In the last few decades, online shopping has changed the face of commerce as we know it. But, even more recently, coupon bots and aggregators like Honey, Groupon, and more have begun to augment the way people shop online.

Using coupons used to mean going through a newspaper or a booklet, meticulously cutting them out, and making sure you used them before the dreaded expiration date. These days, however, savvy shopping is only a click away. According to the Harvard Business Review, these aggregation sites and apps have brought greater visibility to proper product pricing.

Coupons have become such a profitable business model that companies like Groupon have recently gone public; after a somewhat shaky start, Nasdaq reports that Groupon stock is now rising.

Coupon Facts and Statistics

A digital coupons ease of use has made it more popular than it’s paper alternative. Here are some fascinating statistics about the rise of coupon bots.

• In the year 2014, Americans saved an estimated 3.6 billion dollars by using various forms of coupons.
• While numbers vary, most sources estimate that around 85% of consumers regularly use some kind of coupon.
• In 2014, an estimated 560 million consumers redeemed over $16 billion in digital coupons worldwide.
• Between 2014 and 2017, the number of companies using some form of mobile coupons to market their business has risen from 36.5% to an astounding 48%.

What Have You Got to Lose? Well, Maybe a Little…

It’s easy to understand the popularity of coupon apps and extensions like Honey for consumers; after all, what have they got to lose? Well, according to some statistics, coupons make people buy products they don’t need, or to buy bigger amounts of things they may not use. It’s not the worst situation in the world, but it’s also not going to save anybody much money in the long run.

Coupons can be extremely useful from a business’s perspective as well. Coupons make it more likely for first-time visitors to go to a new restaurant or store. Great deals offered through online or mobile coupons can help foster brand loyalty.

However, coupon aggregators can make for more difficult competition among online marketplaces. Let’s say you were shopping for a pair of shoes on Amazon, but you decide to do a Google search for “deals on Nike shoes.” If you were to find out that Zappos or DSW had a promo code that would allow you to get the lowest price, you probably wouldn’t worry about any brand loyalty towards Amazon.
Coupon bots and aggregators are causing a sea change in the world of online shopping, and it will certainly be interesting to see which companies thrive and prosper amidst the new influences posed by technology.