Impact of Cashback Shopping on Shoppers, Retailers, and Sponsors

Particularly in the era of “social distancing”, on-line shopping is growing at a rapid pace and with it, the opportunity presented by “Cash Back Shopping.”  Cashback shopping taps into the normal marketing budgets of on-line retailers.  Just like newspaper and other media advertising, Cash Back programs are designed by retailers to attract shoppers to their on-line shopping sites and to make purchases based on their standard pricing, discounts, reward, and customer service policies and the new dimension of cashback shopping.  You’ve probably heard of the biggest cashback provider in the direct to consumer space which is Rakuten/Ebates. On the other hand, the biggest provider in the business to business space is Retail Benefits, Inc. (RBI).

Retail Benefits markets only through 3rd parties such as banks and credit unions, businesses (with large direct to consumer marketing reach), churches and charities, and political parties.  Retail Benefits is an invisible partner to its sponsor organizations as RBI provides the downloadable app that connects the sponsor organization with its potential shoppers and over 4,500 on-line retailers who participate in the program.  The RBI app is always customized and branded to each sponsor using the sponsor’s own marketing message and its standard “look and feel”.  Using Retail Benefits is a one time download of the app onto the shopper’s desktop computer and/or mobile device.  Once the installed the shopper shops as always and receives cash back on every purchase.

The cash flows from the retailer to RBI to the sponsor.  Each sponsor then uses the cashback to advance its mission.  Examples include charities that keep all or most of the cashback as a tax-deductible donation; banks and credit unions that add the cashback to enhance their existing cashback programs on the credit cards they are already offering, and business that keeps a portion of the cashback to enhance net income and convert the balance into “business bucks” to pay for the services they normally sale.

To learn more about how cashback shopping can create a strategic advantage for you and/or your contacts, contact Phil Davis, Retail Benefits Partner.

Phillip Davis

Philip Davis

Referral Partner

Retail Benefits, Inc.

pdavishr@Comcast.net

678-977-5578