Coupons first came into widespread use in the United States in 1909, when C. W. Post came up with the idea to help sell breakfast cereals and other products. Today, more than 700 corporations offer coupon discounts. Each year, coupons generate more than 8 billion dollars in transactions within the U.S. alone.

Another type of loyalty incentive is the trading stamp. It is distinct from a coupon in that a coupon is redeemable for a specific product or class of product, whereas a trading stamp acts like a currency, or a token economy.

It was used as a temporary currency for some former Soviet countries, especially Moldova (used until 1993, replaced by Moldovan lei), and Ukraine (replaced by hryvnia in 1996) after they became independent. There are also internet sites that have coupons that can be used online.

Online retailers usually refer to Internet Coupons as "coupon codes," "promotional codes," "promotion codes," "discount codes," "key codes," "promo codes," "shopping codes," "voucher codes" or "source codes." Internet coupons typically provide for reduced or no cost shipping, a specific dollar or percentage discount, or some other special offer to encourage consumers to purchase specific products or to purchase from specific retailers.

The term "coupon" is also used in manufacturing and material science to refer to a small piece of material used for testing or further processing, compare billet.