Numbers released by online coupon aggregator tjoos.com indicate that online spending patterns are rapidly changing and order sizes are down by 30% in the face of the current economic turmoil.

Over the last two months the average order sizes shrunk 30% from $103 in August to $72 in October. The largest drop in order sizes came from the over $250 bracket, which nearly halved from 10.3% to 5.3% of all orders, a strong indicator that consumers are putting off spending on big ticket items as the uncertainty about the economy continues.

Historically the use of price comparison and coupon sites tends to go up when the economy weakens. In 2001 tracking from ICOM Information & Communications, a Toronto-based marketing communications company, showed a significant increase in the number of coupons consumers redeemed each week. According to a recent poll conducted by ICOM 71% of consumers aged 18-34 are "much more" or "somewhat more" likely to use coupons in a recession. Traffic numbers for tjoos.com seem to back this up with an increase in unique visitors of 93% in the last two months.

Retailers are reacting to slowing sales by sending out record numbers of deals and coupons. New York Bar Store went so far as to issue an "Alcoholic Bailout package" in the form of a storewide 10% off coupon until the Dow Jones closes above 10,000 points.

Bart Jellema, co-founder of Tjoos.com says he saw a 31% increase in emails containing deals and coupons from retailers since August. "This is great news," he said, "as we are able to collect these offers and make them readily available to everyone. These deals and coupons can really help stretch the family budget further during these turbulent economic times."