Coupon Fast Facts

The Fast Facts section offers tidbits of actionable information you can put to use right away!  

CMS Trends 2009

In 2008, coupon distribution increased 5.0% to 317 billion coupons.

Coupon redemption remained flat for the third year at 2.6 billion coupons.

The average face value distributed increased 9.1% to $1.44, while the average face value redeemed increased 2.8% to $1.09.

The average expiration period distributed fell 3.3% to 2.9 months, while the average expiration period redeemed decreased 17.3% to 4.3 months.

Do you know...

...What A Coupon is Really Worth?
Have you ever wondered why a coupon’s legal copy states, “cash value 1/20th cent” or “cash value 1/100th cent?”  The answer dates back to the days of the Great Depression.  During that time, food was rationed through the use of food stamps.  Greedy merchants took advantage of the situation by raising the price of goods, thereby inflating the value of stamp books.  As a result, some state governments stepped in and, to make things fair, declared that all stamps and anything else used to decrease the price of a product (including coupons), should have a common value.  In some states, these laws remain in effect today.  Therefore, to avoid having to print multiple versions of the same coupon, marketers simply include the “1/20th cent” or “1/100th" language on all their coupons.