With all the frustrations about stores have contradicting, changing, and extreme coupon policies lately, I’ve been thinking: what if they refused to accept coupons altogether? How would your life change? How would it affect your budget? Would it affect store’s profits, positively or negatively?
For my family, not being able to use coupons would mean buying more off-brands. Our pantry is full of mostly name-brand items because I can almost always get them cheaper with coupons and the right sale. If I can no longer use a coupon to get French’s mustard for 25¢, then of course I’ll buy the off-brand when it goes on sale for 50¢ instead of paying $1 for the name brand.
It would mean an increase in our weekly grocery budget, especially in regards to non-food items like diapers. I don’t think it would be anything drastic like a doubling of our budget because…
I would make more items from scratch rather than buying convenience foods. We’d probably eat more oatmeal and pancakes for breakfast rather than cereal, because I wouldn’t be able to get cereal for super cheap. I’d cook dried beans instead of buying canned. I might even consider making my own laundry detergent! Of course, if there weren’t coupons, I would have a great deal more time to spend making things from scratch as about half of the blog posts I write have to do with coupons!
We would probably get a membership to Sam’s Club or Costco. I can usually beat Sam’s price on almost anything by waiting for the right sale paired with a coupon, but if coupons were no longer available, a Sam’s membership would become quite attractive to me.
From the other perspective, if stores refused to accept coupons, I think manufacturers would be more than upset. Coupons are a major way for companies to convince people to try their products, and if a chain refused to accept those coupons I’m pretty sure there would be some major backlash.
Stores like Walmart would see those once-loyal shoppers return – many of us have discovered we can get better prices and often higher quality by shopping at “grocery” stores, but if those stores won’t accept coupons, those grocers may find themselves losing business from the people who shop at their stores just because they double coupons.
Newspaper subscriptions would decline due to couponers not needing to subscribe for the coupons anymore.
What do you think? How would your life change if you couldn’t use coupons anymore? How do you think it would affect your family, manufacturers, and grocery stores?
I’ve only been couponing for a month and a half now, and have seen my savings on groceries and household items grow sooo much. Its just my husband and I, but learning to watch sales and use coupons has slashed our grocery/household bill by over 75%!!
If coupons were taken out of the equation, then I would be doing many of the same things that you would have to do. We wouldnt be able to buy brand names as much, and would have to stock up even more when they went on great promotional sales. I would be making a lot more things from scratch, and we’d have to cut juice out of our diet almost completely. Our budget would go up, and that would chip into money put toward other things.
All in all, I would be very upset if coupons disappeared!
Still, God is our provider and supplier, so it would not be a total disaster if coupons were to vanish. :)
Manufacturers have to move a certain amount of volume to keep a steady flow of production and distribution. If manufacturers were still producing coupons and stores refused to take them, they would have an excess of product. Even a single percent can be huge to a manufacturer.
If all the stores refused to take coupons then they would see a decline as well. The stores that are more service oriented (and have higher prices) would probably be hurt the most, because as you mentioned, a lot of people would start shopping at the discount stores for everything.
Maybe they would make up for it by selling more store-brand product. Personally, I’ve always thought that store brands are a potential gold mine for companies. The big corporations conduct surveys and research, design products, promote them (coupons and advertisements) market them (recipes, snacking ideas, etc.), and then the stores sell a comparable item for pennies less per package, without all those research, development and promotional costs. It seems to me like those products would have a higher profit margin.
Still, because the whole supermarket/grocery store business is highly competitive, I think that at some point the stores would start taking coupons again, even if it were one week a month or something like that. Like any other business, they are consumer-driven at some point, and if they want to achieve maximum potential, they will offer the products and services that consumers want.
As for me and my family, we are not in a position to raise our grocery budget at this time. We have $140 a month for food, household items and toiletries, and that is it. I already belong to a co-op and do a lot of scratch cooking, and I garden. I do a lot of home-canning and freezing, mill my own flour, etc. I get some of the basics (oil, sugar, chicken, beef) with coupons, but if those went away, we’d manage. We raise some poultry on our hobby farm – perhaps we’d raise a little more.
Truth be told, we get by just fine, and probably would just have fewer treats on hand. The places it would ‘hurt’ the most would probably be things like razors and shampoo. I have a lot of buddy soap on hand, but I also make soap, so I can manage that, but I don’t know how to make a razor, you know? Maybe hubby would grow a beard hee hee.
I don’t think the limits we’re seeing locally (three of the same coupon per transaction, no black/white coupons, etc.) are a sign that coupons are going away. I think they are actually two different things. The limit on the number of a given coupon is to make sure that one person doesn’t come in, clear the shelf of a sale item, and then leave every other customer frustrated and angry with the supermarket because there is no product for them. Also, I think the issue some stores are having with black/white coupons is because there is some fraud. Just like anything else in life, some people get desperate or greedy, and they take advantage. Making black and white photocopies seems to be something the stores are trying to stop, which is understandable.
I do not, however, think that anyone should be mistreated for offering a coupon, nor do I think the employees were instructed to do that. They are people too, and they develop their own thoughts and attitudes about the whole process of providing service and accepting coupons, and sometimes that attitude comes out fairly negative. I know it’s happened to me and to others here, and it’s not right.
So…I don’t really think coupons will go away, because that would hurt the manufacturers and the stores. If I am wrong, we will find a way to manage. :)
-Laura at TenThingsFarm
Laura, I agree about store brands being a gold mine – I *think* I’ve read that they have higher profit margins on their own brands (makes sense). But, stores also get paid in so many ways to promote name brands that I wonder if it “evens out” so to speak. Not sure how “profit margin” in manufacturing a product compares to “overall cost to sell” once you include how stores get paid to promote products.
Popping in on the business aspect of this – stores still have to do their own R&D on products. Insurance liability basically and generally requires it. While I do something a bit different overall, I can use a recipe to create a product, but if I haven’t tested it myself for safety and have documentation of it, then my insurer will not pay out if there was a claim against me because I failed to take proper precautions.
I don’t believe they have a higher profit margin simply because of two reasons. Supply/volume and demand. I can only compare my own items to be able to distinctively make an example. When Glade makes a candle – because they order in quantities of MILLIONS, they have lower cost on wholesale. They may be able to get a glass container for 15 cents, for me, moderately, mine may cost 55 cents. Glade then orders and formulates their wax at pennies – I am looking at nickels. Now of course, I have a few secrets that Glade doesn’t do so add a for more nickels for that. Glade however, doesn’t have an increased cost of items like insurance – we pay roughly the same per division. In fact, volume alone – they may even get breaks.
The more volume you do, the cheaper the wholesale – and at a certain point, you begin to produce the ingredients yourself when it’s cost efficient. While all the ingredients may be exactly the same, the cost is different.
I know that’s the extreme of giant corp, against home manufacturer, but on the scale of selling… say… Heinz ketchup as opposed to store brand – sometimes the difference in volume is just as big.
By the way, Mary – I burned your Fresh Cotton candle for awhile the other day… Love it! :)
Thank you Carrie!! I appreciate it – love to hear good reports!
I’d be sad, but not devastated. I tend to not use a lot of the grocery coupons because they are for so many boxed items (like frozen dinners, hamburger helper and artificial fruit snacks). I already usually make my own bread and pizza and I have started making my own granola (instead of eating sugary cereal). I also tend to buy more natural and organic foods with fewer chemicals and man-made ingredients.
I WOULD miss all the coupons for my non-grocery items, as I tend to be very brand-loyal there (like diapers, shampoo, TP and cleaners).
All-in-all, Carrie has helped me shop smarter, so I’m saving about 25%. But I don’t use more than half of the coupons available. :D Coupon swap anyone?
Carrie – This is a great article.. a great way for all of us to maybe think a little differently.
If coupons went away.. we live just fine, I’d just shop a little differently.. maybe plan meals better. I already make as much from scratch as I can, but being a full time working mom makes it a little hard. I already make my own laundry soap, which has saved us tons of money! We’re already Sam’s members, so that wouldn’t be a change. I’d definitely be doing oatmeal/pancakes/waffles for breakfast for the kids.. really I should be now. The y’d probably be happier to have a couple of waffles and an egg for breakfast anyway. I think the biggest thing for me would be time management and better planning. I rely too much on the easy foods I’ve purchased from coupon sales. I need to get back on track planning out our meals better with healthy options, rather than convenience foods.
I think the newspapers would also have something to say about it. I’m sure a LOT of their sales come on Sundays because of the circulars and the Coupons!
I personally would start shopping at the Commissary a LOT more – even though it is a drive for me to get there. It is nice that as a military family, we have an alternative to WalMart, since they are not always everyone’s favorite place. And I personally have experienced that their store-brand is not always worth it…the quality goes way down on some things. Plus, I’m a little upset at them right now because I took the chance and bought some apples there just the other day. They looked nice on the outside, no bruises, but when I cut into them, the cores were ROTTEN. It was so gross – moldy looking fuzzy browness…ick.
Walmart has a good return policy on food. If it is unsatisfactory bring it back I did I cut an apple in half it was icky I took the whole bag back they gave me my money back and another bag of apples.
Joanne-
Which Commissary was that? I have found that to be true at the Ft Carson Commissary on MANY occasions (enough that when we lived next to Ft Carson we would buy everything there except produce, and then we would go to King Sooper or Safeway for produce).
I haven’t found that to be true at the Peterson AFB Commissary though. They have a really good selection of produce, and it has all been fresh in my experience. I would definitely recommend Peterson if you have been going to Ft Carson!
@Christina: Thanks for the info!
@Lauren: Sorry I was a bit unclear! I got the bad produce at Walmart, not the Comm.
My son gave me a membership to Costco and I don’t see that big of difference in price other than I am buying in major bulk. There diaper prices are about the same as everyone else. I do like their wipes and the price is pretty good.
I would be buying more offbrands and keep less snack items on hand. I would. I really am saving a great deal by couponing & I am working to find the deals & savings. It would cut back out outings cash if I had to spend more on groceries. Nutrition is important to us.
Great article Carrie, thanks!
I would be soooo disappointed if stores stopped accepting coupons. Coupons are the reason our weekly grocery bill is 50$.
That said, I don’t think it’s ever going to happen. I don’t think stores would ever turn away all coupons, but I do think that prices will go up on many items, coupons won’t be as good, and grocery stores will have stricter coupon policies. Really, all of these things have already come into play at most stores. I can see stores only accepting one coupon per like item or limiting the amount of newspapers you buy per transaction.
Observing the many who abuse couponing, I can completely understand why stores are becoming so defensive towards couponers. At the same time, it’s very frustrating for someone who follows the rules faithfully.
I would loose my new found hobby. I have never in my life had a hoddy before I found couponing about a year ago. I love it and hope it doens’t change.
I love hearing everyone’s opinion. It hadn’t dawned on me that stores not accepting coupons would have so much effect on us. I had been thinking about starting a garden this year and decided I just didn’t have the time to put into it, but if stores stopped taking coupons, I would definitely be starting a garden. We would probably eat a little healthier too, because I wouldn’t want to spend money on the boxed foods that I can get really cheap now with coupons.