Coupon distribution across all channels continued to increase in the first quarter of 2010 as coupons become an ever more important part of the consumer shopping habit, driving up redemption rates as well, according to NCH Marketing Services Inc., a division of media and marketing services company Valassis. NCH is a clearinghouse that measures coupon distribution and redemption rates across a significant portion of the manufacturing and retailing industries. In the most recent Coupon Market Quarterly Update, NCH found that consumer packaged goods coupon distribution in the US grew 14.1% in the first quarter compared to the same period a year ago, for a total of 89 billion coupons. This includes coupons distributed via Sunday FSI’s, shared mail, direct mail, the Internet, on package and in stores. The first quarter growth follows a banner year for coupons in 2009, when overall distribution gained 11% for a total of 311 billion coupons. “I expect the growth [in coupon distribution] will continue at an above average pace,” said Charlie Brown, VP, marketing at NCH. “Marketers need to motivate consumers to spend and consumers are interested in buying where they see the greatest value,” he added. Much of the growth in distribution is coming from the same marketing companies distributing more coupons to promote their brands. First quarter redemption rates increased as well, rising 9.7% compared to the same period last year. Consumers redeeming a total of 850 million coupons in the first quarter of 2010, making it the sixth consecutive quarter of increased coupon usage. Despite some signs that the economy may be improving, the recession continues to influence the way consumers shop and to making coupons an integral part of consumers’ buying decisions, Brown said. Most of the growth in the redemption rate came from the same people who have been using coupons all along using more of them, Brown reported. In the first quarter, 6% of consumers said they had never used coupons before while 30% said they are using more coupons than they did in the past year. Only 1% of the coupons distributed last year were distributed via the Internet, according to Brown. However, these coupons represented 10% of the overall number of coupons redeemed last year. “These are very targeted coupons that consumers opt into,” explained Brown. Because of the high redemption rate, he expects this area will continue to grow.