Coupon barcodes: formats, printing and expiry rules

A coupon barcode is a symbol that identifies an offer rather than a product. It has to survive a customer folding it and a till deciding whether the discount applies, and most counter failures come from one of those two. Both are avoidable at design time.

What goes in a coupon barcode?

A coupon symbol identifies an offer, not a product. In North American retail that usually means a GS1 DataBar carrying a coupon code, or a Code 128 symbol carrying an offer identifier your own system recognises.

If the coupon will ever leave your own shops, use the GS1 route, because the GS1 US guideline is what manufacturer coupons are built to.

How do you print a coupon so it still scans?

Put the symbol in the lower third, away from folds and borders, as dark bars on white. Coupons get folded, stuffed into bags and pulled out of pockets at the counter.

• Keep the barcode away from the fold. A crease through the bars is a dead coupon
• Leave at least half an inch from every edge and keep borders, scissors icons and dotted cut lines out of the quiet zone
• Coloured paper cuts contrast, and red bars do not scan at all
• Newsprint spreads ink, so scale up rather than down on uncoated stock

Where does the expiry date belong?

Enforcing an expiry date is the job of your point of sale. Printing it on the coupon is only for the customer.

A store coupon on Code 128 carries an offer identifier and no date, so the rule lives in your promotions engine. A GS1 DataBar manufacturer coupon is different: GS1 US lists an automatic expiration date check among its benefits, but the till still has to be set up to act on it. A coupon that scans after its printed date is usually a rule that was never loaded.

Should each customer get a unique code?

Use unique codes to stop sharing or cap redemptions at one per person. Use one shared code when you only need a total count and a simpler print.

• A shared code prints once and tells you how many were redeemed in total
• A unique code per customer tells you who redeemed, but needs a generated list and a longer symbol, so check your till reads the length

Generate a printed batch in one pass with the bulk barcode generator, or use the barcode generator for a single shared code.

When is a QR code the better choice?

Choose a QR code when the coupon is delivered on a phone, or when you want the customer to land on a page rather than get a discount at a till.

A dynamic QR code can be re-pointed at a new offer after the first campaign ends, and it counts scans so you can see which placement worked. A barcode counts nothing until it reaches a till. In QRCodeStack the Coupon QR type has fields for the offer headline, code, valid-from and valid-until dates, a redeem button and terms, so the dates live on the page the scan opens. Our QR code vs barcode comparison covers the trade-offs, and plans start at $9/month.

How do you test a coupon before printing?

Print twenty coupons on the real stock, fold ten the way a customer would, and scan all twenty at the actual till. Then run one through as a live transaction and check that the discount applies, the reimbursement path records it, and the promotions rule stops it at the limit.