Universal Coupon Trial Signals Significant Improvements Ahead for Consumers, Retailers and Brands ~via @TheCouponBureau's CIO Jeff Hudson
The legacy coupon format is prone to fraud, operational inefficiencies, and slow settlement. In order to modernize this process, the industry has decided to centralize all coupon data in the cloud by moving to a new application identifier, AI (8112). With this new, single source of truth, the ability to produce counterfeits has been removed, and brands now have the ability to distribute offers directly to their audience while receiving real time attribution data. These offers can be used in digital and print format and are retailer-agnostic.
The Universal Coupon is a new industry standard. It brings all coupon data to the cloud to enable a serialized, single-use manufacturer funded coupon.
It is brought to you by The Coupon Bureau, an Agnostic Solution Provider selected in 2019, Non-profit, managed by the grocery industry, Backed by JICC, ACP, FMI, CBA, CIC, Conexxus, NACS... Supports / Enables New Standard & Process AI (8112) Connected ecosystem. Learn more here from The Coupon Bureau CIO Jeff Hudson... /Ted
DALLAS, TX. September 13th, 2022, The Coupon Bureau is pleased to announce a group of 7 companies launched one of the most expansive Pilot programs for AI (8112) Universal Coupons. Other companies involved included Wells Enterprises makers of Blue Bunny® Ice Cream, Fobi, IT Retail, Lagree’s Food Stores, nData Services, and SMS Promotions.
KEY BENEFITS FOR CUSTOMERS, CPG BRANDS AND RETAILERS
The pilot program provided several key benefits:
Customers can redeem coupons right from their mobile phone, with no need to print or clip coupons which may be forgotten at home.
CPG Brands are able to tell in real-time how their campaigns are performing and make any necessary changes immediately.
CPG Brands also have real-time validation of the coupons by TCB to reduce fraud. They will also be able to create coupons for higher value items without worrying about increased loss as a result of fraud.
Retailers will enjoy rapid reconciliation and payment of the digital offers.
THE PILOT PROGRAM PROVIDED THE FIRST DIGITAL CLEARANCE AND REAL-TIME RECONCILIATION OF 8112 COUPONS
The pilot, initially organized by nData Services, IT Retail, SMS Promotions and Qples by Fobi, was conducted at 3 LaGrees Food Stores in Colorado. Customers of the LaGrees stores were sent coupons for Blue Bunny ice cream created in the Qples by Fobi platform to their mobile phone. Alternately, customers can also use the Qples QR code on the in-store signage provided by SMS Promotions to download the coupon directly to their phone.
When the customer purchases their Blue Bunny ice cream at the check out counter, they can show the coupon on their mobile phone, have it scanned and The Coupon Bureau validates in real-time, thanks to the integration provided by IT Retail. Once TCB validates the coupon and the customer receives their discount, it is sent to nData Services who reconciles the coupon, ensuring LaGrees get paid for the coupon much more quickly than legacy coupon programs. Finally, Qples by Fobi provides attribution data through its online portal, helping Wells Enterprises understand how the campaign is performing in real-time, and allowing them to make changes to optimize the campaign mid-flight.
“The LaGree family is excited to continue our long history of bringing new innovations to Colorado, by partnering with Wells Enterprises and the other providers to bring 8112 digital offers to our customers!” stated Megan LaGree, co-owner of LaGrees. LaGree’s Food Stores is a 2nd generation family-owned business that is proud to have been serving Colorado families for over 30 years. Founded by the LaGree family, the chain has a history of innovation, being one of the first grocers to adopt scanning technology in Colorado in the 1980’s.
TCB Chief Integrations Officer Jeff Hudson stated: “It has been incredible to see these 7 different companies come together to make this 8112 Universal Coupon Pilot launch successful. This pilot shows that the new 8112 industry standard works flawlessly, and that there are significant benefits for all the players involved. We look forward to seeing widespread implementation of the 8112 Universal Coupon standard in the marketplace shortly.”
IT Retail Product Manager Richard Sutton stated: “At the ACP conference in 2019, the ACP announced that The Coupon Bureau was granted the contract to serve as the source of real-time coupon validation. For me, the lightbulb went off — finally a single point of truth for coupon data; I realized this solution would provide improved validation of coupons and solve the coupon fraud problem in the US. Prior to 8112 by TCB the POS systems had little means to validate coupons with the fragmented data sources for Family Codes and lack of conformance with the 8110 standards to ensure properly coded coupons with no method to prevent duplication of CPG offers. The abuse of 8110 coupons resulted in significant losses to both Retailers and CPG’s, so we are excited to see this come to an end.”
Val Stark, SMS PROMO Director stated: “The future of the Coupon Industry is here now with the development and enactment of the 8112 barcode and The Coupon Bureau. This will enable tighter controls, less fraud and give brands more direct contact with the consumers. Both digital and print will benefit from the personalization of the coupons.”
Sam Jonas, nData CEO stated, “The emergence of 8112 technology will democratize access to CPG digital offers for thousands of retailers. It truly is a revolutionary development and nData is proud to part of the value chain.”
Fobi CEO Rob Anson stated: “This Pilot Project for 8112 Universal Digital Coupons is a significant step forward in driving mass adoption. The ease of coupon creation and distribution that Fobi provides, together with the attribution data for brands and retailers are both key parts of this project. The other key element is that Fobi is the only company that enables brands to be able to deliver coupons via a website, an app, our mobile wallet passes and now in-store, making it even easier for customers to redeem their coupons.”]
At this time, additional consumer product manufacturers plan to provide more 8112 offering for this pilot by the end of September expanding consumer options and savings.
For more information on 8112 Universal Digital Coupons please visit the Qples by Fobi Website at - https://qples.fobi.ai/universal-digital
About The Coupon Bureau
The Coupon Bureau's mission is to connect manufacturers, retailers, and consumers through technology and community, to build solutions to the issues of real time validated, retailer agnostic coupons and fraud prevention. A non-profit corporation, TCB works with members of leading coupon and retail associations - ACP, JICC, FMI (The Food Industry Association), GMA, CONEXXUS, Consumer Brands Association, and GS1 US - to develop new technology, support third-party technologists, deploy educational programs for industry stakeholders, and give back to the community. For more information visit www.thecouponbureau.org.
About nData
nData Services LLC: nData Services is committed to supporting the clearing of AI8112 offers with the newest technologies that shorten retailer funding and expand data insights. Founded by payment professionals with an understanding of settlement at scale and the needs of the independent retail market, nData will provide a new option for supporting these retailers by acting as a “Service Bureau” assisting the industries’ thousands of owners to participate in the new 8112 technology. www.ndataservices.com
About Fobi
Fobi is a cutting-edge data intelligence company that helps our clients turn real-time data into actionable insights and personalized customer engagement to generate increased profits. Fobi’s unique IoT device has the ability to integrate seamlessly into existing infrastructure to enable data connectivity across online and on-premise platforms creating highly scalable solutions for our global clients. Fobi partners with some of the largest companies in the world to deliver best-in-class solutions and operates globally in the retail, telecom, sports & entertainment, casino gaming, and hospitality & tourism industries.
- For more information, please contact:
Jeff Hudson, CIO, The Coupon Bureau: jeff@thecouponbureau.org
