Who Doesn't Love Foldable Ircs?

Who doesn't know the joy of picking up your favorite box of cookies and finding a 55 cent coupon stuck to the front of it? In the printing industry, those are called folded IRCs or Instant Redeemable Coupons. Both consumers and companies love them, and here's why: instant savings.

So You'll Buy More Cookies

IRCs are meant to draw you to a product that producers want to sell. Marketing teams work with sales teams to come up with ways to sell consumers more cookies. Instead of simply putting them on sale for a few cents cheaper, folded IRCs add a tangible bonus to the savings. Consumers delight in finding a sale plus a coupon to redeem. Psychologically this gives them "permission" to buy more boxes of cookies.

Companies understand that the idea of savings is subjective. It's the difference between stopping with a couple of potato chips versus grabbing a handful, right? For instance, one person shopping after lunch will find that cookie sale, redeem that IRC and pocket the savings.

The next person hasn't had their lunch yet and will notice that same cookie sale and IRC. Immediately their eyes will bulge out with the tantalizing notion that grabbing a few boxes of those cookies. To them, this means that they can devour one now on the cheap and take two more home for dessert after dinner. So they buy more cookies than they need. They're not thinking that perhaps they're negating any savings. They're okay with that because they are so very happy that they reminded the cashier to pull those instant redeemable coupons off the front of the cookie boxes.

Even Companies Reap the Benefits

When consumers are happy with their cookie savings, there's more chances that they'll be repeat customers. Heck, they might even forgo their usual cookies and try the ones next to it with the attached coupons. It's a great way to introduce new products to consumers.

IRCs also entice cookie lovers to check back to see if they're still on sale and to tell their friends to try them when they are. They hereby extend the product's selling season which benefits the companies that produce them.

So maybe next time you'll find a stack of those cookies lining the end-cap of the cookie aisle. And you just might find yourself impulsively rooting through them for that stray 55 cent instant redeemable coupon. Because nothing tastes as good as munching on cookies in the car when you're hungry for savings, right?