Yahoo Plays the Coupon Game

NEW YORK Yahoo has added coupons to its online mix. This week, the company unveiled its Yahoo Deals Web site, which offers coupons, information about promotions and tips on saving money.The site aims to fill a surging demand for cost-saving ideas. According to company research, searches for the term “printable coupons” are up 50 percent this year compared to 2008 and up 135 percent compared to '07. Yahoo’s research finds that the most popular searches for coupons cover major retailers and groceries as well as discounts at the local pizzeria. “Frugality is the new ‘cool,’” said Greg Hintz, head of Yahoo Shopping, in a statement. “We now know that couponing and bargain hunting are losing their stigma and are now a regular habit for many people.”Yahoo Deals offers printable coupons through a partnership with Coupons.com as well as other pacts. These include special offers at neighborhood chains and restaurants, grocery coupons and a gas finder widget where visitors can enter their ZIP codes to find the cheapest gas in their area. According to Yahoo, 43 percent of respondents said they are using coupons more this year than last, while 76 percent of female respondents said that easier access would make them more likely to use them. “Our goal at Yahoo is to be the center of people’s online lives and we’re making Yahoo the easiest place for consumers to find and manage the coupons and deals that are relevant to their lives,” said Hintz. Yahoo is using a number of social media features to promote the site. Shoppers can inform their friends through e-mail, Twitter or Facebook about various promotions or deals they have learned about. Consumer-oriented clips from the TV show Inside Edition, providing shopping tips, are also available on the new site. Yahoo, which spent $15.6 million on advertising in 2008, has spent $1.3 million so far this year, per Nielsen.Nielsen Business Media

Performance Marketing

Yahoo Plays the Coupon Game

Alex Palmer

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