As a fellow consumer, I understand your frustration and why you would desire this sort of set-up.
And yes, you are correct that the system is designed specifically to extract the most amount of money on the sale of each product as possible -- coupons are basically tiered pricing and product promotion/advertising rolled into one. They also create a sense of urgency by putting an expiration date on them (even though we all know they'll print another soon w/ a further date for the exact same discount!)
There are far too many reasons to list as to why this is a very good thing overall for both the businesses and the customers who actually use the coupon system to their advantage.
In retail on commodities, it's extremely difficult to compete with one fixed low price on your goods. In a rational, pure commodity market, no one makes a profit as all businesses price their goods at rock-bottom (near cost) to compete and makes just enough to pay their workers and bills - if that.
Coupons allow companies to have tiered pricing which maximizes their profits on sales. Rich people and/or those that don't find it worth their time to clip coupons, track sales, and/or plan purchases pay the most because they lack a coupon. Others with coupons pay less (but usually still enough to bring in a profit.) Though, sometimes people buy more than they normally would because they had coupons, and the store still wins -- because they make a tiny profit still on each and the high turnover increases their profits.
Sometimes, the "real price" is always the coupon price -- like with a lot of donut shops. $1 off a dozen donut coupons are everywhere -- even on sheets inside the donut shop and on receipts, boxes, fliers, etc. Still, people see the advertisement and want a donut and feel they're getting a deal by using the coupon... which everyone has and they'll even waive the regular price for if you even mention the coupon if you don't have one on hand.
Sometimes, the coupons are "door busters" - or otherwise just to generate foot traffic. Come for the cheap milk, buy the expensive cookies to go with! Buy the cheap Doritos, and get the sodas with the jacked up pricing to go with!
Then, there's marketing research -- which publication did you actually read that had the coupon so we know where we should advertise and where we should not advertise, etc.
Don't want to join the "rewards program?!?" -- great! You'll be spending more than I do every time you visit the store b/c I have a rewards card and you don't. You are subsidizing my purchases. Thank you!
Also, so what if they track my data? Half my rewards cards are from an old address or belonged to my deceased grandmother -- not that they would care if they knew. They just want to know how regular a customer I am so they can stock their shelves appropriately according to my buying habits. They might mail a flier or two directly to my former home; but more often than not, they e-mail such things these days or just bulk mail stuff to all addresses.
