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In marketing, a coupon is a ticket or document that can be redeemed for a financial discount or rebate when purchasing a product.
Customarily, coupons are issued by manufacturers of consumer packaged goods[1] or by retailers, to be used in retail stores as a part of sales promotions. They are often widely distributed through mail, coupon envelopes, magazines, newspapers, the Internet (social media, newsletter), directly from the retailer, and mobile devices such as cell phones.
The New York Times reported "more than 900 manufacturers' coupons were distributed" per household, and that "the United States Department of Agriculture estimates that four families in five use coupons.[2] "Only about 4 percent" of coupons received were redeemed.[2] Coupons can be targeted selectively to regional markets in which price competition is great.
Most coupons have an expiration date, although American military commissaries overseas honor manufacturers' coupons for up to six months past the expiration date.[3]
The word is of French origin, pronounced [kupɔ̃]. In Britain, the United States, and Canada it is pronounced KOO-pon. A common alternate American pronunciation is KEW-pon.[4]
During the great famine of 18 AH (638 CE), Umar, the second ruler of the Islamic Caliphate, introduced several reforms such as the introduction of food rationing using coupons, which were given to those in need and could be exchanged for wheat and flour.[5]
Believed to be the first coupon ever, this ticket for a free glass of Coca-Cola was first distributed in to help promote the drink. By , the company had redeemed 8.5 million tickets.[
6]
Coca-Cola's -issued "free glass of" is the earliest documented coupon.[6][7] Coupons were mailed to potential customers and placed in magazines. It is estimated that between and one in nine Americans had received a free Coca-Cola, for a total of 8,500,000 free drinks. By , Coke was served in every state in the United States.[8]
In , Betty Crocker began a loyalty points program and began issuing coupons that could be used to redeem for premiums like free flatware. In the coupons were printed on the outside of packages. The loyalty program ended in , [citation needed] one of the longest loyalty programs.[9]
In Australia consumers first[dubious ' discuss] came in contact with couponing when a company called Shopa Docket promoted offers and discounts on the back of shopping receipts in .[10]
Coupons offer different types of values, such as discounts, free shipping, buy-one get-one, trade-in for redemption, first-time customer coupons, free trial offer, launch offers, festival offers, and free giveaways. Similarly, there are varied uses of coupons which include: to incentivize a purchase, reduce a price, provide a free sample,[11] or to aid marketers in understanding the demographics of their customer.
Coupons can be used to research the price sensitivity of different groups of buyers (by sending out coupons with different dollar values to different groups). Time, location and sizes (e.g. five pound vs. 20 pound bag)[12] affect prices; coupons are part of the marketing mix.[13] So is knowing about the customer.[14][12]
Grocery coupons come in two major types:
[
1]
may be used at any coupon-accepting store that carries that product. Part of their function is to advertise their offerings and attract new customers.Some grocery stores regularly double or even triple the value of coupons to bring customers into their stores.[2] Periodic special events double or triple coupon values on certain days or weeks.[15]
Coupons exist in more than one form, and are acquired by customers in a variety of ways.
Historically, verifying the discount offered has been via presenting coupons clipped from newspapers[1] or received in the mail. Some retailers and companies use verification methods such as unique barcodes, coupon ID numbers, holographic seals, and watermarked paper as protection from unauthorized copying or use. Other than newspapers, there are also coupon book publishers and retailers who compile vouchers and coupons into books, either for sale or free.
By the mid-s, "couponing had also moved to the internet."[16] An early term was clipless coupons.[17] Later on the term "downloadable coupons" came into use.[18] Options include:
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Iranian government national rations have a mobile app.[23]
Depending on the jurisdiction, coupons may or may not reduce any sales tax to be paid by the consumer. The most consumer-friendly tax situation taxes the actual price paid, including when the store does double and triple coupon reductions.[24]
The above applies when the retailer is the source of the coupon, since the product is offered at the post-coupon price. In jurisdictions seeking to tax more,[25] if the coupon is issued by the manufacturer, the original price is still paid but some of the price is covered by the manufacturer instead of the consumer and the full price remains taxable.
Coupon manufacturers may or may not place restrictions on coupons limiting their transferability to ensure the coupons stay within the targeted market. Since such restrictions are not universal and are difficult and/or costly to enforce, limited coupon trading is tolerated in the industry. Organized coupon exchange clubs are commonly found in regions where coupons are distributed. Often coupons are available for purchase at some online sites,[26] but since most coupons are not allowed to be sold, the fee is considered to be for the time and effort put into cutting out the coupons.
Some types of coupons may be sold. The New York Times not only said "the traffic is legal" regarding selling airline discount coupons, but wrote "check the commercial notices column in The New York Times or the classified advertising section under 'Miscellaneous') in The Wall Street Journal.[27]
During war time or economic hardships, trading or selling ration coupons is an economic crime.[28][29]
By Tasso Argyros, ActionIQ
When was the last time you received a coupon in your mailbox? If you're anything like me, probably sometime in the past week. What about the last time a retailer emailed you a coupon code? You've probably received a few of those today, maybe even in the last few minutes. Go on, check your . I'll wait.
Now, when was the last time you used a coupon? Are there retailers that you wouldn't even think of shopping at without receiving some kind of discount? Would you use a coupon on your ? Coupons have become an indelible part of our retail landscape. But as brick-and-mortar retailers struggle to compete against e-Commerce, it's time to take a good, long look at them to see if they're doing more harm than good.
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Retailers have Coca-Cola to thank for the coupon's invention. In , Asa Candler devised an innovative marketing strategy: offer hand-written vouchers to the public entitling them to a free glass of Coca-Cola, then retailing at 5 cents. The goal was to get people to try the product ' and it worked like a dream. In the period between and , it's estimated that one out of every nine Americans had received a free Coke ' meaning that 8.5 million free drinks had been distributed to the public.
Now the real question is, did it work in the long-term?
It could be argued that Coca-Cola's continued existence is proof enough that their marketing tactics were successful, or at least didn't do any permanent damage. But the fact that it took decades for Coca-Cola to phase out their coupons shows how valuable a marketing tool it was, and how difficult it was to relinquish it completely.
Despite Coca-Cola's success, marketers were surprisingly slow to recognize the coupon's potential. It wasn't until the s and the height of the Great Depression that coupons became really popular, as people looked to save money any way they could. In the s, supermarket chains began offering shoppers coupons to lure them away from their local grocery stores, offering steep discounts but with the assumption that any money lost would be regained through the number of customers acquired.
Now, 130 years after its creation, the coupon is still a vital part of some retailers' strategies. Perhaps the most famous example of this is Bed Bath & Beyond's 20% off coupon, which has its own cult following. Unfortunately for the retailer, the popularity of this particular deal has backfired, reducing their profits and prompting a reevaluation of their coupon strategy. The issue stems from the fact that most people won't shop there unless they have a coupon ' which has had a severe impact on their bottom line.
To combat this, Bed Bath & Beyond has been testing an Amazon Prime-like loyalty program that gives members a 20% discount year-round in exchange for a small annual fee. The program is in early stages, but it hasn't proved popular ' so it's safe to say that those Bed Bath & Beyond coupons won't be going anywhere for a while.
Retailers have to ask themselves whether there are ways to give customers a good deal without resorting to coupons. For example, Amazon Prime's model gives customers discounts on products, while making that money back on the subscription fees that people pay. By employing this model, companies can lessen their dependence on discount codes while still giving customers what they want ' lower prices ' without sacrificing their bottom line. While there are hurdles to overcome, as Bed Bath & Beyond's example shows, this strategy remains one that retailers should consider.
It's unlikely that brands will stop using coupons entirely. Everybody likes getting a discount, and right now, coupons still have strong influence over consumer buying patterns. But in order to be successful, companies need to start weaning their customers off of discount vouchers, especially ones that are not specific to person or location.
Some companies, like JCPenney and Barnes & Noble, have simply adopted coupons as part of their business strategy. These companies have been using coupons for so long that those discounts have become synonymous with the brand itself ' so getting rid of them would be like a betrayal of the brand.
To my chagrin, nobody gets a voucher for a free Coke anymore. This hasn't stopped me from drinking it, or buying other Coca-Cola products. Coca-Cola doesn't need to give out free Cokes anymore, and retailers shouldn't have to rely on coupons. In order for retailers to thrive, they need to find a way to offer people discounts without sacrificing revenue, whether by offering coupons that are targeted to specific people or are geofenced, or by creating a subscription model where people get discounts in exchange for a small fee. That's the only way for retailers to break the cycle of dependency.
Tasso Argyros is founder and CEO of ActionIQ. He started ActionIQ to combine his passions for solving real-world business data problems and developing innovative technology. Originally from Greece, he dropped out of the PhD program at Stanford to start one of the first companies in the Big Data infrastructure space, Aster Data.
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