This text is part of the special Pleasures notebook
Couponing is the art of collecting discount coupons and combining them to achieve maximum savings. On Facebook, certain groups of “couponers” have thousands of members who help each other and exchange these little papers. A foray into this well-organized community, while the race to save money can be very tempting to try to reduce the cost of the grocery basket.
During the spring 2020 confinement, Frédérique Langlois, 22, suddenly found herself with a lot of time ahead of her. She then decided to dive into an activity she had wanted to try for a long time: couponing, or couponing in English.
We’ve all seen those colorful coupons offering discounts on specific products. For many of us, we sometimes use one…if the circumstances are right. But other people make it a high-level sport, hence the addition of the suffix “age”. It is the vast majority of women who hunt for coupons, who combine them with other offers and who end up drawing them at the right time to pocket the jackpot. They usually start it to reduce their grocery bill, then it becomes a game, and they can’t stop…
After a few months, Frédérique managed to save a good hundred dollars per week. She finds her coupons directly on store shelves or in her mail. It takes him about three hours a week to sort them and make his grocery list. “I am an organized person by nature, so it just requires a little concentration,” she says, amused.
The young woman is part of four or five Facebook groups. Each is a real little community which has its own jargon, rules and stars. We ask questions, we share things. Above all, we brandish our finds like hockey cards and try to exchange them for another coupon that we ardently desire.
“We sometimes do exchanges between provinces, because in Ontario, there are lots of coupons that we don’t have in Quebec, and vice versa. However, these coupons are good everywhere in Canada,” explains Katheryne Aubert, also 22 years old and a rising star in Quebec couponing. Nicknamed Miss Coupon, she specializes in the training and support of novices, to the point of making it her livelihood: for a subscription, she provides them with a getting started manual, scours the circulars for them and responds to their questions.
An old marketing strategy
It was Coca-Cola which offered the first coupons in 1887, in Atlanta. “For manufacturers, it’s a way to encourage consumers to try a new product,” explains associate professor of marketing at the School of Management at the University of Sherbrooke Deny Bélisle. As for grocery chains, they offer them to their customers to build loyalty or to stimulate demand during slow periods. »
Marketing strategy, therefore, that connoisseurs turn to their advantage. Thus, Katheryne Aubert, knowing that cleaning products always end up on sale, will never use a $2 discount for a soap sold at $5.98. She will wait until it sells for $1.98 and, with her coupon, will then get it absolutely free. Her good deals allow her to make food donations when collections are organized in her region, a generous gesture which, according to her, is common among fans of couponing. “When families request help on Facebook, it is often the “coupons” who are the first to answer the call. »
The economic situation influences the practice of couponing, even if the community of those who engage in it is heterogeneous (all generations are represented) and even well-heeled people are part of it. In the United States, the 2008 crisis gave a boost to the use of coupons, recalls Deny Bélisle. However, it is difficult to estimate the number of followers in Quebec. Miss Coupon can only say that it went from 700 to 1,500 (including only around thirty men) in 2020, a pandemic year which affected the purchasing power of the population.
It is especially non-perishable products that are favored by “couponers”, because you can buy a large quantity of them at once when the discount stars align. Typically, these are cans of food, cereals, biscuits, etc. Household products and toilet paper are also classics.
Difficult, on the other hand, to find local products: it is mainly the Krafts and Unilevers of this world who invest in this niche. “There is an infrastructure to put in place for the issuance of coupons and the proper management of the process with retailers. This is why it concerns more the very big players,” explains Deny Bélisle.
“Scrap” and friendships
This is also why Lili Marchand, one of the pioneers of couponing in Quebec, dropped out. Administrator of the specialized site OnMagasine since 2011, former columnist for Montreal Journalshe does not mince her words: the products that we buy thanks to coupons, “it’s scrap » ! Processed foods, too sweet or too salty, not good for your health…
However, she does not regret the years she devoted to it: she created a tight-knit community, which interacted on her website, then within her Facebook group. “We talked about coupons, but also all kinds of deals. I helped women who were being beaten by their husbands. Girls have told me they are pregnant before even telling their mother or family member. chum ! »
But over the years and the shows on couponing on TV, the number of followers grew, and Lili saw things that displeased her. For example, rushes in stores, people selling their coupons or changing their value using Photoshop…
Frédérique Langlois, for her part, noticed that the more people there are in a Facebook group, the less interesting it is. She prefers smaller communities, where serious “couponers” hide, who end up knowing and liking each other. Strict rules, including a ban on selling coupons, are sometimes adopted, and bad redeemers end up on blacklists.
Do these “couponers” have the impression of buying scrap, as Lili Marchand says? Let’s say they know that the products covered by the coupons are not high-end, but they are increasingly aware and are trying to do the best they can with their purchasing power. Health or Quebec products benefit from a communicating vessel effect, since some people will purchase them with the money saved thanks to coupons.
The change will probably come from grocery stores, if we are to believe Professor Deny Bélisle. For example, the Metro & moi loyalty program offers coupons to customers based on their past purchases and therefore adjusts for changes in behavior. Already more than a century old, the coupon has been able to adapt many times, and it will probably continue to do so in the future.
This content was produced by the Special Publications team at Duty, relating to marketing. The writing of the Duty did not take part.