Way back when, money-conscious housewives used to sit around the house, diligently cutting out coupons from various newspapers and magazines. In fact, I recall my mother even had a special booklet, specifically for coupons.
Thankfully, in the late '90s and early '00s, stores wised up to the fact that clipping coupons was both tedious and bad for the environment (so much paper!) and decided to launch loyalty card schemes, such as Nectar Points, used by Sainsburys or the Safeway's Club Card.
No longer did you have to tote around envelopes of coupons which, if forgotten, meant you paid more at the till, even though you had the coupons at home.
Loyalty cards mean that if you're part of the club, you don't need coupons, as they do special deals for you, or give you a "loyalty card price". Just walk around any Safeway and you'll see the standard price for something, and then the special Club Card price.
Having a Nectar loyalty card means that you collect points, which can then be translated to cash. For example, if you earn 500 points, that's £2.50 off your next purchase. (Or you can save them up!) However, Sainsburys have started giving you coupons if you spend a certain amount of money - 60p off of your next loaf of Warburton bread, or double Nectar points the next time you spend £30. However, Sainsburys are now also giving Nectar card users coupons. You know, the old school paper ones.
At first, you might get one of two coupons after a £20 shop. But in the last two weeks of shopping, both my partner and I who are card holders for the same Nectar account have been inundated with coupons. So much so, that I have a giant pile in our kitchen.
While I do love me a discount and coupons are great - this is 2011. I am not going to start carrying coupons with me everywhere. And, also, aren't Sainsburys supposed to be all concerned with Mother Earth? They have recycling centres in their bigger shops, recycling incentive schemes - so why are they wasting ink and paper printing out coupons, when, surely, the Nectar system is intelligent enough to know that you're meant to have double Nectar points the next time you spend £30? If it can track your points, why can't it track the coupons?
If you want your loyalty card members to have discounts, just give them to us instead of making us remember to carry around a stack of coupons.