March 6, 2026, 5:07 a.m. ET
- No app? That means no coupons at many grocery stores
- A bill would make grocery stores honor digital coupons for those who know to ask for them in person
- Proponents argue older generations don’t have smart phones or the ability to use the apps
Should Rhode Island grocery stores using online coupons honor those same discounts for customers who don’t want to download the store’s app?
A bill (H 7719) introduced by Thomas Noret, D-Coventry, West Warwick, would require that digital-only coupons for “food and related items” be honored through a method that doesn’t require a customer to have that digital coupon.
In other words: Digital coupons offering discounts, like the kind you get through a grocery store’s app, would need to be available to customers who don’t have or want the app.
Which stores would this apply to? Many of the state’s largest grocery chains, such as Market Basket and Aldi, don’t do online-only coupons. Dave’s Fresh Marketplace‘s website states that it honors online and manufacturer’s coupons but does not advertise any.
Others, like Walmart, Dollar General, Shaw’s, Stop & Shop and Price Rite all use digital coupons. In many instances, the phone app for the store has to be downloaded and used to get the coupon and the discount.
Why it matters
For some retailers, the difference between the digital phone-activated coupons and the regular price can be significant, especially during holidays when things such as turkeys or corned beef are deeply discounted – if you have the coupon on the app on your phone.
“As the Vice Chair of the Commission for Healthy Aging, we’ve heard time and time again that digital access is an issue, especially for seniors,” Noret said. “Not only is it an issue for our aging population, but it’s an issue for those with disabilities. Not everyone has a cell phone or a computer, and this bill will create an equitable opportunity for all to receive the same discounts when they’re shopping in our local grocery stores.”
The bill is part of Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos’ legislative agenda for this session. Matos said during a hearing on March 3 that she had her eye on the issue before realizing that Noret was also working on it, and they combined forces.
Matos said a senior approached her, complaining that it wasn’t fair that she wasn’t getting the discount because she didn’t have a smartphone.
Who is opposing the bill?
Opponents said that requiring stores to honor their digital coupons for customers without the apps will “strongly discourage businesses from offering discounts to consumers,” according to a letter from the Rhode Island Business Coalition.
Honoring digital coupons for the few people who know about them but can’t present them via a phone would “result in those smaller businesses opting to not offer the discount at all,” National Federation of Independent Business Director Christopher Carlozzi wrote in testimony.
When Carlozzi asserted that the bill would require businesses to have printed copies of coupons, Matos’ senior adviser, David Folcarelli, said, “It unequivocally does not.”
He wrote in an email that one complaint lodged by opponents, that requiring stores to honor digital coupons in person would compromise or eliminate loyalty programs, is not the intention of the bill, and the bill could be amended to prevent that outcome.
Who is supporting the bill?
The Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns filed a letter in support of the bill, writing that it would promote fairness and “greater equity and consumer choice.”
The Senior Agenda Coalition of Rhode Island also filed a letter in support, writing that older adults lack the device, the skills, or both, to use digital coupons.
“Requiring stores to provide the same discounts in store as that offered to customers using digital coupons will bridge the digital divide for some older adults and help them better afford the foods needed to stay healthy,” Senior Agenda Coalition of Rhode Island Executive Director Carol Anne Costa wrote.
Privacy concerns around grocery store apps
While the focus during the hearing was on the elderly and people without smartphones or the ability to easily use digital coupons on a phone, a Consumer Reports investigation found that loyalty programs, which give access to digital coupons, are a way for stores to monetize customer data.
The investigation focused on supermarket giant Kroger, which does not operate in Rhode Island, and found that it sells its information on customers to third parties.
