Coupon

For the former Ukranian currency, see Karbovanets.

In marketing a coupon is a ticket or document that can be exchanged for a financial discount or rebate when purchasing a product. Customarily, coupons are issued by manufacturers of consumer packaged goods or by retailers, to be used in retail stores as a part of sales promotions. They are often widely distributed through mail, magazines, newspapers and the Internet. Internet coupons have become very popular as of late, because the cost is borne by the user (who has to print the coupons himself) rather than the businesses issuing the coupons.

Additional revenue can be recognized by companies due to what is known as the shoebox effect: Customers filing away rebates and other promotions received as coupons rather than redeeming them.

Another type of loyalty incentive is the trading stamp. It is distinct from a coupon in that a coupon is redeemable for a specific product or class of product, whereas a trading stamp acts like a currency, or a token economy.

It was used as a temporary currency for some former Soviet countries, especially Moldova (used until 1993, replaced by Moldovan lei), and Ukraine (replaced by hryvnia in 1996) after they became independent (nation). There are also internet sites that have coupons that can be used online.

Online retailers usually refer to Internet coupons as "coupon codes," "promotional codes," "promotion codes," "discount codes," "key codes," "promo codes," "shopping codes," "voucher codes" or "source codes." Internet coupons typically provide for reduced or no cost shipping, a specific dollar or percentage discount, or some other special offer to encourage consumers to purchase specific products or to purchase from specific retailers.

The term "coupon" is also used in manufacturing and material science to refer to a small piece of material used for testing or further processing, compare billet.

See also Coupon (bond)