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Knowledge Base

Coupon Scanner: Single or Multiple Locations

What Does a Coupon Scanner App Do?

Merchants validate and redeem printed or mobile vouchers, coupons, and offers in-store with our coupon scanner app. Integrate with POS or run independently.

FAQs About Coupon Scanning

Do I use CodeREADr to create and send coupons to my customers?

No. You need to create and distribute your own digital or printed coupons. Using our website, you will manually or automatically upload your coupon database to our server. Alternatively, you can use our API directly or connect with a third-party service to post your coupon IDs to our server. If you prefer, you can instead use Pattern Validation.

Then, you can use our mobile apps on-site for scanning and verifying your coupons. That’s our core competency. If helpful, you can also generate QR code images with CodeREADr through our API or by exporting those images.

How can I prevent customers from reusing coupons that are meant for a single use per person?

You can implement duplicate checking to alert your app users when a coupon has already been scanned. Therefore, the app user knows when a coupon is a duplicate and no longer valid.

Can coupons be used across many store locations?

Yes. Commonly, you create different mobile app usernames for each store. Then, you can use the service at as many locations as needed. Why? That’s because all app users would be scanning against the same database and duplicate checking would be applied to all stores. Alternatively, you can enable duplicate checking specifically for each store if you create a different service for each location.

What if I want customers to be able to use my coupons for a certain number of events or certain days and/or times?

Conditional validation allows for customization of coupon scanning use cases that have a variable such as time or day. With this feature, you can add a special count and/or duration-based conditions to invalidate scans. For these options, the app-user will need Internet connectivity.

Is there any way to allow the customer to scan the coupon themselves?

Yes, there is. One of our most popular features is the kiosk mode. In this mode, you can set the iOS and Android tablets or phones to the scanning function. Also, this mode uses the front camera and allows for self-scanning.

Are there services specifically designed for coupon management?

Yes, there are. One of our most popular coupon services is PassKit.

Can I make the app look any different? For example, can I change what it says when a coupon is invalid or include my company’s logo?

Yes, you can. We offer the ability to customize the display of the response screen as well as change the response text. Also, there are both free and paid options for white labeling the app to include your logo.

Do we need to use paper coupons or can digital coupons be scanned? And how about NFC coupons?

Our barcode scanner will work with any barcode in any form, including printed and digital coupons. This includes small, dense, damaged, partially obscured, and poorly printed barcodes, and even barcodes at extreme angles. Also, if you are having trouble scanning, we offer an advanced scanning engine that is even more accurate.

You can also validate NFC coupons using iOS and Android with built-in NFC readers.  If helpful, you can also use NFC-reading accessories.

Does the pricing depend on how many coupons we scan?

No. Every paid plan includes unlimited scans. Also, our pricing model is based on devices. For instance, we count a device as billable if your authorized app-user signs into the device during your monthly billing period. Moreover, the monthly count is not based on concurrently used devices. Instead, it’s the total number of unique devices that are signed in during your monthly billing period. Also, each month, this count resets, and each device sign-in counts towards your plan limit.

Do we need special hardware for coupons?

No. CodeREADr is compatible with most devices. This includes iOS and Android smartphones and tablets as well as dedicated mobile computers. However, we do not sell any hardware. Thus, you need to purchase devices to use with the CodeREADr mobile app. Alternatively, your app users can use their own, personal devices.

What if there isn’t a good internet connection in our store?

That’s not a problem. The CodeREADr mobile app can be configured to work online or offline.

Can we generate reports showing coupon use per store or per day?

First, on the Scans page, you can filter and view a report of scanned codes. Also, you can automatically export those records to Excel, Google Sheets, etc. Then, you can sort scans by ‘timestamp scanned’, by the coupon ID, and by the user who scanned it.