By Walter Wilson


When a cashier at a retail location accepts a coupon, it seems like an easy enough task. They verify it has not expired and scan it. The register accepts it, and the transaction completed easily with a happy customer who just saved money. But there are actually many moving parts happening behind the scenes when it comes to redeeming these money saving wonders. Much of that work is done quietly yet efficiently by a coupon clearing house.

Stores gladly accept coupons because they know it makes customers happy, and make them more likely to keep shopping at that location. They take the temporary loss, but then send in the coupons to be counted to a clearing house. This is much easier on both the manufacturers who issued it and the stores, since the clearing house does all the accounting work in one place.

Once they reach the clearinghouse, that business then goes through the task of sorting and counting all of them. They invoice each one and then add up the total of all of them. That is the amount owed. This is so much simpler than having to hire a special couponing staff who will separate and add these up. It is time saving as well, which is a big deal in the business world.

Once an amount owed is determined, payment is then made and sent to the store that accepted all the coupons. They get their money back, and usually some kind of handling fee as well to pay for postage and any other costs associated with having accepted the coupon from the customer.

Retailers benefit greatly from these services, but manufacturers can get quite a few benefits as well. One of the things a clearing house can do for the product maker is to compile a report about usage of the coupons. This report allows the company to see if the issuing of coupons has been good for drumming up new business, or if it has not been a good use of company resources.

Audits are another service that allows manufacturers to see how their coupons are being used. A report of their redemption levels over several weeks or months can be compiled to look for any unusual circumstances or figures. This is meant to ensure there is no fraud going on and that all rules for redemption are being followed at the retailer level to avoid losing money.

They can even help to ensure that digital coupons are working and being redeemed properly. These are usually bar codes or letter and number codes that are generated for paperless couponing. This is very nice for retailers, consumers and manufacturers alike since there is no cost in paper or ink.

Finally, the clearing house can help reduce fraudulent and fake coupons. Some criminals use computer programs to make fakes that look like the real thing, complete with scannable bar codes. Employees can look at each physical coupon to spot fakes and alert retailers so they can stop taking them and reduce or eliminate fraud. This is yet another way that the clearinghouse has your back, whether you are the manufacturer or retailer.




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