Study: Millennials like coupons — print or paperless

Despite their tech-savvy reputation, millennials are not above reducing their retail spending with the help of good old-fashioned print coupons.



According to the “2K16 Coupon Intelligence Report” from media solutions provider Valassis, millennials use print coupons at similar rates as the general population. Representing about one-fourth of the U.S. population, 85% of millennials use print coupons they get in the mail. Another 85% use print store coupons, 82% use print coupons from a coupon book, and 78% print coupons from their computer. These figures are similar to respective overall averages of 87%, 87%, 82%, and 66%.



Millennials are far more likely to use paperless discounts received on their smartphone, mobile device or loyalty/ID card than the overall population (81% compared to 66%). The overall usage number is skewed by the 50% of baby boomers who leverage paperless discounts, compared to 74% of Gen Xers.



In addition, millennials are more likely than the overall population to both have increased their usage of coupons (47% compared to 34%), Internet coupons (41% compared to 29%) and mail coupons (34% compared to 24%) than the average population.



Other findings include that millennials actively download paperless discounts to their store ID/loyalty cards wherever they are – 75% before they enter and 73% in the store. This compares to 62% of all consumers who download savings before they enter the store and 55% while in the store.

“This important consumer group saves using both print and digital, underscoring how essential media integration is to building a powerful connection with them,” said Curtis Tingle, Valassis chief marketing officer. “To holistically plan, target and deliver cross-channel campaigns aimed at millennials, marketers must intelligently connect appropriate offline and online data for greater precision, relevance and scale.”