The FINANCIAL — With the heightened interest in saving money during this economic downturn, Yahoo! Inc. has launched the first website to provide daily deals, online coupons, grocery coupons, local coupons, store circulars and exclusive deals all in one place: the new Yahoo! Deals (http://deals.yahoo.com).
The site also debuts social and community features as well as money-saving video content.
Penny-pinching is on the rise as individuals and families ride out the recession. An increasing number of people are turning to Yahoo! for money-saving tips and tricks. In fact, Web searches for "printable coupons" on Yahoo! are up 50 percent in 2009, compared to the same time in 2008, and up 135 percent compared to 2007. Furthermore, the most popular coupon-related Web searches in the past month have been for pizza restaurants, major retailers and grocery coupons.
"The revamped Yahoo! Deals saves people money with bargains and printable coupons for everyday and special purchases. People will also save time since deals, coupons, weekly ads and sales from top retailers and local stores are an easy search away in one location," Yahoo informs.
Frugal Finds on Yahoo! Deals include:
Grocery coupons for all kinds of kitchen staples, provided by Coupons.com
Offers for local chain and neighborhood restaurants, retailers and service providers provided by Valpak
Exclusive deals from new partners including Visa and Next Jump; Ecobunga! and Greenzer (for eco-friendly products); TechBargains.com and LogicBUY (for computers and electronics); plus coupons and deals on a variety of products from CouponAlbum, CouponMountain, BradsDeals.com and Dealnews
Video stories on consumer shopping trends and savings tips provided by Inside Edition
The gas finder module that helps users find the cheapest gas by zip code
Improved search function to help users quickly find deals from across the site
New social features that allow savvy shoppers to share deals with friends via email and popular social networks, and to save deals for later use
A new community feature that lets users post or read comments on each deal
In a recent Yahoo! survey, 43 percent of participants said they are using coupons more since last year. They also cited that easier access to coupons would motivate them to use coupons more often, a sentiment stated by 76 percent of women. That said, the majority of people polled feel that there are not currently enough coupons for things they want to buy and nearly half actually think coupon hunting is a chore. Less than a fifth of consumers have a "go-to" online site and almost 80 percent think the process of finding coupons is difficult.
Additionally, the survey asked how pride factors into couponing. Saving money makes people feel good as 59 percent stated that "they feel great when buying things with coupons." This trend is much stronger for women, with a greater percentage of men feeling embarrassed when using coupons. Bargain hunting can also become a badge of honor with 29 percent wanting to be known as the coupon king or queen.
"Frugality is the new 'cool,'" said Greg Hintz, head of Yahoo! Shopping. "We now know that couponing and bargain hunting are losing their stigma and are now a regular habit for many people. Our goal at Yahoo! is to be the center of people's online lives and we're making Yahoo! the easiest place for consumers to find and manage the coupons and deals that are relevant to their lives."
For people who don't want to miss a great buy, Yahoo! Deals also provides a Twitter feed that churns out deals in real-time at http://twitter.com/yahoo_deals.
Back to School Savings
Visitors to Yahoo! Deals can take advantage of back-to-school savings with coupons on everything from backpacks to laptops. In addition, Yahoo! Shopping has debuted a complete back-to-school shopping guide to help parents discover the essentials, find the best values available, and spot the popular trends their kids should know about. Visit http://shopping.yahoo.com for more information.
Win Money to Spend from Yahoo!
Not only does Yahoo! have great money-saving tips and exclusive deals, the company is also giving away $20,000. In celebration of the new Yahoo! Deals, Yahoo! is offering a chance for a frugal shopper to win $20,000 in the Purple Piggy Bank Giveaway. The contest will be open through September 7, 2009. Enter to win at http://deals.yahoo.com.
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