SmallBusinessNewz

Financial lessons don't always stick with people; sales of SUVs picked up months after gas prices went back down, for example, potentially locking their owners into low MPG figures for years.  Still, the results of a new study show that coupons will become a better and better way to attract customers.

Think people are clipping a lot of coupons now?  Well, they are.  But the predicted growth in this field is kind of incredible, and what's more, the study looked at online coupons, so small businesses that don't have brick-and-mortar stores can also get in on the game.

Here are the stats, then.  Mark Walsh wrote late yesterday, "In a new report, Borrell Associates estimates that the $8.3 billion value of online coupons redemptions in 2009 (including via the Internet, email and mobile) will jump more than 50% to $12.7 billion in 2010 and to $22 billion by 2014."

And it's a good bet that all of those coupons won't just be applied to purchases that would've been made, anyway, so companies that choose to not offer coupons may miss out on a lot of business.

Even companies that have found print coupons to be ineffective should think again.  Walsh reported, "Borrell pointed to a study by Nielsen partner NeuroFocus tracking consumer brainwave activity, which found that online coupons outperformed print ones in categories such as attention, emotional engagement, memory retention and effectiveness."