May, 2013
About the ACP, the Joint Industry Coupon Committee and this guide :
The Association of Coupon Professionals (“ACP”) is a trade organization whose members are consumer products manufacturers (CPG); independent and chain retailers; retailer clearinghouses; manufacturer redemption agents; paper and digital coupon distribution companies; advertising/promotion agencies; printers and other organizations that support the couponing industry.
Mission Statement : To provide an industry forum that fosters expertise, education, and leadership that enriches the development, distribution, and redemption of coupons, ensuring they remain a viable sales, and marketing and promotion tool.
ACP Goals:

Provide leadership and education.

Building knowledge to build relationships

Forum for discussion; platform for solutions

Develop and drive best practices.
1
Association of Coupon Professionals 1051 Pontiac Road, PO Box 512 Drexel Hill, PA 19026
(p)(610) 789-1478 www.couponpros.org


Lead by example – We are the stewards of our profession
The Association of Coupon Professionals is a dynamic group of Consumer Products
Manufacturers, retailers, processors and a variety of solution providers collectively pursuing the mission and goals of the ACP
The ACP is working in collaboration with the leadership of Joint Industry Coupon
Committee (JICC), the Food Marketing Institute (FMI), and Grocery Manufacturers
Association (GMA). A leadership committee from these groups was formed to address coupon guidelines. GS1US and Coupon Information Corporation (CIC) are also involved.
Prioritization of topics and work delegation is geared toward the association best equipped to accomplish a task. The objective is to address issues topic by topic, seek endorsement from all associations and make available to industry participants.
The ACP Coupon Guidelines Committee created and approved these guidelines. The
ACP Board of Directors and the Joint Industry Coupon Committee also approved these guidelines. When guidelines are developed there are “feedback\ comment\ input loops” from the ACP board of directors back to the Guidelines Committee and from The JICC
Committee back to the ACP Board of Directors and Coupon Guidelines Committee. This enables representative participation by retailers, manufacturers, coupon processors, vendors and associations, consensus and ultimately endorsement.
The guidelines are available to industry participants. Industry participants include retailers, manufacturers, coupon processors and solution providers that directly support retailers or manufacturers. These guidelines should not be made public and or available on website that is not password protected. These guidelines should not be made available to consumers or consumer facing companies.
Self-checkout lanes were first installed in U.S. retailers during the mid-1990s. Because they offered real opportunities to address cashier shortages and improve customer service, retailer installations and consumer usage of self-checkout lanes initially grew rapidly growing to more than 20% of transactions but has since plateaued to roughly 15% of transactions.
The design and configuration of self-checkout lanes is often customized to each retailer’s specific needs. Some retailers choose to offer “express only” self-checkout, while others have installed lanes equipped to handle any size order. Some self-checkout lanes can be converted for full-service cashier operation, while others are established as self-scan only. Retailers typically convert between 20 and 35 percent of each store’s lanes to selfcheckout.
2
Association of Coupon Professionals 1051 Pontiac Road, PO Box 512 Drexel Hill, PA 19026
(p)(610) 789-1478 www.couponpros.org

Generally consumers like the convenience of self-scanning, and feel it saves them time.
They dislike the self-scan experience, however, when products or coupons don’t scan, when they have to spend a lot of time to find product look-up codes, or when they must wait for an attendant to assist in completing their purchase.
An important operational and financial decision that retailers must make related to selfcheckout, is how coupons will be handled in these lanes. There are three basic options for how a retailer might choose to handle coupon redemptions on self-checkout lanes.

Do not accept coupons

Accept coupons, but require attendant verification and scanning

Accept coupons, allowing customers to scan coupons and insert into receptacle
Do not accept coupons on self-checkout lanes
Deciding to NOT accept coupons in self-checkout lanes is a viable operational decision that could help to meet retailers’ customer service and staffing goals, as well as help to minimize retailer losses as a result of unattended consumer coupon malredemption or fraud.
Self-checkout lanes seem to best meet retailer and customer expectations when orders are fairly small and uncomplicated. Acknowledging this, retailers have established many of their self-checkout lanes as express lanes, limiting by design the number of items that may be purchased in those locations, and the overall complexity of those orders.
An ideally uncomplicated order assumes that all products being purchased contain a scanable bar code, payment can be made electronically or with cash, and there is no need for cashier/attendant intervention. This might mean no PLUs, age-restricted products, bottle returns, food stamps, checks, or coupons.
Smaller, self-scanned orders more frequently meet these conditions, so restricting coupon usage from self-checkout lanes would not necessarily have a significant impact on the consumers using those lanes.
Accept coupons on self-checkout lanes, but require attendant verification and scanning
Many retailers who currently accept coupons on their self-scan lanes have established a system where a self-checkout attendant is responsible for verifying the validity of coupons presented, checking for expiration dates, and scanning the coupons on behalf of the customer prior to final payment.
3
Association of Coupon Professionals 1051 Pontiac Road, PO Box 512 Drexel Hill, PA 19026
(p)(610) 789-1478 www.couponpros.org

Should retailers decide to accept coupons on their self-checkout lanes, the additional decision to handle coupons in this manner helps to insure that coupons are being redeemed properly and that the retailers aren’t issuing unauthorized, or unreimbursable discounts.
This type of coupon redemption process essentially replicates what occurs on regular checkout lanes. It is, however, important to note that retailers typically staff only one attendant for every three to four self-checkout lanes, so during busy shopping times, the wait time for what was intended to be a speedy shopping trip could become frustrating and unacceptable to the customer.
Accept coupons on self-checkout lanes, allowing customers to scan their own coupons, and then insert them into a coupon receptacle
Although some self-scan lanes are equipped to handle redemption of coupons in this manner, there are intrinsic reasons that coupons may complicate a transaction, requiring attendant intervention in order to avoid retailer loss or customer frustration. Free coupons, complex coupons, incorrectly coded coupons, high-value coupons, an excessive quantity of coupons, 992 coupons, expired coupons, and store coupons, are all instances that might (or should) require attendant assistance.
Besides recalling that any necessary attendant intervention may negate consumers’ primary reasons for using self-checkout lanes...convenience and speed...this particular method for redeeming coupons is the most financially risky for the retailer. With the proposed future enhancements for coupon bar codes, there will be opportunities to improve the self-scanning of coupons by consumers, but until then, this method of redeeming coupons on self-checkout lanes is not recommended.
Summary
As we know, coupons are highly effective promotional tools, both for manufacturers and retailers. We also know that most consumers use coupons at least occasionally. It is important that each retailer’s decision regarding how (or if) to accept coupons on selfcheckout lanes be carefully measured against their own objectives for making selfcheckout available to their customers.
4
Association of Coupon Professionals 1051 Pontiac Road, PO Box 512 Drexel Hill, PA 19026
(p)(610) 789-1478 www.couponpros.org

ACP Coupon Guidelines Committee Members
Raynetta Hughes
Dominic Flood
Pam Samaniego
Jane Michels
Jackie Broberg
Naomi Ali
Beth Buresh
Jill Cratsley
Anne Marie Brown
Laura Czekala
Autumn Thomas
Bob Pettis
Melissa Frisoli
Carol Woods
Debby Flynn
Ross Ely
Mike Sonsthagen
Ron Fischer, Chairman
Kristi Rigoni Stevens
Val Stark
Annette Snyder
Earl Ellsworth
Stanley Wadford
Arizona Food Marketing Alliance
Arrowhead Promotion & Fulfillment
Catalina Marketing
Coupons, Inc.
General Mills
ICSB
Inmar
Inmar
NCH Marketing Services, Inc.
NCH Marketing Services, Inc.
PA Food Merchants Association
Pepsi
Pinpoint Data, LLC
Procter & Gamble
ProLogic Redemption Solutions
ProLogic Redemption Solutions
Promotion Eyes
Redemption Processing Reps.
S.E.A. Enterprises
S.M.S.
Unilever
Universal
Winn-Dixie, Inc.
5
Association of Coupon Professionals 1051 Pontiac Road, PO Box 512 Drexel Hill, PA 19026
(p)(610) 789-1478 www.couponpros.org