Arizona Shopping Secrets

The latest coupon buzz has been about Walmart’s Pilot Double Coupon Program. The great news for Tucson is we are one of the very few markets that are part of this pilot program.

There is no official Walmart Double Coupon Policy.  It appears that it’s up to the store manager on how they run this program.  Some stores are honoring local grocery ads like Safeway’s all coupons worth $1 and rounding up all coupons up to $1 in value. Some store are simply doubling coupons and others say they aren’t participating.

I called every local store and spoke with their customer service desk to figure this out. And unfortunately it was a different story at each store.  Keeping in mind that you may get a different answer with different employees, this is what I learned.

WalMart “Doubling” Stores

Tucson Neighborhood Market Store #4473 @ 2175 W Ruthrauff Rd

• Will double up to $1 coupons (i.e. $1 coupon = $2) as long as it doesn’t exceed the price of the item

Tucson WalMart Supercenter Store #1612 @ 1650 W Valencia Rd

• Will double up to $0.50 coupons. A $0.75 coupon will only be worth $1. <—Similar to a regular AZ doubling policy

Tucson WalMart Neighborhood Market Store #4603 @ 5500 E 22Nd St

• Are doubling.

Tucson WalMart Store #1291 @ 7150 E Speedway Blvd

• They are “rounding” coupons up to $1, or making all coupons worth $1. <—Following the current Safeway promotion.

Tucson WalMart Supercenter Store #2922 @ 7635 No. La Cholla B

• Honoring the current local competitors promotions, i.e. double coupons or all coupons worth $1.

Marana WalMart Supercenter Store #5031 @ 8280 N Cortaro Rd

• They are also doubling or “rounding” coupons up to $1, following the current Safeway policy.

Stores Not Doubling

These stores told me no. Some even told me WalMart NEVER doubles or were completely surprised when I mentioned the other locations that were….

Tucson WalMart Store #1325 @ 455 E Wetmore Rd

Tucson Neighborhood Market Store #3357 @ 3925 E Grant Rd

Tucson Neighborhood Market Store #3377 @ 2823 W Valencia Rd

Oro Valley WalMart Supercenter Store #3379 @ 2150 E Tangerine Rd

Oro Valley Neighborhood Market Store #4264 @ 7951 N Oracle Rd

Sahuarita WalMart Supercenter Store #1411 @ 18680 S Nogales Hwy

My Thoughts/Tips

• Remember there is no written policy for this current pilot program. It doesn’t hurt to call and ask or stop by customer service before shopping.  Different employees may give different answers.
• Let the cashier know that you will be doubling coupons.
• I would keep separate the items that will require doubling because the cashier has to price adjust the product by the bonus  discount amount.
  • For example. If you have a product that is $1.98 and you have a $0.50 coupon, they need to scan the item, price adjust it to $1.48 ($1.98-$0.50) and then they will scan the $0.50 coupon, bringing the total price to $0.98! Effectively (if in an insanely complicated manner) giving you the double coupon discount!
• Be patient and realize this process will take some time.  This is new to many cashiers, as not many people are taking advantage of this pilot program.  My cashier seem surprised when I asked to double coupons last night.  She was aware of the promotion but I was her first double coupon customer!
• I personally believe the intent is to treat the program as a competitor’s ad match, so as long as coupons are doubling (or worth $1) at other local stores than WalMart will also double coupons for their customers. But again my own thought and it appears different stores are implementing it differently.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed that all stores come on board! And that they streamline the checkout process.

Have you doubled coupons at WalMart yet? What has your experience been?

Let’s work together and keep the store information up to date!