Feb 27, 2009 7:30 pm US/Eastern
Money Saver Report: Coupon Scanners
Hate Clipping Your Savings? New Technology Here To Help
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
Over the past four months cash-strapped consumers have increased their coupon use by 10 percent. But while coupons are gaining popularity, clipping them is not.
Alex Papadopoulous and 4-month-old Katherine were on a mission to save when CBS 2 HD recently caught up to them.
Papadopoulous said his family spends nearly $800 a month on groceries.
"It's probably easily a top three expenditure in our family," he said.
With a new baby, he doesn't have time to clip coupons, and neither do many others.
"It's a drag to me," said Regina Zorn of Huntington Station. "I don't enjoy doing that at all."
But they will use new technology -- like the ScanIt -- to help ring up the savings.
"As an incentive to consumers to use this technology, they're going to be provided with additional savings and they'll be alerted as they do their shopping," Stop & Shop manager Bob Hempson said.
While 89 percent of all American supermarket shoppers still use paper coupons, new technologies are helping customers cut even more from their grocery bills. The scanner being used at dozens of Stop & Shop stores alerts shoppers to sale items as they roam the aisles. Plus, it lets them bag their groceries as they shop -- then just pay and leave. More savings are found at the computer, even on a cell phone.
As much as $300 million worth of discounts was printed from the site coupons.com last year alone.
Even more consumers are dialing for great deals through their phones. With Frucall you can comparison shop by phone. Call the number, enter the bar code of the item and it finds the best price.
Whether clipped or texted, coupons saved shoppers $317 billion last year.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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