View the complete article at Retail Customer Experience.

Consumers and retailers alike love coupons. It’s the lure of the deal; customers save money while retailers draw in fringe shoppers who might not ordinarily make a full price purchase. Coupons have been dangled in front of customers since Coca-Cola first introduced the concept in 1887, but a lot has changed since then in the way coupons, from how they are issued to how they are redeemed. If companies aren’t paying attention, it could result in a multi-million dollar hit to their bottom line.

It doesn’t take much to imagine what would happen if shoppers called the industry’s bluff on the $496 billion in authorized (but unused) discounts.

Coupons are not disappearing any time soon, and though the form that they take may change, they’ll remain a strong sales driver in the U.S.Retailers and CPGs just need to get strategic about how they invest in and deploy coupons moving forward. If they don’t, it could mean a rude awakening to the tune of millions of dollars lost.

Read more from Eversight Co-founder and Chairman David Moran on the specific steps you can take at Retail Customer Experience.