Cashback has become an essential marketing lever for generating sales on your affiliate program. Essentially, it’s a loyalty program in which buyers receive a part of the money they spend in return.
Cashback websites therefore act as business drivers for e-commerce websites. And not the least! In fact, by partnering with cashback websites, brands gain access to highly engaged communities of buyers.
How does it work, and who are these publishers? Find out everything you need to know about cashback in this article.
What is Cashback?
Who are cashback publishers and how do they operate?
Cashback publishers, also known as cashback websites, play an essential role in the conversion process. They are responsible for promoting offers, redirecting users to e-commerce wesites, and managing cashback transactions. They generally earn a commission for every purchase made by a referred user thanks to their promotion (commission sharing).
Cashback categories
Cashback publishers have websites and mobile applications where they display their cashback offers. These are the platforms that consumers visit to find attractive offers. There are several categories:
- General cashback websites: these are websites such as igraal, poulpeo or widilo, which bring together offers from e-merchants in all sectors, i.e. fashion/beauty, high-tech, sports, home and so on.
- Cashback loyalty clubs: these are selective clubs that bring together a company’s customers and enable them to benefit from specific promotional offers. Examples include the Société Générale loyalty club, The Corner Boursorama, and the fnac-darty loyalty program. Another example is Capital Koala, which enables parents who buy from a retailer to transfer their cashback to a savings account for their child/children.
- App Cashback: like Weward, an application that rewards users according to the kilometers they walk during the day.
- Technology based on Offline account link offer or card link offer: either the loyalty club is directly connected to the customer’s bank account (card link offer system, like cashback by Société Générale), or the web user authorizes the application to connect to his/her bank account (accointance link offer system, like JOKO). Loyalty clubs can therefore track purchases and offer classic cashback, as well as tracking members’ in-store purchases, with the aim of generating in-store traffic. This enables brands to boost traffic to their stores in low-traffic areas, or as part of a new store opening. Publishers such as CFC Services and JOKO offer this type of service.
Cashback websites’ means of communication
For advertisers, working with cashback publishers is a valuable opportunity to boost sales, as they use a variety of methods to promote affiliate programs:
- Onsite: integration on homepages, specific landing pages for special occasions (Black Friday, Back to school etc.), the biggest platforms offer their community of buyers specific special occasions with specific Cashback.
- Newsletters: these publishers send regular e-mail newsletters to their members, highlighting the latest cashback offers. This enables them to draw attention to current promotions.
- Social networks: Cashback publishers also use social networks to promote their offers. They share links to their offers on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
- Browser extensions: some cashback publishers also offer browser extensions that alert users when they visit a partner site, ensuring they don’t miss out on any cashback opportunities (such as the Wanteeed extension).
What are the advantages of relaying your affiliate programs via cashback websites?
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Target a community of loyal buyers
To join a cashback website, members have to register, which is the big difference with coupon code websites, where codes can be redeemed without even registering. And it’s the notion of a kitty that motivates members to make their purchase via cashback.
Contrary to popular belief, cashback sites no longer limit their involvement to the very end of the purchasing process, it’s a common misconception about affiliation. They now offer complete coverage from the very first stages of the customer experience, and have even become a powerful tool for acquiring new consumers. Indeed, these publishers communicate regularly with their members, presenting offers well in advance of the decision-making process, which piques their interest and can lead directly to a purchase.
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A favorable economic climate for cashback
Several studies have shown that in times of crisis, consumers have a particular appetite for this rebate model. The figures show a clear growth in the number of Cashback platform users during the health crisis, a trend that continues in parallel with inflation. Clearly, the main motivation for consumers to turn to these platforms is their ability to save money.
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Targeting committed buyers
Leveraging cashback can also be a good way of targeting committed shoppers. In fact, some cashback sites offer their members the chance to get involved in a cause by sharing their kitty with associations.
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Ensure high visibility during peak shopping periods
Black Friday, Singles’ Day, Mother’s Day and other sales period: cashback websites see their traffic explode during these crucial periods. It’s therefore vital to leverage cashback to maximize your brand’s visibility during these commercial highlights.
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Cashback for all sectors
Cashback isn’t just for mass-produced goods (small baskets). All sectors can offer cashback. In the travel sector, for example, we see large average shopping baskets with CSP+ or varied profiles. It’s no longer unusual to see cashback on services such as banking/insurance: members are offered cashback when they take out insurance or open a bank account.
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A homogeneous marketing mix in phase with the purchasing process
A social phenomenon: cashback is part of the classic purchasing process. It must therefore be taken into account in your acquisition strategy. Here too, studies show that the average shopping basket is 10-20% higher, the conversion rate is over 5%, and the frequency of purchases is twice as high with cashback.
To sum up…
Cashback is a powerful, high-performance lever for advertisers. Once seen as an end-of-funnel lever, cashback is now an essential part of any customer acquisition strategy. Above all, it’s an excellent way of targeting a community of loyal, committed shoppers with higher-than-average shopping baskets. To achieve this, you need to work hard on your cashback distribution strategy to set yourself apart from the competition.
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