Belgian retailer Colruyt Group is to limit the number of discount coupons to a maximum of five per product across all stores, commencing 2 March, according to a report in gondola.be.
Previously, the number of discount coupons per product varied from store to store.
'Extreme Couponing'
The move is aimed at curbing what the report described as 'extreme couponing', wherein customers availed of deep discounts by using a series of discount coupons.
Geert Elen, a Colruyt employee responsible for the checkout process, was quoted in a report in Het Laatste Nieuws, saying that last year a customer turned up with no fewer than 7,132 coupons and took home palettes of dishwashing and washing products.
The report also pointed out that customers earned these discount coupons through promotions on social media.
However, the retailer said that only about 2% of customers take part in 'extreme couponing' and the proposed limit on the use of coupons will not affect most customers.
© 2020 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
