Groupon made a name for itself with its deal-of-the-day discounted gift certificates. With Groupon Coupons, the company now has a more traditional way to save.
Groupon Coupon is free to use: it has thousands of coupons from thousands of retailers, available to anyone with no upfront cost. But the name “Groupon Coupons” is a bit of a misnomer. The site says it has over 55,000 coupons from over 8,000 retailers, but many — if not most — of these “coupons” are just descriptions of current sales.
For example, as of March 17th, the site lists 66 total coupons for Target but 47 of them are listings of sales that are already advertised in stores and online. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; a sale can be just as good as a coupon, and Groupon Coupon can be a great way to find sales at your favorite stores. But people hunting for actual coupons may find the site has little to offer them.
Furthermore, the majority of the coupons that I found were actually promo codes to be used online. I found very few printable coupons that could be used in an actual store. Obviously, this won’t be a problem for online shoppers, but those hoping for coupons to scan at a register may be disappointed.
Perhaps more disappointing: finding coupons or sales for something specific can be an exercise in frustration. As I said, the site boasts over 55,000 coupons and sales, and Groupon editors are working around-the-clock to add more every day. The search option should make finding relevant coupons easier but it usually brings back a broad range of results for you to pore over, many of which are barely relevant.
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Coupon specific pages from your favorite brands[/caption]
Searching by retailer is easy. Headed to Home Depot or Walgreens? Want to do some spring shopping at Nordstroms? You can go to pages dedicated specifically to those stores and see all of their current coupons and sales. But if you are looking for a coupon for something specific, you’ll likely have to do a little digging since you can’t search for specific items. You can search for predefined categories (e.g., electronics, jewelry, pet supplies, etc.) but that can bring up hundreds, even thousands of irrelevant results.
Despite that, Groupon Coupons is still worth a visit before you shop (or, if you’re already at the store, you can pull up Groupon Coupons through the Groupon app on iPhones and Androids). It’s a great way to find current sales at your favorite retailers, and with some patience and persistence, you may be able to find a coupon for specific products. Additionally, I’ve seen a few retailers offer deals that are apparently only available through Groupon Coupon.
So while the user-experience is lacking, that doesn’t stop Groupon Coupon from being a good resource. With thousands of coupons and sales for thousands of retailers, the site can help you find a good deal. But like most other thrifty undertakings, it will likely take some extra effort to save money.
Have you used Groupon Coupons? What was your experience like?
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This post has been brought to you by Groupon. All opinions expressed are 100% the authors.
4 Comments
Thanks for the advice! I will keep it in my back pocket of thrifty info!
I hadn’t realized Groupon expanded to this new coupon thing. At first I thought it was just referring to regular Groupon. It sounds like something I’d like, but I’d probably share some of your frustrations, so I think I may give it more time and hope some of the kinks get worked out!
Hi, Heather! I agree, and I think these are kinks that can be worked out. I’m not a programmer or a web designer, so I don’t know how hard it is to make the search engine more useful, but I’m sure it can be done if Groupon wants to. Additionally, I think that, over time, Groupon Coupon will naturally grow and have more actual coupons and promo codes available.