What Coupons and Deals Americans Are Searching For, According to Google

November 30, 2018

Everyone loves a good deal. In fact, according to recent research, 68 percent of consumers won’t shop online without a coupon or discount code. With the availability of coupons affecting every aspect of the consumer purchase journey, it’s more important than ever that businesses understand how to incorporate coupons into their overall business strategy.

To do this, it’s not only important to understand how Americans use coupons and deals, but also what they use coupons and deals for. To gain a better understanding of the deals and coupons Americans want the most, we compiled the top Google searches around “coupons” and “deals” using SEMrush. Then, to get a better sense of how interest varies around the country, we analyzed these searches on Google Trends.

Read on to learn more about what discounts Americans are the most interested in, or click on the jump links below to get specific information about how Americans search coupons vs. deals.

Deals Americans are interested in| Coupons Americans are interested in

What Deals Are Americans Searching For?

We first looked at searches around “deals” in SEMrush to get a better idea of what types of deals are most top-of-mind for Americans.

Americans Most Interested in Deal-Specific Days

When it comes to searching for deals, Americans are most interested in deal-specific days: “Black Friday deals” and “Cyber Monday deals” were the top two most-searched terms around deals, respectively.

Additionally, Americans were interested in travel deals; of the top 15 searches we analyzed, six were focused on some sort of travel-specific deal, including “cruise deals,” “car rental deals,” “flight deals” and “last minute hotel deals.”

State-Specific Searches Center on Technology and Car Lease Deals

Next, we analyzed deal-related keyword searches on Google Trends to see which deals were popular by state. Technology was a popular topic, with “iPhone deals,” “laptop deals” and “TV deals” making up a combined 32 percent of the top searches by state.

Another type of deal Americans are interested are car lease deals; the keyword “lease deals” was popular with residents in California, Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio and Pennsylvania. “Hotel deals” were also popular with residents in the north- and southwest, ranking as the top searches in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington.

Americans Also Searching for National Deal Days

In addition to deals for specific products and services, “National Deal Day” searches are popular among Americans. National Cheeseburger Day, during which chains such as Wendy’s, Red Robin and Sonic give away free or discounted cheeseburgers, was the top search related to deal days, followed by National Pizza Day and National Ice Cream Day.

What Coupons Are Americans Searching For?

To get a better idea of the coupons Americans most want to find, we analyzed the top 100 coupon-related searches from SEMrush and categorized them by industry.

Retail Coupons Are the Most Searched-For Coupon Type

Of the top 100 coupon-related searches we analyzed, the majority were related to retail, with 59 percent of the top 100 searches related to the retail industry. Following retail, food-related coupons were the second most popular type of coupon searched, comprising 24 percent of the top 100 coupon-related searches.

Clothing and Accessories Are the Top Type of Retail Coupon Searched

Among the most-searched retail coupons, clothing and accessories are the top type of retail coupon searched, at 32 percent, followed by specific department stores at 10 percent.

Food Coupons Are the Second Most Searched-For Coupon Type

Following retail-specific coupons, food-related coupons are the second-most searched coupon type, at 24 percent of the top 100 searches. Of these food coupons, the most popular type of restaurant Americans search for are fast casual restaurants, which comprise 42 percent of the top food-related coupon searches, followed by fast food at 29 percent and pizza at 21 percent.

Additionally, our research found that Americans search for coupons to specific restaurants. The most popular restaurant-related coupon search among Americans top 100 food-related searches was Pizza Hut, which was the most popular in Mississippi.

Overall, pizza-related coupons were the most popular type of restaurant searched; following Pizza Hut, Americans searched for Papa John’s and Domino’s coupons.

How Do Americans Search For Coupons vs. Deals?

By analyzing the top searches around “deals” and “coupons,” we can get a better idea of what Americans are interested in receiving discounts on and how their perceptions of deals and coupons differ.

Largely, Americans limited their “deals” searches to more general terms, such as “hotel deals” or “laptop deals.” In contrast, searches around “coupons” were more product and retailer specific — think “car rental deals” vs. “Hertz coupons.” Additionally, we can see that Americans use “deal” search terms around specific shopping-related holidays, such as Black Friday, or freebie days, such as National Coffee Day.

Businesses should consider the nuanced way Americans search for coupons and deals as they move to incorporate coupons into their overall marketing and profit strategy.