Stop & Shop pilots kiosks to make digital coupons more accessible to customers

More and more grocery stores are offering digital coupons. But if you don't have a smartphone or internet access, you can't get the deals.  

Stop & Shop is now addressing the problem.

There is a Savings Station placed front and center at the Quincy Stop & Shop where shoppers can activate and load digital coupons onto their loyalty card in seconds ---no smartphone or internet required.  

“Customers felt they weren't able to get all the digital coupons or that they were missing out on deals,” says Persa Konomi, Stop & Shop’s senior manager of loyalty.  “And this is what this is trying to solve, is trying to give customers as many savings as we can possibly give them by having this kiosk here in store.”

“It's very simple, really,” said Per Jensen, director of loyalty at the supermarket chain.   “You can activate all the digital offers that digital coupons that we have in the flier.  Just one swipe of your card. If you forgot your cards, that happens to me, it's on another keychain, then I can put in my phone number.”

There is also a QR code for a touchless option.

You get a printout to remind you of the offers you loaded.  You can print out recipes and kids' activity pages if you want.  And when you get to the checkout line, savings are applied when you scan your card or enter your phone number. 

These coupon kiosks are being tested at select stores.  Otherwise, customers have to access the store app or go online to clip and save digital coupon offers.

“The app isn't for everybody,” said Konomi.   “Whether you're a Gen Z millennial or older, you know, technology can be difficult sometimes.  You can't get the app to connect or things happen. So this is our way of providing you with that same experience in store.”

Last year,  Consumerworld.org’s Edgar Dworsky led a coalition of national consumer organizations in calling on CEOs of a dozen of the largest supermarket chains to offer an in-store off-line alternative, so weekly savings were available to everyone. 

“Many categories of folks have been shut out of these deals,” explained, Dworsky, a former Massachusetts assistant attorney general in consumer protection.  “Many seniors don't have internet access. They don't have the ability to use a smartphone or even have a smartphone. So they've been having to pay much more for groceries for the past several years.” 

He applauds the move by Stop & Shop.

 “Think about how bad inflation is today, particularly food store inflation,” he said. “So to the extent we can offer all these savings to everyone, including low income folks and senior citizens, it's a great thing.” 

Stop & Shop has been testing the coupon kiosks for two weeks. So far customers and employees seem to like them.

“The feedback has been excellent,” said Konomi.  “People are very passionate about their coupons. They feel strongly and we are so excited to provide a solution to them.”

The coupon kiosks are being tested at stores in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York.  They’ll take a look at the results next year and make a decision on whether to roll them out in all of their stores.