Voucher Best Practice Guidelines Updated
25th January 2005
A new version of the best practice guidelines for designing, producing and processing vouchers within the news industry has been published.
Taking effect from February 2005, the updated guidelines follow extensive consultation between retailers, wholesalers and newspaper and magazine publishers, under the auspices of the Joint Industry Group (JIG).
Announcing the publication of the updated guidelines, Howard Birch, chairman of the JIG Voucher Sub Group, said: “This second issue of the guidelines is good news for retailers. It clearly demonstrates that all sectors of the news industry are keen to ensure that consistency and diligence are applied in the production of vouchers.
“We have made a number of enhancements including the addition of a creator checklist. As a result we believe the guidelines are clearer and more user friendly. They are aimed at everyone– from the marketing agencies who create them to the retailers who handle them.”
And he added: “A tremendous amount of work has also gone into identifying the people responsible for creating vouchers, within newspaper and magazine marketing departments and at their agencies. The engagement of these people means that best practice will be established, achieved and maintained.”
The ANMW estimates that wholesalers are processing around 3.8 million vouchers with a value approaching £2.5m each week.
“With so many vouchers in circulation, it is important that they are correctly designed to ensure that they are easy to use and that they will be processed efficiently,” explained Howard Birch. “In particular we want to ensure that the cash value is clearly shown on each voucher to prevent confusion at redemption and possible delays at retailers’ tills.”
Peter Wagg, national president of the Newsagents Federation, welcomed the production of the guidelines. He commented; "This new document addresses many of the previous concerns that retailer have had concerning vouchers."
He also urged retailers to ensure they redeemed their newspaper and magazine vouchers on a regular basis. " While the Federation will continue to campaign vigorously for vouchers to be produced in the agreed format, members are still losing millions of pounds annually by simply returning vouchers too late for credit. A recent sample of data indicates that 0.11% of newspaper vouchers and 0.66% magazine vouchers are returned too late for credit. While these may seem small percentages the amounts of money involved are considerable. I urge all members to try to get into a weekly routine of sending back vouchers, even if you only have one or two to return. Magazine vouchers are very are high value with a short redemption period, make sure you always send them back in time."
The original voucher best practice guidelines were launched in May 2002.
