Validation/Clearing Solutions Highlight Exhibits at Industry Coupon Conference
By Jack Grant
Solutions are needed to combat the mis/malredemption and fraud associated with paper coupons. These persistent problems continue to create financial hardship for manufacturers, retailers, media partners, as well as retailer clearing houses and manufacturer agents.
Some of these solutions were among several others on display last month in Las Vegas at the annual Industry Coupon Conference hosted by the Association of Coupon Professionals (ACP) in collaboration with other industry groups.
“The exhibits gave manufacturers and retailers the chance to learn about the latest technology and solutions that improve couponing,” said John Morgan, executive director of ACP.
For example, the Intelligent Clearing Network (ICN) introduced a solution that electronically validates and clears coupons and other incentives at the point of sale (POS) in grocery, drug, and mass merchant retailers. By replacing today’s manual, convoluted, and fraud-prone process, ICN’s clearing network provides manufacturers, media companies, and retailers with true “real time” redemption information the moment the incentive clears the retailer’s POS system.
“Solving the problem at the POS is the most effective way of addressing the problem,” Rich Thibedeau, ICN’s Executive Vice President of Operations told CPGmatters in the exhibit area. He said the company’s single connection to a retailer’s POS also provides a very elegant digital solution which eliminates the need for downloading and uploading files to the POS.
By implementing a validation service for processing paper coupons at the POS, he explained, the industry can potentially save up to hundreds of millions of dollars every year. Manufacturers and retailers will see direct improvements to their bottom lines.
Meanwhile, the growth of digital coupons is placing a strain on retailers’ POS systems. As the popularity of digital coupons continues to grow, explained Thibedeau, ICN’s software has the ability to take the strain off the retailer’s POS systems and eliminates the need for downloading and uploading files to the POS. The more media programs the retailer adds the more complicated the POS processing becomes.
The bottom line: ICN provides a single connection to the retailer’s POS which can serve the needs of both paper and digital coupon validation and clearing.
Meanwhile, executives from Cunningham Electronics Corporation were on hand to explain their Electronic Coupon Redemption System (ECRS). The company says that for less than
3 cents of the 8 cents that is paid by manufacturers for coupon redemption, “we can provide the average retailer with a customer service that eliminates the millions of dollars wasted in redeeming coupons that are not properly verified and validated.”
The company listed the following benefits of its ECRS:
- An audit trail to provide proof of purchase for both paper and electronic coupons
- Elimination of altered or counterfeit coupon redemption – no more chargebacks
- Weekly payment for coupons redeemed the previous week.
- Elimination of shipping coupons and associated costs for both retailers and manufacturers.
- Full and accurate validation of each coupon regardless of the barcode used (UPC or GS1).
- Both retailers and manufacturers receive the transaction records for verification of coupons processed each week.
ProLogic Redemption Solutions presented itself as “the retailer’s advocate on coupon clearing and processing.” The company aims to help retailers and wholesalers recover expenses associated with their coupon programs. Specifically, this means:
- Accurate counting and sorting
- Quick payments
- Reimbursements for shipping and handling expenses
- Clearing for both paper and digital coupons
- Pharmacy receivables management services.
Document Security Systems (DSS) provides security printing and anti-counterfeiting technologies. By combining a patented suite of AuthentiGuard security printing techniques with industry recognized features, and a strict set of security-focused standard operating procedures, DSS aims to ensure maximum mitigation of risk for valuable print programs.
The company says it has printed millions of coupons for the world’s most recognized consumer product companies – without any report of fraud. Its layered technology approach is designed to ensure maximum protection against copying and scanning, and “irrefutable authentication upon redemption.”
Totally focused on “shopper marketing,” Meyers is the preferred company of some of the world’s most prestigious brands for retail signage, in-pack and on-pack promotional vehicles and for high-security products.
The company says that its approach to coupon fraud is used by the most influential brands in the world. A combination of overt and covert printing processes in addition to CIC protocols is designed to allow Meyers to offer high-security coupons.
NPC provides customized print and electronic document solutions for customers. Its ConfiDoc solution was developed for customer care, rewards programs, and high-value offers. This integrated coupon and letter is the deliverable of a broader coupon solution build to cost effectively secure high value and free product coupons as well as create opportunities to enhance consumer interaction.
Pinpoint Data, provider of barcoding and family code management for the promotions industry, exhibited its site of tools for manufacturers to produce, validate and communicate barcodes and associated data sets to the marketplace. CouponChek and ProductChek are online barcode content validation tools. The Barcode Wizard incorporates protections into an online wizard interface that instantly creates properly coded barcodes. FamilyCode Manager and Product Data Dispatcher products maintain and electronically distribute family code information to retailers.
