Do store owners lose money from customers using coupons?

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mike69

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I don't get it, the 7-11 thing brought up to me several occassions when I've used coupons at other stores, not just 7-11 , but just in general....fast food restaurants, drug stores like longs (not drugs lol) , applicance stores like circuit city, frys, etc.

I always get a bad experience from it, and rarely it becomes a good thing, either the manager gives a bad look or the sales rep gives me a hell of a time before they accept the coupon, so it's made me wonder, why?

Do they lose money for these types of these types of usages? I figured like the coupon for the 7-11, it's from another organization, so if 7-11 uses it, I thought they will get reembursed or something if they submit it to that dewslurpee place.

any pointers?
 
Never really thought about it really. I have noticed that...that's why I don't use coupons anymore. Like the post about free panties w/ a coupon.....I would feel funny about using it. Don't ask me why. Sorry I was no help...just blabbering.
 
I think it depends on the business. Some manufacturers give a coupon allowance for their products to be purchased with a coupon and they reimburse the store when the coupons is redeemed to the vendor.

As a small business, I sometimes give away coupons but they are meant only for the individual I send them to. Otherwise, I would lose money.
 
most coupon state in the fine print that they will reimburse the face value plus a few cents for each coupon I think. I believe that's why some coupons state not subject to doubling.
 
My brother owned a small grocery store for about 10 yrs, and he took coupons....the way it works is the company that the coupon is from will pay you back face value plus the stated handling charge...However, you have to MAIL the coupons back to the companies, and the Store has to pay the postage..so yes, there only making pennys on the dollar...
 
:hmm:Giving this some thought...in the long run...I'd have to say no...they make money. Although they may break even, make a smaller profit or actually lose money on the 'coupon' item....they make it up on your additional purchases. For one...Shoprite in our area runs great coupons with a minimum 'net purchase', so I shop for what I need there (always far exceeding the minimum net purchase) and they more than make up for the 2 or 3 'discounted/free' items.
As for looks or remarks from the sales help...well...they're probably lazy and don't understand the whole concept which bites the hand that feeds them.....don't feel 'bad' about using a coupon.
 
I learned about this when I was a teenager working at Chickfila. They taught us a lot of good business practices.

Coupons bring in customers that would not have otherwise come in. If a restaurant offers a buy-one-get-one-free deal or a dollar amount off, people will come eat there and spend money there that they would not have otherwise. For example, last week in the Sunday paper there was a coupon for $5 off at Garfield’s. My husband and I will probably go eat there this weekend, but only because we have the coupon. We won't pay full price (about $30) but we will spend $25 there that we wouldn't have spent if they hadn't put out the coupon. The restaurant isn’t losing $5, they’re gaining $25 because they would have received $0 from us if they hadn’t sent out the coupon.

Coupons also make customers have good feelings about the business. If they come in with a coupon and have a good experience, they are more likely to come back. This is how retailers make money in the long run with coupons for free items.

When a manager or employee gives you a hard time about using a coupon, they are defeating the purpose of coupons and they are causing their business to lose money. If they cause you to have a bad experience, you will probably not come back and they will lose your business forever.

A customer spends tens of thousands of dollars at a store over their lifetime. I think at Chickfila they told us the average customer spends $50,000 there over their lifetime. The loss of a customer is a $50,000 loss; likewise, the gain of a new customer is a $50,000 gain. Coupons and the handling of coupons by employees are a way for stores to gain (or lose) customers and generate revenue over the long run.

Here’s some articles about it:

http://www.rangeinfo.org/resource_l.../cust_service/cust_care_prog.htm&CAT=Business

http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/r-ar...ote_your_business_with_coupons_and_contests=i
 
when i worked at hallmark like 10 years ago, corporate reimbursed the stores 1/2 of the value of the coupon (since that's the markup, it makes sense)
 
and remember that there is a difference( sometimes HUGE) in COST and RETAIL price. I use coupons all the time. And what I've read above is right. Lots of times with bogo coupons that's the only reason I'm going to the place-because of the coupon.
If a business knows what it is doing they are making money.
 
I worked in the diamond district for a while. There's a 300% mark-up on jewelry. No wonder k-mart/walmart/Kohl's always has 70% off! (and those are the 'seconds', if not 'fifths+' in quality)(their 'emeralds'/'gem stones' are so cloudy...)

Also...figure out BOGO (although I do get sucked into Payless BOGO's)...it's buy one get the 2nd 1/2 off...so you're really only getting a 25% discount (at best) for your purchase....you just 'feel' like you got one for free...:rolleyes:
 
payless shoes are almost like getting free shoes anyway, compared to dept stores... so bogo is like getting the 2nd free if you're looking at what you'd spend otherwise.... my fave shoes ever came from payless... i wore them for years... i just finally got rid of them like 2 weeks ago, but they were shoe-boots that were more comfortable than anything i'd ever owned, even my uggs!!!
 
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