "It's continued to build month after month, as the economy got bad," he said.
Hegenbarth said he has especially noticed an increase in use of coupons that are available at his stores.
Coupon use rose 15 percent in the last three months of 2008, compared with the same period of 2007, said Charlie Brown, vice president of marketing at NCH, the redemption unit of Livonia, Mich.-based Valassis, which invented the Sunday newspaper coupon sections and owns Red Plum, one of two big coupon companies.
And in a typical year, Americans redeem $3 billion worth of coupons, with fewer and fewer finding themselves too embarrassed to pull out wads of coupons or lug in baseball card albums packed with coupons for breakfast cereal and canned soup.
"There's less negative stigma attached to coupon use during slower economic times," said Ron Larson, a marketing professor at Haworth College of Business at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo.
A recent survey bears that out. Nearly 57 percent of 3,013 consumers surveyed nationwide in December said they were once self-conscious about handing over grocery coupons but no longer care because of the money they're saving, according to a study by ICOM Information & Communications, a provider of marketing data. Twenty-two percent said they were still uncomfortable using coupons.
Forty-three percent said they've used coupons more in the past six months, it said.
Manufacturers of brand-name food products, under pressure from supermarket chains' cheaper private-label items, bought about 5 percent more coupons in the fourth quarter of 2008 to promote their goods at a time when cost-conscious American families are eating more home-prepared meals, said Suzie Brown (no relation to the NCH executive), chief of marketing at Valassis.
Stephanie Nelson of couponmom.com claims that a family of four can save $100 a week on groceries by clipping coupons. Since 75 percent of grocery coupons come from the Sunday newspaper, she recommends buying two or three copies to save dramatically and then scanning the Internet for more.
And some manufacturers are sweetening the deal. Last year, multiple-purchase requirements on health and beauty coupons dropped to 6 percent, from 11 percent in 2007. Expiration dates were lengthened, the average period rising to 2.8 months from 2.6 months, said NCH's Brown.
But the opposite was true for grocery coupons, which saw expiration dates reduced to 2.3 months in 2008 from 2.4 the year before. Multiple-purchase requirements decreased, but only by a tad, to 35 from 37 percent.
The average value of a coupon distributed today is $1.29, NCH's Brown said.
Coupon use and private-label purchases tend to rise during tougher economic times because many people look for ways to save money, said Larson, adding that consumers also might have more time on their hands to clip and sort.
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