The majority of shoppers still get their coupons from Sunday newspapers, but more than 8.9 million U.S. households — or just over 8 percent of the total population — receive coupons via text or e-mail, according to new stats from Scarborough Research.
The growing interest has led brands like Unilever and Pizza Hut to partner with grocers like Kroger (per Mediapost) for mobile coupon deals, as well as launch their own iPhone apps. The increased usage has also led to recent investments in mobile couponing startups like Modiv Media.
The typical mobile/e-mail coupon user is young (14 percent more likely to be aged 18-24, than average), educated (51 percent more likely to be a college graduate or have an advanced degree) and decidedly female.
They’re also more likely to be from the East Coast: the top market for mobile coupon usage is Providence, R.I., with 12 percent of households using mobile or e-mail coupons, followed by Washington D.C. and Atlanta. Other markets that had at least 10 percent mobile coupon usage included San Diego, Austin and Chicago. Scarborough (Nielsen/Arbitron JV) surveys over 220,000 users as part of its ongoing market research projects. Release (pdf).

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