Couponstar Business Soars Due to Worsening Economy Increasing Consumer Demand for Internet-Printable Coupons and FMCG Brands Turning to Sales Promotion

CHISWICK, England - Internet-Printable Coupons Prove to be on Average 11 Times More Effective Than Traditional Manufacturer Coupon Campaigns

Millions of UK consumers printed internet coupons (many for the first time) in 2008 driven by a 140% year on year increase in the number of coupon campaigns run by Couponstar clients. Almost 100 brands signed up to run internet-printable coupon campaigns redeemable at the UK’s largest supermarkets and pharmacy chains including Tesco, Asda & Boots. As FMCG companies continue to direct more and more of their marketing spend below-the-line due to current economic conditions, companies such as Unilever, Kraft, Kimberly-Clark, Colgate Palmolive, Johnson & Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline and Nestle have turned to internet-printable coupons to drive both brand engagement online and measure impact on in-store sales both in the UK and throughout Europe.

Jared Keen, managing director at Couponstar, explains, “Consumption does not stop in a recession - consumers still need to purchase essential goods, from cleaning products to butter. However, consumers are making both conscious and unconscious modifications to purchasing behaviour in a bid to reduce spending, from switching brands, to moving to ‘private label’ goods, taking advantage of promotions such as coupon offers or trade promotions. In response FMCGs are finding more innovative, interactive methods of engaging with consumers, which increasingly requires them to offer tangible incentives and/or rewards to their customers; a task at which print-at-home coupons excel.”

Keen continues, “Internet-printable coupons are providing marketers with a highly effective and measurable route to the newly cost conscious middle England. But to be effective the focus must remain on customer engagement not just discounting. As FMCGs continue to reallocate their marketing spend to both online and sales promotion (confirmed by the recent Bellwether Report) they are jumping on board the opportunity to target this audience with relevant coupon offers to reinforce brand value and loyalty and, critically, drive measurable in-store sales.”

The success of 2008 in such difficult economic conditions is a real testament to the strength of the Couponstar portfolio, particularly its more recent CouponNET(R) program, which provides brands with access to millions of primary household shoppers through a network of leading consumer websites, whilst continuing to leverage Couponstar’s platform for distributing coupons securely over the Internet. Throughout 2008, CouponNET(R) has continued to attract unprecedented support with key retailers such as Asda and Tesco Diets signing up to the network in addition to leading website publishers, including GMTV, UKTV, Yours.co.uk, Now Magazine, and Bounty.com and interest in the offering continues to increase.

Keen continues, “As a result of these significant developments, we saw a further 161% increase in the number of coupons redeemed, which clearly illustrates the appetite and faith consumers have in us. However, even more impressively, our average coupon redemption rate has grown to 29.9% across the board - over 11 times more effective than the typical manufacturer coupon campaign which on average achieves a 2.5% redemption rate (Source: 2008 Valassis Report). The increase in our redemption rates was due to the combination of better quality offers made by brands and through better targeting through websites, email and working with our publisher partners to attract the right audience.”

Manufacturers and retailers are increasingly acknowledging the opportunities presented to them by internet-printable coupons, but the market is continually evolving. A few even began running Pan European campaigns in France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Scandinavia to extend both the reach and scale of campaign activity and compare behaviour across countries.

“Following our success in 2008, we have already made a strong start to 2009, with two more consecutive record-setting months in terms of revenue, the number of campaigns run, and the number of coupons printed & redeemed. Additionally, we have made some strategic hires, including the appointment of Steven Horowitz from Google as CTO of our parent company Coupons, Inc., which will ensure we can continue to expand our offerings to meet the growing demands of our clients.”

Keen concludes, “We believe shoppers will continue to seek out savings everywhere they can find them as the economy further tightens in 2009. With newspapers, magazines and direct mail struggling to prove its effectiveness, many consumers will lose access to their coupons. As a result, household brand name companies are increasingly looking to deliver savings to those consumers online. Our goal in 2009 is to bring coupons to as many digital platforms as possible so that consumers can readily find savings in these difficult times.”

About Couponstar

Couponstar is an interactive coupon solutions company that specialises in transforming online activity into measurable offline sales with a suite of products that safely and effectively integrates printable coupons (or vouchers) into online marketing campaigns. Its innovative marketing technology solutions, including its CouponNET(R) network of leading publisher websites such as Asda.com, Tesco Diets, GM.TV, UKTV, Now Magazine, Yours Magazine, and Bounty.com enable FMCG brands and retailers to reach millions of qualified UK consumers every month with the most flexible, effective and secure alternative to offline-delivered coupons. Since 2002 they have run more than 1200 promotions for over 150 brands across numerous industry sectors.

Couponstar holds the exclusive global license for Coupons, Inc. technology outside of North America. Their clients include the world’s leading FMCG manufacturers such as Unilever, Nestle, Mars, Colgate Palmolive, Johnson & Johnson, Disney, Kraft, Kimberly-Clark and GlaxoSmithKline. Couponstar currently operate campaigns in UK, Europe & Australia. Learn more about Couponstar at www.couponstar.com

For further information, please contact: Lisa Williams itpr t. +44(0)1932-57-88-00 www.itpr.co.uk

Source: Couponstar

For further information, please contact: Lisa Williams, itpr, t. +44(0)1932-57-88-00, https://www.itpr.co.uk