With e-commerce now a permanent fixture of the retail landscape, the customer is in charge. We are living in the era of a savvy, value-conscious shopper who knows how to thoroughly research their options before making a purchase, quickly suss out the competitive landscape – and is on the hunt for value that goes beyond just a quick discount.
Customers now want more from brands. It’s time for marketers to change tack.
“Even before Covid, customer expectations from brands or their retail experiences were already increasing in terms of the ease, simplicity, personalisation, and value that they expect when shopping with the brands they love,” explains Bernard Wilson, CEO of Cashrewards, a platform offering customers cashback for every purchase they make with thousands of participating retailers.
But there’s no doubt Covid has further accelerated these trends. With this in mind, it’s crucial for brands to reach valuable shoppers in the moments that matter with messages and motivations that really cut through.
“That’s what Cashrewards is all about. Australians have a real affinity with earning and saving and I think Covid has just brought that to the forefront. We offer our members real cash rewards from relevant brands across every retail category,” says Wilson.
“This means we can communicate with our members more often than any single retailer and because brands pay only on performance, there’s zero wasted reach.”
The benefits of paying only for performance
Smart retailers know that they need to stand out from the crowd. To engage the value-conscious consumer, it’s time to consider more effective marketing initiatives and strategies to win, through programs that offer acquisition, increased frequency, and long-term loyalty, like Cashrewards.
Unlike traditional digital marketing channels, brands don’t pay Cashrewards for eyeballs or impressions – they only pay the platform when a transaction takes place, and because Cashrewards members are high-value shoppers, it is generally at a higher average value.
“We work with thousands of brands to drive a better return on their marketing spend by connecting them to shoppers at the right moment meeting and exceeding consumer expectations and only charging retailers for performance,” explains Wilson.
Cashrewards pioneered cashback in Australia, launching in 2014 and has been growing ever since. More than 1 million Australian shoppers are already members of the platform, but growth is poised to further accelerate due to a new strategic partnership with ANZ bank, which will see Cashrewards made available to its 4.7 million credit and debit card holders from August.
“ANZ step-changes our offering for brands. More members deliver more incremental sales, and the partnership also opens up media inventory that brands have never had access to before – they can now talk to a bank’s entire customer base to drive real outcomes. There is no proposition like ours in the market,” explains Wilson.
For its 1700 brand partners, that means a steady stream of new shoppers to target across a wide range of categories, including fashion, health, and beauty, marketplaces, gift cards, electrical, department stores, alcohol, and more.
“Brands like Booking.com or The Iconic can give customers incredibly compelling offers because the return on advertising spend is so high, there’s no wasted reach, and activated customers are stickier and repeat purchase,” says Wilson.
So far, Cashrewards has generated $2.5 billion in sales for leading Australian brands including Apple, Myer, Liquorland, Adidas, Bonds, Target, Booking.com, and The Iconic.
“We take wasted advertising spend and give it to the consumer. It’s that simple,” said Wilson.
Cashrewards gives back
At the same time, Cashrewards works with its charity partner, The Starlight Foundation, which receives the equivalent of 1 per cent of all cashback earned by members every time they withdraw their rewards, which has contributed more than $900,000 to the Foundation to date, helping more than 22,000 sick children and their families.
In May, Cashrewards hosted its inaugural Shop4Smiles event with the Starlight Children’s Foundation, featuring a double cashback period, which raised more than $70,000, helping 1765 sick kids in need.
“Not only do we deliver a win for the savvy consumer, and outstanding returns for retailers, we also bring joy to sick children and their families in the process. All that is powered by our ever-increasing performance for our brand partners,” says Wilson.
To find out more about Cashrewards and become a partner, visit: cashrewards.com.au/business