As the debate over digital coupon discrimination has heated up, various solutions have been proposed – in-store digital coupon kiosks, assistance from customer service representatives, expanding internet access to the digitally-disconnected.
But some are proposing a seemingly simpler solution – just give away coupon discounts to everyone, whether they clip them, or ask for them, or not.
New Jersey was the first state to consider mandating expanded access to digital coupons last year, debating a bill that ultimately did not pass. Lawmakers in three other states – New York, Illinois and, just this month, Rhode Island – have since proposed legislation identical to New Jersey’s original proposal.
But lawmakers in Massachusetts and Washington state have gone much further. Instead of requiring stores offering digital coupons to also make available an “in-store alternative of identical value,” as New Jersey’s measure did, they’re proposing that all digital coupons be applied automatically to shoppers’ purchases.