Providing customers with coupons and discounts is a great way to encourage them to try new products or services and visit your store or business. While coupons can definitely improve business, you should also be careful, because coupon fraud does exist.
If you are a victim of coupon fraud, you may experience a financial loss. Here are some tips for having a good coupon redemption policy.
Create Reasonable Guidelines for Using Coupons
The best way to prevent issues with counterfeit coupons is to have strict guidelines for using them. When you create and distribute coupons, be sure you are clear with the rules and guidelines for using them. There should always be an expiration date. Make it a policy to only accept one coupon per purchase, and any other limits you feel is appropriate. You may also want to say that they can’t be used on sale items, if that is applicable. In addition, let customers know you only accept coupons that have a barcode.
Work With the Right People
There are also partners that you can work with when creating your coupons. This is a good idea because not only will they be able to generate unique barcodes for the coupons, but these partners can have security features that help you to prevent fraud. For example, with a unique barcode on each coupon, they can tell if one was printed multiple times or copied, where that person attempted to use the same coupon over and over again.
Let Employees Know What Coupons You Accept
Your employees will be the ones accepting the coupons in your store, so they should be aware of what coupons are accepted. They also need to know about the rules and guidelines, such as checking the expiration date, only accepting coupons with a barcode they can scan, and not allowing multiple coupons to be used on the same item or during the same transaction. Also, teach employees to be on the lookout for coupon fraud, such as someone who is using a lot of coupons and visiting your store frequently, especially more than once a day to use these coupons.
In some cases, you are not able to prevent coupon fraud. You should protect your business with a crime insurance policy and other business insurance policies in order to prevent loss of assets as the result of fraud.
