During the great famine of 18 AH (638 CE), Umar, the second ruler of the Islamic Caliphate, introduced food rationing using coupons. These coupons were given to those in need and could be exchanged for wheat and flour. Coca-Cola's 1888-issued "free glass of" is the earliest documented coupon. These coupons were mailed to potential customers and placed in magazines. Between 1894 and 1913, an estimated one in nine Americans had received a free Coca-Cola. By 1895, Coke was served in every state in the United States. In 1929, Betty Crocker began issuing coupons as part of a loyalty points program, which could be used to redeem for premiums. In 1937, these coupons were printed on the outside of packages. The loyalty program ended in 2006. In Australia, consumers first encountered couponing in 1986 when Shopa Docket promoted offers and discounts on the back of shopping receipts.
Coupons offer different types of values, such as discounts, free shipping, buy-one get-one, trade-in for redemption, first-time customer coupons, free trial offer, launch offers, festival offers, and free giveaways. The uses of coupons include incentivizing a purchase, reducing a price, providing a free sample, or aiding marketers in understanding customer demographics. Coupons can be used to research the price sensitivity of different groups of buyers. Time, location, and sizes affect prices; coupons are part of the marketing mix.
Grocery coupons come in two major types: store coupons and manufacturer's coupons. Store coupons are issued by the store itself. Some stores will also accept store coupons issued by competitors. Coupons issued by the manufacturer of a product may be used at any coupon-accepting store that carries that product. Part of their function is to advertise their offerings and attract new customers. Some grocery stores regularly double or even triple the value of coupons to bring customers into their stores. Periodic special events double or triple coupon values on certain days or weeks.
Coupons exist in more than one form and are acquired by customers in a variety of ways. Historically, verifying the discount offered has been via presenting coupons clipped from newspapers or received in the mail. Some retailers and companies use verification methods such as unique barcodes, coupon ID numbers, holographic seals, and watermarked paper as protection from unauthorized copying or use. Coupon book publishers and retailers compile vouchers and coupons into books, either for sale or free. By the mid-1990s, "couponing had also moved to the internet." An early term was clipless coupons, and later "downloadable coupons" came into use. Online retailers often refer to these as "coupon codes", "promotional codes", "promotion codes", "discount codes", "keycodes", "promo codes", "surplus codes", "portable codes", "shopping codes", "voucher codes", "reward codes", "discount vouchers", "referral codes" or "source codes". These are typed in before the sale is finalized. Free shipping and cashback are additional inducements. Mobile coupons are smartphone-based and often distributed via WAP Push over SMS or MMS, and presented at the store or online. Loyalty cards have increasingly been superseded by mobile apps. The Iranian government national rations have a mobile app.
Typically, when a coupon is issued by the retailer, the tax burden is decreased by the amount of the coupon because the actual price charged to the customer is reduced. Whether or not manufacturer's coupons reduce the tax burden a consumer has to pay varies by state. In some jurisdictions, such as Colorado and New York, manufacturer's coupons are considered taxable because the amount of the coupon is reimbursed by the manufacturer to the retailer. In other states like Connecticut and Pennsylvania, manufacturer's coupons do reduce the tax burden that customers have to pay.
Coupon manufacturers may or may not place restrictions on coupons limiting their transferability. Organized coupon exchange clubs are commonly found in regions where coupons are distributed. Coupons are often available for purchase at some online sites, with the fee considered to be for the time and effort put into cutting out the coupons, as most coupons are not allowed to be sold. Some types of coupons may be sold, such as airline discount coupons. During wartime or economic hardships, trading or selling ration coupons is an economic crime.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.