For years now, Bed Bath and Beyond has trained its shoppers to wait for one of its 20% off coupons to arrive in the mail before making a purchase. The coupons even change hands for cash. The company has long wanted to wean us off these coupons, and its latest tool to do so is a subscription discount/free shipping plan.

Bed Bath and Beyond is just the latest of many retailers to set up free shipping/discount programs for a fee. Companies ranging from Walmart to Restoration Hardware are experimenting with the idea, figuring that the popularity of Amazon Prime among all kinds of households means that someone must be interested.

This plan, called Beyond+ because “Beyond Beyond” would be a stupid name, lets shoppers pay $29 a year for free shipping, and what is technically infinite 20% off coupons.

Don’t rush over to the site to sign up, though: registration was only open for a short time, and has now closed while the company tests the new program. Reader Kevin received an invitation to join, and sent it over for us to take a look.

Bed Bath Tries to Move Beyond the Coupon [Wall Street Journal]

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