While most coupons are distributed by manufacturers, grocery stores will also distribute their own coupons from time to time. Store coupons are created for the same reason that grocery stores have sales — to help drive customer traffic to their stores. While often times store coupons will be for store brand products, this is not always the case. It is possible to find store coupons for brand name products as well from time to time.
The main difference between store coupons and manufacturer coupons for the consumer is that a store coupon can usually only be used at the grocery store that issued it while a manufacturer coupon can be used at most retail outlets that carry the product. Another difference is how the grocery store gets reimbursed when a coupon is used. Grocery stores do not get reimbursed by the manufacturer when store coupons are used. The grocery store eats the cost as an advertising expense.
Store coupons are far less common than manufacturer coupons, but they are quite valuable if you can find them because they can usually be used in combination with a manufacturer coupon. While you are not allowed to use both a $1.00 off 1 manufacturer coupon and a $0.50 off 1 manufacturer coupon on a single item, in most cases you would be allowed to use a $1.00 off 1 manufacturer coupon and a $0.50 off 1 store coupon together for a savings of $1.50 off of the product. Since store coupons can be combined with manufacturer coupons, finding them is a great way to further lower the cost of products that you buy.
Store coupons are usually distinguishable as they will say “store coupons” rather than “manufacturer coupon” on the top of the coupon. Store coupons will also often have the grocery store logo printed somewhere on the coupon. Store coupons can usually be found in print advertising from the grocery store or in special coupon booklets released by the grocery store.
Please feel free to ask any questions that you may have and I will do my best to answer them. This post is part of the Lazy Couponing series. The next step will be learning about Instant Discounts.
I have a store coupon issued at the register after checkout that has the “kroger” logo on it. It also has manufacturer cpn at the top. Is this considered a store coupon or a manufacturer coupon and is it combinable with a manufacturer coupon.
If it has “manufacturer coupon” written on it (even if the Kroger store logo is also on it) and it is for a specific item, it is considered a manufacturer coupon and can not be used in combination with another manufacturer coupon. If it is a catalina coupon good $x.00 off anything purchased, then it can be combined with other manufacturer coupons.