San Diego, California’s city council unanimously voted last week to relax its ordinance requiring grocers to offer physical, paper versions of their digital discounts or coupons.
The changes aim to “preserve the ordinance’s original intent, which is ensuring equal access to discounts while making it more practical and enforceable,” staffers for Councilmember Marni von Wilpert said during a presentation at the July 1 city council meeting.
Wilpert, along with Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera, spearheaded the original ordinance, which passed unanimously this spring, as well as the recent amendments to it.
The amendment makes five changes to the ordinance. The first replaces the requirement of a “printed coupon” with an “in-store alternative,” allowing for more flexibility on the retailer’s side, said Wilpert’s Senior Director for Strategic Initiatives Joon Suh, who gave the presentation on the proposed changes.
“[S]tores would still need to offer discounts of identical value upon request, but they could do so in more flexible ways, such as a kiosk, scanable barcodes at checkout, customer service override or another accessible method,” Suh said.
The amendment also adjusts the definition of what qualifies as a “grocery store” to better align with the ordinance’s other codes, census definitions and other state and federal laws to “avoid confusion and ensure consistent enforcement,” he said.
The third change specifies that coupons and discounts offered to customers via paid memberships, such as club memberships, are not covered under this ordinance. These discounts are “individualized or contractual in nature, so they are outside the scope of our intent,” Suh said.
Grocers in the California city now have until Oct. 1, as opposed to July 1, to implement the changes, giving grocers time to “tweak their processes,” Wilpert said during the meeting, outlining the fourth amendment for the ordinance.
The final change ushers in an annual review process to monitor implementation, gather community feedback and recommend adjustments moving forward, Suh said.
“This is food we’re talking about here. Not luxury items,” Wilpert said during the council meeting.
Correction: This story has been updated to reflect coupons and discounts not covered under the city’s recently updated ordinance.
