Serial Numbers For Rebate Programs: Why Are They A Vital Part Of Marketing Campaigns

Companies utilize rebate programs as part of their rebate marketing campaigns to attract customers and collect vital information that can give insight into market trends and customer purchasing habits.

However, such a marketing strategy needs an efficient fraud-resistant rebate process to ensure its success.

If you run rebate programs without a serial number, having such a unique number will distinguish them from other products and ensure that only one rebate is applied to each authentic product.

This number is vital to marketing campaigns as the one-off code is crucial to your proof of purchase processing so claims can be adequately verified.
Let’s look closer at how serial numbers for rebate programs can help you prevent and detect potential fraudulent rebate claims.

Critical Reasons For Using Serial Numbers

Here are three key reasons for using serial numbers.

Proof Of Purchase Verification And Authentication

As a serial number is unique, it’s vital in determining the eligibility of a rebate claim and helps prevent fraud.

Determine Product Eligibility

Making serial numbers part of your rebate claims process isn’t complicated. It delivers a lot of oversight when you’re trying to determine rebate eligibility.

Before the claim can be approved, the number must be checked to verify its accuracy. Checking it will confirm whether or not the purchased product qualifies for a rebate.

Suppose you do encounter other rebate claims with the same serial number. In that case, they can be quickly flagged in the rebate program, helping you to prevent fraudulent and duplicate claims from being processed.

Additionally, rebate programs require customers to submit the rebate form before the specified expiration date. A submission form received after this date is no longer eligible for a rebate.

That validation process is much easier and more effective with a database of eligible serial numbers and product descriptions. Every time you process a successful rebate, the system can record it in the database to keep an up-to-date record of progress.

Prevent Fraud

Rebate fraud is a common issue many companies face with these marketing campaigns. This costs a company time, money, and resources that can be better used for other marketing efforts.

Additionally, being given fraudulent information won’t allow you to collect high-quality data regarding your customers.

This is where the power of serial numbers can play a crucial role. Suppose you have products where such a unique number assignment is possible, and you already record such information in a product database. In that case, you can make that part of the process for customers to follow.

For products where this isn’t possible, our team at Incentive Insights can still help you run a fraud-resistant rebate program using other tried and tested methods.

Tracking Products Through The Sales Channel

When you have products suitable for assigning serial numbers, you also gain more insights into where each product ends up in the distribution and sales channel.

By maintaining detailed data about batches of products, you can track what distributors receive them and what retailers they end up with for sale to consumers. You can then use that data and rebate processing data to gain more insights into where your marketing efforts have the most significant impact.

You can also follow sales to different retailers and third-party online stores by linking batches of serial numbers to each company. This can allow you to further expand your sales channel by identifying new partners effectively promoting and selling your products.

Essentially, a serial number will enable you to track the movement of your products and associated rebates to identify market trends, track missing or lost products, and enhance how you track your marketing outcomes with different partners.

Implement Serial Numbers Before You Plan A Rebate Offer

If you’re planning a new rebate marketing campaign and your products are suitable for assigning a unique serial number.  A unique serial number will help you track eligible products and prevent fraudulent claims from being processed.

Once the numbers are assigned, the codes must be recorded to enable you to keep track of the items. You must maintain detailed production data to identify exact product descriptions and serial numbers to create clear rules around what products do and don’t qualify for a rebate.

On purchasing your product, customers will usually find the serial number noted on the product. Some retailers may also include it on the purchase receipt. This will help ensure product authenticity for each customer rebate submission you receive and prevent fraudulent rebates from being processed.

Learn more about the benefits of rebate marketing in our blog.

Find Out How We Can Help You Better Manage Your Rebate Offers

Gathering information and analyzing market trends is time-consuming, with high administration costs. But an organized solution and database can solve this issue. You’ll be able to document and track your rebate offers with as much detail as needed.

At Incentive Insights, we offer customized rebate fulfillment services. We help you implement rebate fraud prevention and save your company time and money.

Don’t hesitate to contact us for more information about our customized fraud-resistant rebate program. Let’s make your company more customer-friendly and competitive.