Valassis Communications Inc. formed a partnership yesterday with Coupons.com, a Web site that delivers online coupons.
The free standing insert giant also has acquired a minority interest in Coupons.com and has the option of increasing its investment during the Web site’s next round of financing.
The agreement will allow Valassis to offer packaged goods companies a single source for their online and offline couponing needs, said Jeff Blackman, director of financial services for Valassis, Livonia, MI. “We want to be able to be a one-stop shop for our clients.”
Valassis' FSIs currently reach 58 million homes in the weekly Sunday newspaper. The coupons consumers receive in their homes will not be identical to those they see at Coupons.com; although, there may be some overlap, said Blackman. “We’re not just taking all of our FSI content and giving it to them electronically. We’ll go to same customers, as well as expand the customer base, and sell them the Coupons.com solution. It’s additional revenue flow. There will be overlap, but you’re not going to open up Sunday newspaper FSI and see the exact same thing on the Web site.”
The new Valassis content for the Coupons.com site will begin appearing in the third quarter.
Coupons.com is the latest addition to the portfolio of Internet properties with which Valassis has agreements. It currently has investments in Save.com, a network coupon solution that allows consumers to download a piece of software to view coupons at partner sites.
Valassis also has an agreement with IDS.com, an e-commerce provider that allows grocery retailers to open up shop online. It distributes coupons and other offers at the point of purchase at IDS.com-enabled sites.
Coupons.com currently has more than 35,000 local, national and online coupons and more than 1.7 million unique monthly visitors.
Valassis also plans to use white space at the top of the page on its FSIs to promote its Web properties as well as its partners. The new messages will begin appearing June 4.
