The mail-in rebate--a process purposely designed to be complicated for consumers--is gradually dying out. Besides being unpopular with shoppers who have to meticulously assemble receipts, UPC codes,
and coupons, retailers and manufacturers are unhappy, too.
OfficeMax, the No. 3 office supplies store, has cut rebates out entirely, and Best Buy says it has eliminated more than 65% and
will do away with them completely by April. Hewlett-Packard is gradually reducing rebates. Dell, which sells its equipment directly to customers, is also retiring the promotional tool.
Whether the rebates are mail-in or via the Internet, marketers count on consumers messing up somewhere along the process. Companies also count on a certain number of people never applying for the
rebate, and another set that will never cash the check they receive in the mail. "It was becoming a reflection on us and not the manufacturer that was offering the rebate," says Ryan Vero, executive
vice president and chief merchandising officer at OfficeMax.
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