The Ultimate Guide to Couponing in the Northwest: Know the coupon strategies {GROCERY STORE CATALINAS}

CATALINA: A coupon you get with your receipt at the register; usually triggered by a specific item that you purchased

This is when couponing in the Northwest gets fun. Catalinas, named after the company that manufacturers and maintains the machines, are the reason we score on groceries and household items. Catalinas print from the box-sized machine that sits either right next to the register (Safeway, Fred Meyer, Target, Walgreens) or on the counter right behind the cashier (Albertsons). WinCo and Walmart do not have Catalina machines.

There are three types of Catalina (cat) coupons:

1. An advertisement (Jiffy Lube, a website, etc.)
2. A manufacturer’s or a store coupon
3. A coupon worth a certain dollar amount off your next purchase — this is the one I will be discussing today

CATALINAS AT THE GROCERY STORE

There are two types of Catalina promotions that run at grocery stores: manufacturer’s promotions and store promotions. This is not an official distinction; it’s just the way I have organized it in my brain as well as when I teach coupon classes.

STORE PROMOTIONS: This is  a deal that works at a particular store and is always advertised in some capacity, usually in the weekly ad. Store promos typically run at Safeway and Albertsons, but not at Fred Meyer or QFC. Usually the promotion works like this:

Buy a certain dollar amount of a group of items (participating products) and a Catalina will print at the register. Less frequently, the Catalina will be when you buy a certain number of participating items (Albertsons runs these promotions every so often).

Specifics on store promotion cats:

• This Catalina will only print at the one store, not multiple stores.
• The promotion amount is before manufacturer’s coupons are scanned.
• You can usually roll the Catalina to the next Catalina transaction, which means that a cat will print even when you use a previous cat to pay for that transaction.
• The Catalina usually has a 2 week expiration.
• If your cat doesn’t print, customer service may be able to help you or you may have to contact the Catalina company directly.
• When you redeem your Catalina, the transaction total must be equal to or more than the value of the cat in order to use it (the store will not give you money when you redeem the cat).

Here’s a Safeway deal scenario that illustrates the specifics listed above (this example is from a previous promotion):

Buy $30 worth of participating products, Get $10 Catalina (coupon worth $10 off your next purchase).

Buy 7 bags of Goodlife Cat Food* on sale $4.49 each = $31.43
Use (7) $3/1 coupons (-$21)
Use 4 Safeway doubles (-$2)
Pay $8.43, Get $10 Catalina
FREE with $1.57 overage after coupons, doubles & cat

*Don’t get hung up on the cat food. There were hundreds of participating products available. The cat food scenario just makes the whole thing easier to understand.

Since the participating product’s total was over $30, the Catalina printed, regardless of what happened next. I used 7 manufacturer’s coupons and 4 Safeway doubles to lower my out-of-pocket (OOP) cost. I paid Safeway $8.43 and received a $10 Catalina, which expired in 2 weeks. At this point, I could use the $10 cat to buy something my family immediately needed (produce, meat, dairy, diapers) OR I could roll it to a second transaction:

Buy 7 more bags of cat food = $31.43
Buy $1.57+ worth of filler items = $1.57
Use (7) $3/1 coupons (-$21)
Use 4 Safeway doubles (-$2)
Pay $0+, Get $10 Catalina

At this point, I could roll the transaction as many times as I wanted. Want to know the best part? I still had a $10 Catalina after my last promotion transaction.

MANUFACTURER’S PROMOTIONS: This is a deal that works at several stores and is usually not advertised. Manufacturer’s promo cats print at Safeway, Albertsons, Fred Meyer and QFC. Usually the promotion works like this:

Buy a certain number of a specific product and a Catalina will print at the register. Less frequently, the Catalina promo will be when you buy a certain $ amount of participating products.

Specifics on manufacturer’s promo cats:

• This Catalina will print at multiple stores.
• This Catalina will always roll to the next Catalina transaction.
• The Catalina usually has a 2 week expiration.
• This promotion is occasionally tagged at the store, but they usually put the tag next to the most expensive type of the product.
• If your cat doesn’t print, customer service will not help you. In fact, they don’t even know that the promotion is running. DO NOT ask your store to deal with the problem. YOU ABSOLUTELY MUST contact the Catalina company directly.
• When you redeem your Catalina, the transaction total must be equal to or more than the value of the cat in order to use it (the store will not give you money when you redeem the cat).

The key to scoring on manufacturer’s cat promos is to wait until the perfect storm hits (all 3 “savings opportunities” happen at the same time):

1. a Catalina promotion
2. a store sale
3. a manufacturer’s coupon

Tips to a successful Catalina transaction:

Check your items to make sure they actually qualify for the promotion — double check brand, size, weight, variety, flavor. When a Catalina doesn’t print, it’s usually “user error” and you’ve purchased the incorrect item.

Look at the Catalina machine BEFORE the cashier starts your transaction and make sure you see a green light on the front (it’s small). This means the machine is ready to print.

If you see a red light, it means the machine is out of paper, the paper is jammed or the machine is not functioning properly and your cat will not print. If you see a red light, politely show it to your cashier and tell him/her that you are expecting a cat to print so will they please check the machine. If they can’t fix the problem, go to another register.

Do not shop on the first day of a store promotion. There are often glitches in the system when a big store promotion is first released. Wait a day or two for the Catalina company to fix the problems that come up.

If your cat doesn’t print, contact the Catalina company directly. Make sure you have your receipt with you. If you have purchased the correct items in the correct quantities, they will send you a Catalina in the mail, usually within a couple of days.

CATALINA COMPANY CONTACT INFO:

• Phone: 888.8COUPON and press #3
• Email: coupon@catalinamarketing.com — make sure you include the store name & address, date & time of purchase, what you purchased, the transaction ID from your receipt and what Catalina you expected to get

Read more from The Ultimate Guide to Couponing in the Northwest here.

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