You may have noticed more and more coupons printing with other store logos on them and many have asked “Can I still use it at Kroger?”.  No matter what the coupon states (with the exception of the word “ONLY”), if your coupon prints as a regular manufacturer’s coupon, you can use it at any store. When a coupon states “redeemable at such and such store”, I view that as merely a suggestion and just another way for stores to advertise. The store advertising on the coupon does NOT change the fact that:

1. the coupon says “manufacturer’s coupon” at the top
2. the coupon WILL SCAN at any store that accepts coupons
3. the coupon offers a remittance address that does not state any store exclusions

Unless a store’s policy specifically outlines something contrary to what I have here, these are the guidelines I use.

Coupons.com themselves back up my take on this. Here is the comment I received from my coupons.com contact in an email dated March 14, 2014:

“Hi Katie,

Here’s how our Walmart offers can be clarified:

-“Redeemable at Walmart” means the offer can be redeemed at Walmart. It can also be redeemed at other participating stores.
-“Only at Walmart” means the offer can only be redeemed at Walmart.”

Coupons.com has also put this on their website since my conversation with them, which can be extremely helpful when dealing with cashiers/managers who don’t understand that they WILL be reimbursed by the manufacturer. You may want to print this off and keep it in your coupon binder.

Cashiers will sometimes see the words “Redeemable at Walmart” and wrongly advise the customer that the coupon can only be redeemed at Walmart, ignoring the words “Manufacturer Coupon” printed at the top of the coupon offer.

Below I have shared a few examples of different coupons and a brief explanation of where and how you can use them.

This coupon states “Redeemable at Walmart” AND prints with a Walmart Logo. It is just a regular manufacturer’s coupon, however – and can be redeemed at any store. You may also see this worded as “Redeem at Walmart”. Again, just a suggestion.

This coupon shows a Walmart logo and states “Available at Walmart”, but the logo does not print. It is just a regular manufacturer coupon that can be redeemed at any store. The words “available at” just tell you where you might find this item. I say thanks for the heads up, but I’ll use my coupon where it’s on sale! 🙂

This coupon states “Redeemable ONLY at Walmart”. It is a regular manufacturer’s coupon, but since it uses the word “ONLY” I feel like that one should only be used at Walmart. It just comes across as a command to me. In this case, this product is only sold at Walmart anyway – so you wouldn’t have a choice. This terminology is quite rare to see on a manufacturer coupon.

This coupon states “Redeem ONLY at Target” and prints as a Target Store Coupon. This coupon can ONLY be redeemed at Target.

The Kroger coupon policy does not address this issue. All it states is that “competitor coupons” are not accepted. With that being said, I can sit here and type all day long that these are NOT competitor coupons, but if your cashier/store manager feels differently…there’s not much you can do other than show them this post and the comment from coupons.com. Hopefully these guidelines will give you something to work with when making your stand.