Sep 18, 2011

Wasteful Coupon Policies

less waste

Last night, I went to my local grocery store and bought a lot of cereal and of course, I used coupons! 

Here’s the scenario:

I had a Rain Check for 3 Deals that I posted about here.

I got to the cashier and handed her the rain check, 1 $1/3 coupons and 1 $2/1 store coupon.  I then asked if I was required to have store coupons for every item…. I think this is a legitimate question.  She looked at me for a moment, almost to see if I was serious and said “of course”.  So I walked a few feet to the store front, grabbed two more fliers, cut the 2 coupons she needed and handed them to her.  She keyed in the PLU# which is the EXACT same on every coupon! The worst was she asked if I needed the rest of the fliers that I grabbed, I said no so she threw them away.  This is such a waste!

This is also the same store who keeps new coupon books behind the counter at guest services to discourage people from taking multiples.  Yet their cashiers require multiple in-store coupons.

If this store would roll out a policy similar to Walgreens’, where the in-store coupon applies to every applicable item in the transaction, there would be less waste, less printing costs and less hassle.

Do you see waste in any policy/ies in your area?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I am not sure why the cashier told you that you needed one for each item ... when it is a PLU#. I don't go to the store that you go to ... I use my hubby's store that he works at ... I know where you are talking about tho ... but anyway back to the PLU# .... at my store the cashier writes the amount I bought on the one PLU# coupon I used. So for example if I bout 8 of the same item he/she would write 8 on that coupon. You just need to make sure that the cashier puts in the PLU# that many times to get credit. Maybe you can address this issue with the HEAD manager the next time you go in and see what or how they approach this, I am sure all stores work the same way. They want your business and if there aren't enough of the in store coupons available they are more than willing to write the amount rather than lose business. ~Karen~