EDI DEVELOPED FOR COUPONING

DENISE ZIMMERMAN

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- New standards have been developed for electronic exchange of promotional information for couponing.

Four electronic data interchange transaction sets for coupon transactions were approved by the Uniform Code Council, Dayton, Ohio, and released late last month.

"Until now, EDI was a great concept, but it wasn't available for couponing," said David Schames, chairman of the Association of Coupon Processors Standards Committee, which developed the data formats jointly with the UCC's Uniform Communication Standards Coupon Task Force. Schames is also president of B&M Processing, a South Windsor, Conn., retail coupon redemption agent.

The four new EDI transaction sets for couponing, which were outlined during the ACP's spring conference here last month, include:

· Coupon Notification. This data set allows manufacturers to electronically alert retailers to an upcoming coupon drop including the Uniform Product Code and offer code, coupon type, where it will be distributed and any special characteristics or special handling it may require.

· Grocery Products Invoice-Coupon Invoice. Intended to be used by retailers, wholesalers and retail clearinghouses, the data set is used to request payment.

· Manufacturer Coupon Redemption Detail. Manufacturers or their agents can use this EDI transaction set to communicate redemption details necessary for reconciliation to a retailer, wholesaler or retail clearinghouse.

· Coupon Family Code. The data set is designed to facilitate the exchange of coupon family code structures and associated product codes between manufacturers, retailers, wholesalers and third party redemption agents.

Published guidelines for the new EDI transactions sets are available through the UCC.