News

Safeway online coupon program coming to all stores

July 13, 2009

Drug Store News reports that Safeway is expanding its couponLink program, an interesting and innovative take on online coupons.

Shoppers visit the Safeway Web site to browse available coupon offers. After selecting the ones they want, they can then transfer them to their loyalty card; at checkout, the POS recognizes and automatically applies all eligible coupons on the card.

"This takes the hassle out of shopping with coupons," stated Mike Minasi, Safeway president of marketing. "There is no paging through newspapers and no clipping and carrying coupons. Customers don't even have to remember to bring coupons with them to the store."

The system is powered by Shortcuts.com, which is owned by AOL and also provides online coupons to Kroger, Smith's and a number of regional grocers.

Coupons have been a source of concern and frustration for some time, with fraud easier to commit than ever thanks to easy-to-use image manipulation tools and inexpensive, high-quality printers. In a now-famous incident, Purina issued 250 coupons in 2008 for free dog food; within a few months that coupon was redeemed 2,500 times.

Safeway joins a growing number of retailers that are subverting fraudsters by literally taking the coupon out of the couponing process.