Illinois Lawmakers Push for Fair Pricing Amid Complaints About Unreliable Digital Grocery Coupons

CHICAGO (NBC 5) — As inflation and tariffs continue to tighten household budgets, Illinois shoppers say digital coupons — meant to help save money — are often failing them. Frustrated customers report that accessing and applying these discounts, especially at Jewel-Osco grocery stores, has been unreliable and time-consuming.

“I just want to go in and out. I’m not there to waste any time,” said Cathy Jordan, a shopper from St. Charles. Jordan said she frequently struggles with the Jewel-Osco app, which requires customers to “clip” digital coupons before discounts are applied at checkout.

During a recent visit to buy pumpkins for her grandchildren, Jordan said she was charged full price despite clipping a $3.99 digital coupon. “The first thing that I clipped didn’t apply,” she said. Store staff later corrected the price manually, but Jordan reached out to both Jewel-Osco’s customer support and NBC 5 Responds about the issue.

In a statement, Jewel-Osco acknowledged ongoing app problems, saying:

“We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Our team is actively working to resolve these problems and enhance app performance. We’re committed to ensuring that all customers can easily access their digital coupons, rewards, and weekly deals without interruption.”

Now, Illinois lawmakers are taking action. State Rep. Janet Yang Rohr (D-Naperville) has introduced legislation that would require grocery stores to honor advertised prices even if customers can’t access digital coupons or don’t have smartphones.

“A retailer, if they are advertising a price, they have to be able to give that price to the consumer—even if that consumer doesn’t have a digital device,” Yang Rohr said.

She suggested that stores could provide paper coupon options alongside digital ones.

Yang Rohr emphasized that the issue isn’t isolated to Jewel-Osco.

“When we introduced the bill, people really just started coming out from all over the state talking about the issues they were seeing.”

If passed, the proposed legislation could ensure that all Illinois shoppers — regardless of tech access — can receive the same advertised savings at checkout.

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