 If you have ever wondered about the coupon redemption process
I found this article online. It is from 1996 but still seems applicable to today. Here is the link, but the main part is below...
" Cleaning Up On Coupons C.W. Post issued the first cents-off coupon in 1895-a one- cent certificate for Grape Nuts cereal. Since then, coupons have become a mainstay of the American grocery shopper. These days, businesses on the Texas-Mexico border process many of the coupons used by shoppers around the nation. In 1994, U.S. manufacturers distributed 310 billion coupons valued at $10 billion. Although only about 2 percent of coupons are redeemed in stores each year, coupon issuers show few signs of slowing down. Manufacturers use coupons to introduce new products, call attention to new packaging or sizes, soften the blow of a price increase or reward loyal customers. According to Dun & Bradstreet's Nielsen Clearing House Promotional Services (NCH), coupons saved shoppers $4 billion in 1994. NCH is the largest company of its type in the world. Headquartered near Chicago, NCH operates its largest clearing house facilities in El Paso and Juarez. Texas is home to United Coupon Clearing House, which began operations in 1964 and is now the nation's third largest clearing house. The corporate office is in Lubbock, but the receiving office is in Del Rio and the processing office is a maquiladora in Muzquizo, Mexico. Carolina Marketing Services (CMS) and Indiana Processing have operations in Del Rio and Ciudad Acu-a. The CMS plant is the largest, processing about 40 million coupons per week. Processing redeemed coupons is a lengthy task. Because coupons are not standardized (size, expiration date, bar codes), they must be sorted and bundled by hand. Typically, coupons arrive at a clearing warehouse on the Texas side of the border and are shipped to Mexico for sorting because labor costs are cheaper there. Research by CMS indicates that the average American coupon-clipper spends 25 minutes a week searching for, sorting and clipping coupons. A survey by NCH reveals that more than 65 percent of consumers use coupons regularly, and 50 percent shop at stores that offer to double or triple the value of the coupons. Although half of all coupon users say they resent the time needed to clip, only one out of every eight consumers doesn't clip coupons at all. In the future, coupons will be available on-line through the Internet. Distributing coupons this way should be more efficient and may help to reduce coupon fraud. Manufacturers have become frustrated by small supermarkets that submit large amounts of coupons for products they haven't sold. This type of fraud has made it more difficult for honest grocers to receive reimbursement for the coupons they submit. Coupon issuers are making it tougher on clippers. Today the average coupon is good for only three months, about half as long as five years ago. The coupon with no expiration date is very rare. Shoppers can expect to save more with coupons for cereal, coffee, soft drinks, pet food, cold medicines and detergent. In general, the costlier the product, the larger the value of the coupon. To encourage coupon usage, Albertson's has been attaching coupons directly to certain targeted products. Actmedia, a subsidiary of Dallas-based Heritage Media Corp., began dispensing coupons in stores in 1992, using compact instant coupon machines equipped with blinking lights. These shelf-mounted electronic dispensers are now used in 14,000 supermarkets around the country. Redemption rates for coupons distributed in-store are higher than those for regular coupons found in the Sunday newspaper-18 percent compared to 3 percent." ....Window on State Gov'ment..Texas
__________________
Jackee
Little Rock AFB, Arkansas
| 
Re: If you have ever wondered about the coupon redemption process 
Linear Mode
Sponsors
