Less than a decade ago, back when the Internet was new, viruses were few and worms were found only in the garden, the prospects for e-mail-delivered coupons seemed bright. Many analysts, in fact, predicted the demise of the free-standing insert in the Sunday paper.
They failed to check with the consumer first, however. The usage of Internet coupons accounts for far less than 1% of coupons issued by consumer products companies in the U.S. NCH Marketing Services Inc. (Deerfield, Ill.) puts the number at 0.2%, while the Promotion Marketing Association (New York) offers a kinder 0.5% usage rate.