eMarketer: Most US Internet users will redeem coupon codes in 2013

Digital coupon code user base grows faster than expected

During the recession, many American consumers were frugal and used coupons found online, in newspapers and magazines, spending every penny. Printed coupons still dominated, but digital coupon codes quickly gained popularity.

This year, more than half of adult Internet users in the United States, about 102.5 million people, will use various devices to redeem digital coupon codes for online or offline transactions. New data shows that the number of digital coupon code users increased significantly in the first half of 2013, and eMarketer's full-year user forecast has also increased accordingly. The number of users who redeem digital coupon codes this year is expected to increase by 11.0%, compared with 4.6% last year. The new driving force behind this growth is the increase in mobile coupon code users.

Mobile devices played a major role in digital coupon code redemption in 2013, with more than 28% of mobile device owners having redeemed a coupon code this year. Nearly 70% of mobile device users redeemed coupon codes on their smartphones. EMarketer has also raised its forecast for adult coupon code users from previous norms to reflect the increased use of digital coupon codes in the first half of 2013. It is expected that one-third of smartphone users aged 18 and over, or 42 million users, will redeem a coupon code through an app, mobile web, mobile barcode or text message this year. Adult smartphone coupon code use in the U.S. increased 40.9% year-over-year this year, second only to the 60.6% increase in 2012. This number will continue to grow as smartphones, mobile apps, local transactions, and social networks and coupon codes become more integrated.

For the first time, EMarketer also included adult tablet users in the US in the statistics of digital coupon usage. Shopping is one of the most common functions used by tablet users, so users will also use their tablets at home to search and redeem coupons. The number of tablet coupon users has grown significantly in 2012, surpassing the mainstream market. This year, 47.1 million tablet coupon users aged 18 and above will redeem coupons on their tablets through apps, mobile networks, QP codes or text messages, accounting for 45.0% of the total. This year-on-year growth of 45.6% will continue to maintain double-digit growth until 2015. By that time, it is expected that the number of tablet coupon users will double that of 2012.

All eMarketer forecasts are based on a variety of channels focused on global and local economic, technological, demographic, company, product, country and specific demographic trends, and focus on specific consumer trends. We quantitatively and qualitatively analyze data obtained from many research institutions, government agencies, media and company reports, and have a methodical and robust measure of the value of each piece of information. In addition, each element of eMarketer fits our macro analysis of various data to forecast data based on the same assumptions and frameworks in multiple fields. Regularly re-evaluating each forecast means that these assumptions and frameworks are constantly updated as the market develops and other trends.