Livonia , Mich. - RedPlum, a leading provider of deals and savings on brands consumers want most, announced today that as consumer demand for value greatly increased in 2009, redplum.com responded, issuing 194 million coupons throughout the year. The average value of local, non-consumer packaged goods (CPG) coupons on redplum.com last year was $3. Additionally, secure coupon prints from the savings and lifestyle site increased six-fold from January 2009 to January 2010.

"Today's shoppers don't leave the house without their coupons and they don't seek savings in just one place or from one media source," said Brian Costello, General Manager and Vice President, RedPlum Network. "They are strategic in their shopping and continue to turn to Web sites for not only coupons, but coupon codes, deals and comparison shopping, especially for large purchases. They are driven by savings like never before."

This past year, the RedPlum Network has become the fastest growing online coupon network, delivering hundreds of thousands of national and local deals to consumers from coast to coast each month. With nearly 1,000 affiliate sites across 220 designated market areas where you can find redplum.com coupons, the network reaches 45 million online consumers. It is focused on reaching and activating value-conscious consumers interested in recognizable brands. In addition to deal-oriented sites, the network extends to lifestyle, local, newspaper and retail sites to reach consumers on sites that are relevant to their lifestyle and shopping needs.

Costello pointed out that mid-week – Tuesday through Thursday – appears to be the most popular days for online deal seekers. Interestingly, this is also the timeframe in which RedPlum delivers its Shared Mail package to more than 100 million shoppers through their mailbox with inserts and offers, which may spur online deal seeking. He also noted that consistently, the most coupon prints are at the end of the second and fourth weeks of each month.

According to the Year-end 2009 Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) Coupon Industry Facts Report recently released by NCH Marketing Services, Inc., a Valassis company, in addition to online, the use of traditional print coupons has also escalated. This is evidenced by a 23% increase in coupon redemption in 2009, representing $3.5 billion in consumer savings. CPG manufacturers distributed a record-breaking 311 billion coupons in 2009; up 11%. In fact, according to the 2010 National Grocers Association Consumer Survey Report, 66% of consumers look in newspapers for grocery specials, and 65% use cents-off coupons received in the mail, newspapers in magazines.

"While online deal seeking is definitely on the rise, print promotions are here to stay as consumers have come to expect a variety of ways in which they find deals," said Suzie Brown, Valassis Chief Marketing Officer . " Valassis offers the only blended solution in the industry and delivers value in the places consumers regularly look – the mailbox, newspaper, online and in-store. In line with last year's trends, we expect print coupons will continue to be an important marketing tool clients utilize to reach and motivate shoppers in 2010 and beyond."