Traditional or old fashioned coupons are strictly published on paper. They are distributed via direct mail or in print media such as newspapers and magazines. Shoppers hunt through these sources, clipping next day blinds coupons from their local paper and trading baby formula coupons with neighbors whose infants prefer a different brand.

Online coupons are a completely different beast. To start off, they can be found in a lot more places. Company websites, local web portals, social sites, blogs, and online news sites may sport coupons as advertising or share coupons as part of stories or commentary. Then there are the sites that are nothing but coupons and the forums that allow people to share URLs for the great deals they found elsewhere. Coupons can also arrive via email from a variety of opt in sources.

Internet coupons come in two distinct types. The traditional coupons that must be printed out and physically delivered to the store or business are still quite popular. Other companies have replaced next day blinds coupons with promo codes. Shoppers can type the code into a web form when buying things online or they can simply mention the code at the cash register of a bricks and mortar business.