GS1 US, JICC Collaborate on Digital Couponing Standard

GS1 US and the Joint Industry Coupon Committee (JICC) have collaborated to create a paperless couponing standard, which will help retailers identify digital couponing transactions in a cash register transaction log to enable seamless settlement.

The GS1 Standard builds upon industry best practices for barcode-based paper coupons and helps identify coupons in point-of-sale transactions. Manufacturers, brand owners and retailers can now benefit from enhanced traceability in the redemption of digital coupons at point-of-sale. Retailers can more easily and confidently reconcile their cash registers for paperless transactions.

“The new GS1 Standard is a step forward in addressing industry needs at a time when consumers are relying on their mobile devices more than ever to shop,” said Jeffrey Bumgarner, manager of industry affairs for the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA). “Industry members and their app developer partners will be able to use the new standard as soon as the proper infrastructure in place at the end of this year, which is currently being developed by the JICC.”

Carrie Wilkie, VP of standards management for GS1 US, added: “GS1 US believes this is a significant achievement in collaboration between trading partners to improve the couponing process moving forward. The new standard enables retailers to treat a digital coupon like a cash transaction, so when a consumer redeems it, the retailer can use its established accounting practices to reconcile the cashier's till and have a verifiable audit trail.”

Consumer interest in mobile couponing is at an all-time high. The number of mobile coupon users in the U.S. has grown nearly 18 percent in the past year to 92.6 million, according to eMarketer data. By the end of 2016, mobile coupon users are expected to increase another 11 percent to 104 million.

The JICC consists of stakeholders from a cross-section of industry associations, manufacturers and retailers. It works with GS1 US to respond to the needs of the industry and the growing mobile-coupon user.

GS1 US, a member of GS1, is an information standards organization that brings industry communities together to solve supply-chain problems through the adoption and implementation of GS1 Standards.