Question 1

Who makes decisions for The Coupon Bureau?

Accepted Answer

The Coupon Bureau has a team of staff that is directed by the TCB advisory board, and the TCB advisory council, as well as industry standards organizations (GS1, Conexxus) and other industry associations. The advisory council consists of members from JICC, ACP, CIC, Consumer Brands Association and FMI (The Food Industry Association). Other advisory councils are currently being staffed with industry participants that will specialize in guiding TCB staff and Board in specific channels, stakeholder groups or technologies.

Question 2

Who can be on the TCB board?

Accepted Answer

The TCB Board is made up of representatives from retailers and manufacturers. Service providers cannot participate in the Board but do participate at the advisory council level creating proposals and work product for the Board to vote on.

Question 3

What does TCB do with its money as a non-profit?

Accepted Answer

The Coupon Bureau utilizes its revenue to maintain staff, technology, databases and servers. It also uses funds for industry education, and to support other various industry associations. According to TCB Bylaws, 20% of revenue is to be used for philanthropy, which allows TCB to partner with other industry stakeholders to support charities that relate to our industry.

Question 4

Who runs TCB?

Accepted Answer

The Coupon Bureau is run by a full-time staff that works to execute the mandates and directives of the TCB Board.

Question 5

What is the general timeline for this technology to be in-market?

Accepted Answer

Our first retailer was integrated in Q4 2020. We are now in the 'open connectivity' phase. We expect retailer connectivity to increase throughout 2021/22.

Question 6

What impact does the new industry standard for paperless couponing have on paper coupons such as FSI, on-pack, etc?"

Accepted Answer

The Coupon Bureau can support any coupon format that opts to use the new AI (8112) data string. All of these coupon data strings, regardless of format, will be housed in the Positive Offer File and enjoy the security measures associated with it.

Question 7

What data will TCB handle?

Accepted Answer

TCB will handle redemption transactional data only. TCB will not handle consumer data or basket data. All transactional data will be available in real-time and to any associated parties related to a particular coupon offer through TCB APIs and stand alone stakeholder portals.

Question 8

How will the offer information be transmitted from the consumer's phone to the POS?

Accepted Answer

The transmission of the data will be determined by each provider. The Coupon Bureau is in the process of releasing Best Practices but this responsibility will ultimately be left up to the market. The Coupon Bureau is intentionally staying out of the market’s way of innovation and creativity.

Question 9

Does The Coupon Bureau have any other industry role besides managing positive offer file coupons?

Accepted Answer

Yes! We intend to develop TCB into a hub of information, education, standards, and more! We are creating a community that benefits all coupon industry stakeholders.

Question 10

Why are retailer agnostic mobile offers important?

Accepted Answer

This new offer type will enable innovation and new product offerings for manufacturers. These offers will provide the mobility of FSI or P@H in a digital format. These coupons can be redeemed at any retailer or C-store that is connected to TCB. This offer type enables digital coupons for retailers that do not currently support a loyalty program. Real-time data is key in this offer type, and since serialization is mandatory, manufacturers could track consumers in real time from coupon delivery through redemption. The serialization of these offers also ensures that have “kill at the till” or single use security restrictions.

Question 11

How does the settlement work for retailer agnostic mobile coupons?

Accepted Answer

The settlement process will be exactly the same for 8112 offers as it is for current coupons. TCB has worked with retailers and their various associations to ensure that the correct data is being transmitted to the POS to be captured in the T-log and create an invoice file. TCB APIs will also be transmitting that transactional redemption data to all parties that are tagged for a particular offer.

Question 12

How will billing work?

Accepted Answer

Billing will stay at the manufacturer level and will be based on account usage. As we develop this solution further, alternative billing processes may be necessary to accommodate the needs of the market.

Question 13

How many connections are there?

Accepted Answer

As of February 2021, TCB has launched in select live retailer locations and has begun integrations through our retailer accelerator partners. Expect national retailer connectivity to increase throughout the year.

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