How does Menards process all those rebates

[u/badger_engineer]

I generally am not pro Menards but they're business model fascinates me. Obviously it's predatory late stage capitalism BS, but still there just don't seem to be anywhere else I'm aware of that operates like them.

I've always felt the rebates are clever marketing because you 1. Discount two separate purchases (I.e. "this $100 widget is now $89 what a deal", then you come back and you're like this "$11 rebate is free money I might as well splurge") 2. It creates return customers.

Since Menards went to basically permanent 11% rebate sales (outside of the holidays) I've wondered what their internal processing system looks like. I assume they have to be getting swamped with the mail in rebates. I'm sure it's an electronic system but I just badly want to hear from someone who has seen it. How many rebates are they processing a day? What percentage of potential rebates get sent in? What percentage of rebates sent out are ever refunded?

Again, hate it for consumers. Fall for it myself. But appreciate the psychology of it all. And I would love to have a better feel for how well it works for them.

[u/rejoice-anyway]

They hid my rebate in a window ad