YONKERS, NY – How much do coupon clippers really save? According to a new poll conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center for ShopSmart magazine, women who use coupons and store-loyalty cards save over 10% a year on groceries, the equivalent of $678 a year.

“In the past year, the cost of eggs rose nearly 30 percent and prices of juices and dog food climbed nearly 15 percent, making coupon clipping more important than ever,” said Lisa Lee Freeman, editor-in-chief of ShopSmart. “Our survey found that there are big savings to be had so the 44% of women who don’t use coupons are certainly missing out!”

The Coupon Poll is part of ShopSmart's feature on hidden savings at the supermarket. The feature includes four secrets to reduce grocery expenses, the best coupon sites, pros and cons of online food-delivery services and testimonies from true coupon queens.

The ShopSmart Coupon Poll finds:

Coupons Change Shopping Habits

• Brand loyalty often takes a backseat to money-saving offers as over half (55%) of female coupon clippers have bought a different brand than usual because of a coupon offer.
• Nearly one-third (30%) of respondents made a special trip to the store just to use a coupon.

Coupons and Store Loyalty Cards

• Two-thirds (65%) of women have at least one store loyalty card at a place where they grocery shop and over half (56%) use coupons at least occasionally.
• The most commonly used source of coupons, weekend newspapers (73%), was also considered the best source by women who grocery shop.
• On average, a woman who uses coupons will collect seven and use four.

At Check Out

• The average female grocery shopper estimates spending $116 in a typical week amounting to over $6,000 per year.
• Considering the money spent on groceries, it is no surprise that three quarters (75%) of female grocery shoppers always or often watch the price scanner at checkout.
• One in five (19%) of those watching the scanner frequently find errors.

Tips to Cut Your Weekly Grocery Tab

With most food prices going up, ShopSmart experts share how to uncover the best coupons and the biggest money-wasting traps at your supermarket so you can save big.

• GO ONLINE FOR COUPONS. Get money-off coupons and free samples from coupon  sites  such  as  SmartSource.com,  Coupons.com  and   CoolSavings.com, 
  e-mail newsletters and manufacturer Web sites. Use store-loyalty cards with those coupons to save even more.
• TRY SOMETHING NEW. Give a second thought to those grocery items you buy over and over again. You may be missing cheaper products that are just as good. Also check out store-brand products which can be as much as 50 percent cheaper and are often just as good or better than brand-name products.
• AVOID SPENDING TRAPS. Beat stores at their own game by refusing free samples, ignoring product posters at the front entrance, avoiding the middle of the shelves, skipping unplanned buys and avoiding products displayed at the end of the aisle.
• STOCK UP ON SALE ITEMS. If you’ve got the space in your freezer and cabinets, it pays to load up on staples when they’re on sale. Also, the same items are often on sale in multiple stores in your area. So check out the circulars from those other stores and then scoop up the bargains by store-hopping.

ShopSmart Coupon Poll Methodology
The Consumer Reports National Research Center conducted a telephone survey of a nationally representative probability sample of telephone households. 1,014 interviews were completed among women aged 18+. Interviewing took place over November 15-18, 2007. The margin of error is +/- 3.1% points at a 95% confidence level.

About ShopSmart magazine:
Launched in Fall 2006 by Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, ShopSmart draws upon Consumer Reports’ celebrated tradition of accepting no advertisements and providing unbiased product reviews. The magazine features product reviews, shopping tips on how to get the most out of products and “best of the best” lists. ShopSmart is ideal for busy shoppers who place a premium on time. ShopSmart has a newsstand price of $4.99 and is available nationwide at major retailers including Barnes & Noble, Wal-Mart, Borders, Kroger, Safeway and Publix.  Subscriptions are now available at www.ShopSmartmag.org.