Since I just moved to Seattle, my girlfriend and I bought actual hard copy editions of the Seattle Times on the off-chance there’d be some coupons or sales we could know about to get the bric-a-bric we need for our home. Turned out, there wasn’t much in there, making printed papers even less relevant to us.
Now, newspapers are aiming to keep their coupons as they shift online. A new partnership between the AP and 40 newspapers called iCircular will put sales circulars and coupons on newspaper websites and apps. The LA Times has more:
The ads and inserts can be accessed through a newspaper’s app or mobile site in a new built-in “deals” tab. A tap of that tab on the touchscreen devices and “you’ll find all of the merchandise and products contained in your weekly preprint — browse retailers’ store ads and view product information, plus you’ll be able to make a shopping list, get directions to the closest store, share with family and friends, plus many other great features and tools,” the AP said.
Sales circulars are a large part of newspaper revenue — and many of them use the coupons as the lure to keep subscription numbers up. So this move seems smart, as well as inevitable. But the interface has to work well, to make sure readers see the information and can use the coupons easily.
