Rebate Fulfillment / Rebate Marketing
Rebate Fulfillment, also known as Rebate Marketing, is a specialized fulfillment / marketing service that is widely used in the USA. Rebates can be offered both at the manufacturer level and the retail level. A typical rebate process involves a customer sending a receipt, coupon or barcode from a product participating in a rebate program, along with the applicable rebate form. The rebate form will at a minimum request the customer’s name, address and contact information. However, it is not uncommon for a rebate to also require other information, such as gender and date of birth as well as pointed questions about the customer’s experience of a particular product participating in the rebate program. Almost without exception there are often strict rules governing the validity of a rebate. For example, if the customer did not include proof of purchase for the required product, or purchased the product outside of the offer dates.
Value of a Rebate Fulfillment / Rebate Marketing Program
The customer data gathered from a rebate program is very valuable to the company offering the rebate. Through the careful synthesis of the customer data, a company can build a picture of the types of people purchasing their products, as well as gather feedback about the quality of their products. From this information, companies can:
- Better target their marketing campaigns.
- Continually improve their products.
- Explore ideas for new product lines for new consumer groups.
Particularly for the above three reasons, Rebate Fulfillment / Marketing has grown to become an industry in its own right, with professional companies dedicated to providing Rebate Fulfillment / Marketing Services.
Two Key Types of Rebates
Mail In Rebate
Mail In Rebate (MIR) which as its name implies requires that the customer send the rebate to a Rebate Fulfillment company. This is the most widely used system of rebates and the traditional model for rebate processing.
Instant Rebates
Instant Rebates is a newer phenomenon and is particularly attractive to the customer, as it is available immediately at the cash register, however this typically negates the collection of name/address information and directly affects the ability for the company to understand and market to the individual.
