A new “preferred partnership” between mobile cashback app developer Ibotta and brewer Anheuser-Busch (A-B) means consumers will be able to enjoy cashback with a cold beer. The new deal promises up to five dollars cashback for Ibotta app users who buy A-B beer brands at grocery and convenience stores.
It’s an innovative program and a sign of more interesting and creative cashback deals to come.
$70 million cashback to users since 2011
Ibotta is one of the cashback industry’s most innovative and successful mobile apps for shoppers. Since launching in 2011, Denver-based Ibotta has returned more than $70 million in cashback to its members. The deal gives Anheuser-Busch access to more than 14 million active Ibotta mobile consumers.
Anheuser-Busch brews many of the world’s most popular beer brands, including Stella Artois, Bud Light and Michelob. For Ibotta, the partnership brings a respected international brand and a high-profile partner with lots of creative, marketing and promotion savvy.
Browse, buy beer, get cashback
Buyers browse their Ibotta app for A-B brands. For example, typing in “Budweiser” brings up brand offers and suggests retailers where 21-year or older buyers can pick up a pack of pilsner, bottles of Bud or their favorite offer on promotion.
Buyers simply verify their purchase by scanning a UPC code or snapping a picture of the cash register receipt with their mobile phone.
Ibotta can also push promotional messages, quizzes, surveys, polls and other engagement strategies through their platform.
$3 and $4 cashback promotions
In the initial promotion, beer lovers will get $4 cashback for every two eight-pack 16-oz bottles purchased or $3 for eighteen packs of 12-oz cans or bottles.
App users usually receive cashback within 48 hours after verification by Ibotta and can receive their rebate by Venmo and PayPal, or a merchant gift card.
Consumers get cashback and a cold beer.
Cold beer, warm data
A-B gets access to a valuable, millennial, mobile-savvy demographic and the chance to engage consumers and try out all kinds of creative promotions.
Retailers, including 7-Eleven, Circle K and others, get motivated buyers looking for a participating store, brand awareness and traffic.
Ibotta’s mobile platform is rich in big data and its partners get engaged consumers, valuable market intelligence and consumer insight.
Ibotta’s agreement with Anheuser-Busch reportedly runs through February 2018 and it seems like a home run for all.
Can cashback for cannabis be just over the horizon in the mile-high city?
One thing is certain. Cashback promotions are about to get very tasty in the US.