COPPS RETEST OF ELECTRONIC MARKETING SET

DEENA AMATO-McCOY

STEVENS POINT, Wis. -- Copps Corp. here will upgrade point-of-sale systems in anticipation of testing electronic marketing software this summer.

The wholesaler is preparing for a two-store test that will represent its second attempt at targeted marketing programs. Late in 1995, the company shut down a multimedia program managed by a third-party service provider.

Testing of the new software is to begin in June or July, said Mark Uebelher, director of store systems for Copps. He declined to specify whether the package was developed in-house or purchased from a vendor.

"Our programmers have been testing the electronic marketing software in our test lab for almost one year," he told SN.

During the two-store testing of the software, Copps will collect data and use it to pinpoint who its best customers are, and deliver targeted promotions to those customers.

Based on the success of the two stores testing the software, the wholesaler may expand the technology to its remaining 16 stores by the end of the year, Uebelher said.

"We want this software to enable us to identify and maintain our customer base," said Uebelher.

The software will monitor electronic discounts and track the demographics of Copps customers.

Uebelher told SN earlier this year that the POS upgrade would include faster and more powerful processors as well as quicker printers.

The key benefit of the new systems will be the ability to automate coupons and administer discounts right at the POS. Handling in-store paper coupons manually is more time-consuming, labor-intensive and can be error-prone.