What is a Catalina?

 One question I get asked most at classes is "What is a Catalina"- I thought I would do my best to explain what one is and how they work. 

I am sure most of you have seen the little machine that sits by the cash register that prints out advertisements and coupons. That is the Catalina machine. The Catalina machine is owned by Catalina Marketing. Catalina Marketing is an advertising company that works with grocery stores and retailers to advertise coupons and promotions.


Catalina's print at the end of your transaction. Catalina's can be advertisements for upcoming promotions, for one or multiple products, can be a dollar amount off one or multiple products or a dollar amount off your next shopping trip.


Catalina's do have an expiration date on them. If your Catalina is for a dollar amount off your next shopping trip you can use more then one in the same transaction. If you received a catalina that is a dollar amount off of a product it will say "Manufactures Coupon" at the top. You can only use it at the store you got it at and you can only use one manufactures coupon per item. 


There is no magic to making a catalina print. Sometime a catalina prints because of the items you are buying. Other times it is just promoting a new offer. This is one of the most frustrating things about catalina's- you only know about the promotion when it print or you hear it from some one. I do my best to post any catalina I hear about. Sometimes stores will post an advertisement for a promotion that involves a catalina. 


On the other hand, if you know of a specific cantalina like 'but 5 Kraft Cheese, get $5 off your next shopping trip' and your cantalina does not print there are a few things that you can do.
First is to make sure you bought the right product, if you did don't get mad at the cashier. There is nothing really that she can do and most of the time she will not even know of the promotion that you are after. The catalina machine is operated by Catalina Marketing. You should work with them to get the issue of your catalina not printing fixed. 
You can call them at 1-877-210-1917 or e-mail at coupon@catalinamarketing.com
You will need to have the receipt with you when you talk with someone on the phone. They will need that information to help resolve the issue. 


If you have any other questions that I did not go over please ask and I will do my best to answer them.