MyCoupons restarts print-at-home coupon technology for manufacturers and retailers

Written: 12 Jun 2003

Pittsburgh, PA - June 12 - Direct Response Technologies, Inc. (DirectResponse), a media and technology leader to the online direct marketing industry today announced it has reinstated fraud resistant print coupons. Manufacturers and offline retailers can now leverage tools at MyCoupons to publish, distribute, and track print-at-home coupons. Due to intellectual property disputes, MyCoupons has been inactive in the print space since October, 2001.

"There aren't many options for manufacturers regarding online print coupons. Our reentry into the print coupon market carries with it over 8 years experience, and a large consumer network. We've used the down time to streamline our product offering self-service to merchants, and fast printing coupons that don't require a special download to consumers" says president Jason Wolfe. Online couponing accounted for a relatively small percentage of the 336 billion coupons distributed in 2002, yet represents one of the fastest growing channels for the industry.

MyCoupons currently has over 2300 online coupons. These offers are mainly redeemed by clicking over to a merchant's website and making a purchase online. The revamped print module extends the system to allow manufacturers or "brick and mortar" stores the option to drive traffic from the Internet to offline retail locations. Both the online and the print product combine professional coupon editing software with an established online consumer network. "We have a proven the system that's delivered over 4,000,000 web coupons, and are confident in the re-release of our print-at-home module for manufacturers," says Mr. Wolfe.

The system is unique in that does not require the consumer to download and install special software. Security is controlled online at the user level. Manufacturers are ultimately responsible for reimbursing coupon offers. Therefore, it is necessary that they guard against run-away distribution and counterfeiting. MyCoupons' anti-fraud initiative curbs the misredemption of coupons by targeting four weaknesses inherent in online coupons; copying, sharing, file manipulation, and screen capture. "Our deterrents include serialized codes for every coupon, registering users, adding the consumers name to the coupon, watermarks, and data sharing with the clearinghouses" says chief technologist Greg Stoltz.

Beyond making coupons fraud resistant, the product offers distribution flexibility. The product is built on the ASP model. MyCoupons provisions the security, resources, and bandwidth needed to successfully carry out an online coupon campaign. The result is it takes very little effort to publish, distribute and track coupons across a variety of channels using MyCoupons.