Institute of Sales Promotion publishes online couponing guidelines

The Institute of Sales Promotion (U.K.) is encouraging retailers and marketers to adhere to a new set of best practice guidelines for the creation and distribution of online coupons designed to limit counterfeiting and redemption abuse.

by Helen Leggatt

The popularity of online coupons is rising. In 2007 there was an increase of 650% in Internet coupons printed, according to the ISP's recently issued "Electronic Couponing Guidelines".

However, the ease at which online coupons can be counterfeited and repeatedly redeemed is causing headaches for retailers, marketers and consumers alike.

To this end, the ISP has released a comprehensive set of guidelines to enable marketers and retailers to better understand the medium and improve coupon campaign success.

The report contains advice on coupon print limitations, bar-coding, anti-copying measures and personalization of coupons to deter misuse. It also covers ways in which design elements can limit the potential of a coupon to be counterfeited and how coupon print software can prevent the coupon from being stored as a file or being displayed on a screen.

A free copy of the report can be downloaded here, registration required.

Tags: anti-copying, bar-coding, counterfeit, guidelines, Institute of Sales Promotion, ISP, online coupons, print-at-home