Your Opinion on Supermarket coupons: new customers only or ok for current customers?

Good for both. Giving a coupon to a new customer, and saying you can’t use them if you already buy the product is like penalizing the person for being your faithful customer!

Very easy marketing concept.

They’re for anyone who wants to save a few cents.

The faithful customer can look at a coupon as a “thanks” from the company, if for some reason they feel bad about using them (not that I can imagine anyone feeling that way!).

Coupons are for anyone who can actually remember to bring them to the store when shopping.

I always forget.

WHAT? Why would anybody choose not to use a coupon when it is hanging right in front of them? Anyone with their wits about them would rip the coupon off and use it regardless of whether they have been buying the product for 20 years.

The marketing company are targeting them for everyone with the hopes that new customers will be a big percentage of those people.

What, there is no limitation on how they are used. Anyone can use them. And, if smart, everyone does.

If the store is offering me a buck off of Mrs Dash if I buy a pound of ground beef, I’d be an idiot not to take it. The Mrs. Dash company knows full well that I’m going to use it – that’s why they’re offering the coupon. ^_^

Which brings up a good point, @Seek_Kolinahr. Coupons are only worth collecting if you actually are interested in using the product that they’re for. There are plenty of products that people would not entertain using, and for someone who tends to buy store brands only, coupons are a form of clutter. The idea of coupons can be more seductive than the practicality of actually using them. Sometimes, in order to get a big savings with coupons, you have to spend money on things that you probably won’t really use, or buy name brands that cost more than store brand. (Example: Store brand butter was $1.89 a lb. vs. Land O Lakes at $3.69. The 50 cent coupon for Land O Lakes isn’t worth it.) The $1 on Mrs. Dash wouldn’t be of any use to me, because I don’t use it. But, being my mother’s daughter, I would feel compelled to clip it and carry it around until it expires.

@PandoraBoxx has a good point. I happen to love Mrs. Dash seasoning blends, as they help my hubby not put salt on fracking everything ~grumble~

Coupons also don’t do a lot of good for people who don’t buy processed foods. There’s never a coupon for fresh avocados. Every once in a while there’s a good deal on cranberry juice, though. ^_^

Thanks everyone who responded. I agree and use coupons for items I already use, but, as was pointed out by @Seek_Kolinahr only when the price – coupon is less than other brands including the store brand. I have been surprised to find on some “frugal” lifestyle websites that some people are so much against using coupons when you’re already buying their product, feeling that you’re somehow taking advantage of or ripping off companies that are intending for them to be used to get new customers. My personal opinion is that companies with such intentions make that clear on their offers (usually in the service or direct sales industries) but supermarket coupons are more likely trying BOTH to keep current as well as get new customers who might need a savings incentive not to buy generics.

Thanks again for taking the time to respond.

Coupons should be for both new and old. If someone has been a faithful customer for a long time, they deserve to be rewarded, not penalized.