GS1 Discount Coupons

What is a GS1 discount coupon

A GS1 discount coupon is a How to: Set Up Store Coupons whose barcode is combined with the item's barcode into a single GS1 databar. An ordinary store coupon has its own separate barcode: the cashier, or the customer, scans the item and then scans the coupon as two separate steps. A GS1 discount coupon is scanned once. The GS1 databar carries the item barcode in application identifier 01 and the coupon barcode in application identifier 255, so the item and its discount reach the POS together.

Because the coupon is embedded in the item's own barcode, a GS1 discount coupon can only ever be a discount, never a tender.

That is enforced by the setup conditions described below.

To set up a GS1 discount coupon

You set up a GS1 discount coupon on the Store Coupon card, the same card used for an ordinary How to: Set Up Store Coupons, by selecting the GS1 Discount Coupon check box on the Use FastTab.

Click the icon, enter Store Coupon List, and select the relevant link.
Open the coupon you want to use as a GS1 discount coupon, or create a new one.
On the Use FastTab, select the GS1 Discount Coupon check box.

The GS1 Discount Coupon check box can only be selected when the coupon meets all three of the following conditions:

Calculation Type is Discount.
Handling is Discount.
Barcode Element 3 is either Discount % or Discount Amount.

Note: If any of these conditions is not met, selecting the check box raises an error. Check Calculation Type and Handling on the Issue and Use FastTabs, and check that Barcode Element 3 is set to Discount % or Discount Amount on the Issue FastTab, then try again.

Note: If you later change the coupon so that it no longer meets these conditions, for example by changing Handling to Tender, the GS1 Discount Coupon check box is cleared automatically the next time the coupon is saved. No error is raised in that case.

GS1 discount coupons on the POS

When the operator scans a GS1 databar that carries both an item barcode (application identifier 01) and a GS1 discount coupon barcode (application identifier 255), the POS processes the coupon barcode as if it had been scanned on its own, and then adds the item using its own barcode. The result on the transaction is the same as scanning the coupon and the item separately: the coupon line is added, and the item line is added with any discount from the coupon applied to it.

Note: GS1 discount coupons are not processed on a return sale. If the transaction is a return, the databar is treated as a plain item barcode and no coupon is applied.

Looking up GS1 discount coupons for an item

A store can look up which GS1 discount coupons currently apply to an item barcode without having a physical coupon in hand. This lookup is exposed as a web service, GetGS1DiscountCoupons, that a head office or another system calls with an item barcode and receives back the matching coupons, including each coupon's number, description, discount type and value, barcode mask, and generated GS1 discount barcode.

A coupon is only returned by the lookup when it is Enabled, is a Store Coupon, has the GS1 Discount Coupon check box selected, is inside its validation period, is valid for the item, and has a coupon entry with Coupon Function set to Issue that carries a barcode.

You can try the same lookup manually from the Item Barcodes page:

Click the icon, enter Item Barcodes, and select the relevant link.
Select the line with the barcode you want to check, and click the Get GS1 Discount Coupons action.
A message shows the GS1 discount coupons that currently match this item barcode.

GS1 barcode version 1 and version 2

LS Central supports two versions of GS1 Barcodes parsing, and GS1 discount coupons work with either version.

Version 1 reads application identifiers from a manual setup on the GS1 BarcodeV1 Setup page. Before you can use GS1 discount coupons with version 1, application identifier 255 must have a section set up there. Use the Add GS1 Discount Coupons Section action on the GS1 BarcodeV1 Setup page to add it:

Click the icon, enter GS1 BarcodeV1 Setup, and select the relevant link.
Click the Add GS1 Discount Coupons Section action.

Version 2 does not need any manual setup; it recognizes application identifier 255 according to the GS1 standard.

See GS1 Barcodes for how to switch between version 1 and version 2.