Fareway Stores Debuts Digital Coupons

Midwestern grocer Fareway Food Stores has deployed a new digital coupon system for its 112 stores across the Midwest. The platform automatically transfers manufacturer and private label coupons from a shopper’s cloud-based account directly into the grocer’s point-of-sale (POS) system during checkout.

The platform, from Invisipon, gives shoppers an alternative to collecting FSIs from newspapers, printing coupons from the internet or loading them to a loyalty card. Coupons are automatically deposited into the shopper’s account based on their unique profile, redemption history and other metrics the coupon issuer may wish to employ.

Customers can view the offers available to them via the vendor’s mobile app or website. At checkout, the cashier scans customers’ unique barcode from the mobile app, keys in their phone number or swipes their loyalty card.

The platform is also designed to eliminate another inconvenience for grocery shoppers by matching manufacturer coupons with existing in-store sales. This relieves the shopper of the task of matching the retailer’s weekly sale items with manufacturer coupons to maximize savings.

“It's important for us to provide a great shopping experience for every customer,” aid Scott Beckwith, CAO  of Boone, Iowa-based Fareway, which operates in Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois and Minnesota.“We've made digital coupons easy to use for that reason."

Added Bill Moffitt, co-founder and CEO of Gainsville, Ga.-based Invisipon, “Fareway’s long-standing commitment to providing its customers great value, along with deep discounts, makes Fareway an excellent proving ground as we now look to expand the program into thousands of supermarket and pharmacy locations nationwide.”

Invisipon has already signed up several major consumer packaged goods companies such as Kimberly-Clark to place coupons in the system.