Have you ever had trouble using a coupon at the Target checkout line, only to have the cashier work some keyboard magic to get you the discount? Expect to see less of this after the retailer’s latest update to its checkout system.



Coupons in the News reported Monday that Target updated its point-of-sale cash register software and its coupon policy in an effort to ensure that the discounts are applied accurately to orders.

Among the changes, Target will no longer allow cashiers to use a function on the register that made it possible to “push through” a coupon when the system won’t accept it normally.

Previously, cashiers were able to press a “K1” key to provide shoppers with a coupon’s discount if the system didn’t recognize it. Target tells Coupon in the News that the upgraded system was designed in part to minimize cashier intervention when it comes to coupons.

For example, if a coupon isn’t read properly by the system now, it will ask the cashier to apply the discount to a specific item that corresponds to the product. If that isn’t possible, the coupon will not be accepted and it will be returned to the customer.

Additionally, the upgrade will better match coupons to specific items. Under the previous system, the register would only read a portion of a coupon.

In some cases, a glitch would allow this coupon to be used not for the specific item but another made by the same manufacturer resulting in an overage — additional savings that can be applied to the rest of the customer’s bill.

“Now, not only will the registers match coupons to specific products, but overage itself is a thing of the past,” Coupons in the News points out.

While Target’s policy has always been to deny overages, it was up to a cashier to actually spot the additional savings and apply it to the order or deny it.

The new register software will automatically adjust down the value of coupons if they’re greater than an item’s retail price.

Per Target’s updated policy: “We do not give cash back nor do we apply any overages to the remaining items in the transaction if the value of a coupon is greater than the purchase value of the item.”

A rep for Target tells Consumerist that the point-of-sale changes will be rolled out to stores later this month.

“We want to ensure coupons are easy for our guests to redeem and seamless for our team members to process,” a spokesperson for the company tells Consumerist. “This policy is consistent with how we already handle Target-specific coupons.”

Target Makes Major Coupon Acceptance Changes [Coupon in the News]