>They tend to make above-average use of coupons, and the coupons they use have above-average values.
Isn't this kind of expected? Companies will give out coupons for products that don't sell so well. The higher the coupon value, the more desperate the company to get rid of this stock.
So if these households like to coupon a lot, that means they accept less than ideal market fit for a price reduction.
Companies will give out coupons for products that don't sell so well.
In my experience working retail, this just isn't the case, in general - unless it has changed in the last decade. Coupons have a couple of purposes: Loyalty and foot traffic, much like sales, and often on things they make a decent profit on. You wind up seeing Tide laundry soap, Gillette razor blades, and so on. CVS gives coupons on CVS brand items to promote their store brand... which keeps folks coming back to buy stuff they make a decent profit on.
Coupons are very likely to happen on new products, too, as a way to entice folks to buy them.
It also costs money to put out coupons, either physical or digital, in no small part because you have many retailers that need reimbursed and coupon fraud is definitely an issue as well.
Simply put: Coupons are an advertising device.
Often, products that aren't selling well are either taken back by the manufacturer (to be sold at places that sell discontinued stuff) or marked down by the retailer with absolutely no fanfare (like a coupon). Folks that coupon a lot (or extrememly) are often getting new or established products at a good price instead of things they won't find in 3 months.
Coupons also allow price segmentation - they can sell that Tide soap for $20 to those who will pay it (and not bother with the coupon) and then offer almost perpetual coupons to those who know (and will bother), selling it for two prices simultaneously.
Things that aren't selling get discounted or clearanced, which can be fun when they overlap - you get the original coupons designed to promote the product, and the product flopped, so it's on discount, but the system still allows the coupon to apply to it - sometimes to nearly zero or even negative (most registers don't allow negative amounts anymore).
That's what I thought, I'm wondering if they really predict failing products, or if it was rather, companies already knew products were failing, and offloading onto these people through coupons.
Exactly, often those who are are looking for value are finding it in products that aren't economically viable - it's no surprise when these products are discontinued.
I noticed this for black friday & prime day sales as well. If you want an overstocked android powered device that a street sweeper found in an alley in Shenzhen, it will be listed as heavily discounted (although you don't know if it is actually a lower price than before). The flagship device you actually wanted will not be discounted at all.
Isn't this kind of expected? Companies will give out coupons for products that don't sell so well. The higher the coupon value, the more desperate the company to get rid of this stock.
So if these households like to coupon a lot, that means they accept less than ideal market fit for a price reduction.