Today we’ve got a collection of news stories and cashback deals gathered from around the world. We hope you’ll find some inspiration in how retailers and marketers are using cashback promotions to build their business. Rakuten hires Sachin Dalal to lead India market development. CEO Govind Rajan says Freecharge will not use cashback promotions to compete with Paytm and Mobikwik. Are cashback deals predatory pricing? India’s Competition Bureau sets up a commission to find out. South Africa cashback startup SNAPnSAVE already has 150,000 downloads and has given back thousands of dollars to consumers.
Microsoft Store is running a UK cashback promotion with savings from 5.9% to 50%. Swagbucks’ US Memorial Day sale offered a double cashback promotion. Flipkart started it’s Big Shopping Days Sale with 10% savings on a range of products. FreeShipping.com’s US Memorial Day promotion gave online shoppers 20% cashback at 30 top retailers including Macy’s, American Eagle, Disney Store, Home Depot, Kohl’s and P.C. Richard & Son. DubLi.com has current cashback offers up to 30% on its global site. With Euro 2016 and the Queen’s birthday to celebrate, The Mirror shared five places to find cashback on beer, ale and cider.
Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten may have just hired its India head
The company opened its development centre in Bengaluru in 2014. Reports mention that soon after the launch of development centre, Rakuten started to poach mid-level managers from Flipkart and Amazon in India. Rakuten plans to start its marketplace in India by next year.
In July 2014, the Japanese Internet giant, which is among the top 10 Internet companies globally in terms of revenue, launched a $100 million global investment fund, Rakuten Ventures, focusing on startups in Israel, US and APAC region. Rakuten is known for its investments in US-based ride hailing app Lyft and online scrapbooking site Pinterest. Via yourstory.com
Freecharge will not go the cashback way: CEO Rajan
Payments platform Freecharge would not use cashbacks to win against Paytm and Mobikwik, said its new chief executive Govind Rajan. “Promotions only draw the first set of customers. After that, it is the fact that it takes just about 10 seconds to complete a transaction that will keep them with us,” he said.
Rajan was nonchalant that other service providers like Paytm were using cashbacks to retain customers. “Promotions are not the right way to build sticky customers,” he pointed out and added promoted transactions received just 20 per cent of the traffic on Freecharge.
Rajan said Freecharge was conducting one million transactions a day and was targeting seven million by the end of 2016-17. Freecharge has seen a fourfold increase in the number of transactions since its acquisition by Snapdeal and subsequent launch as a wallet in October. Via business-standard.com
Are cashbacks predatory pricing? CCI to vet sops given by online payment platforms
India’s competition watchdog has formed an in-house expert panel to ascertain whether the cashback incentives offered by digital wallets and e-tailers on recharges, bill payments or purchase of other products constitute predatory pricing. Digital wallets and e-commerce companies such as Paytm and Mobikwik often offer cashback incentives to users making payments through them.
“A panel has been formed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) that is studying the cashback model being used by online payment platforms, e-commerce companies and also several banks,” a senior CCI official told ET, requesting not to be identified. The official said the move follows several complaints received by the commission on such offers.
“This is a new market that we need to understand since we get a lot of complaints related to it,” he said. The panel is likely to complete its study and give its opinion within a couple of months. “It has to be ascertained whether the cashback offers are being offered to create a new market by incentivising customers or to disrupt the competition in the existing market through predatory pricing,” the official said. Via bullfax.com
Locally developed cashback app hits 130,000 downloads
SNAPnSAVE, a Cape Town based start-up that gives shoppers cash back on everyday shopping items, simply for snapping their till slip, has grown to 130,000 users and paid back over R500,000 ($33,670) in cash.
Locally developed cashback app hits 130,000 downloadsIt has gained its rapid success organically, without massive marketing campaigns, which can be attributed to its simplicity. Users purchase featured items from any major retailer and then get cash back by snapping a photo of their till slip.
The success is a testament that South Africans are looking for ways to help ease the burden on already overstretched wallets. Mark Bradshaw, SnapnSave CEO says, “Mobile coupons are booming in South Africa. Unlike some of the big loyalty programmes, the benefit with this app is that shoppers can save no matter where they shop.”
The app has been ranked the #1 shopping app in the Apple store and the #1 lifestyle app in Google Play Store. Via bizcommunity.com
Microsoft Store UK buyers can get cashback on Lumia 950, Xbox One, Surface, Office and more
Microsoft Store UK buyers can get cashback on Lumia 950, Xbox One, Surface, Office and more
Last week, online shopping network Quidco offered UK buyers £120 of cashback on purchases of certain Surface Book models from the Microsoft Store. That deal has since ended, but in its place, it’s now offering a much wider selection of limited-time cashback deals.
Here’s what’s available, including the cashback for each product, and how that cashback works out as a percentage of the retail price… via Neowin
Swagbucks Shop & Earn Sale: Double cashback
Swagbucks has a new Memorial Day Shop & Earn sale. Earn double cashback at a bunch of retailers and on summer travel!
Fire up the barbecue, break out the lawn chairs, inflate the inner tubes, summer is about to begin! Do you need any supplies for your big weekend, have a summer trip to book, or maybe a new summer wardrobe?
Take advantage of all the Memorial Day sales at your favorite retailers and put some cash back in your wallet when you do with the Swagbucks Shop & Earn Memorial Day Sale! via WRAL.com
Flipkart Big Shopping Days Sale 2016
The Biggest online shopping portal in India, Flipkart announced the Big Shopping Days sale and started raining exciting offers. The Flipkart started it’s Big Shopping Days Sale and started giving attractive Super Saver deals on various products. The Sale began on 25th May and will last until 27th May. This Three Day great sale is like a Festival for the Indian customers because many interesting products are coming with huge discount.
In the Flipkart’s Big Shopping Days Sale, the customers are getting huge discounts, Freebies, Cashback and many other exciting deals which are very light to pocket. The company is promoting this sale with the Tagline “Great offers on Original Products”. The Flipkart is offering great deals on latest smartphones like LeEco 1S. The LeEco 1S Smartphone will be available on the open sale without any registration for flash sale. Also, the Flipkart is giving Free LeEco Earphones, Back Cover and Free membership of LeEco. Also, the 10% Cashback is available for the Citibank Credit and Debit card users. Via chollywood.info
FreeShipping.com Is Giving Online Shoppers 20% Cash Back at 30 Top Retailers All Memorial Day Weekend
FreeShipping.com, a leading online shopping program, will offer new and current members 20% cash back on their purchases at 30 of the most popular stores in its vast retailer network over Memorial Day weekend. The 20% cash-back offer will last from 12:00 a.m. on Friday, May 27, through 11:59 p.m. on Monday, May 30.
The 30 retailers where FreeShipping.com members can earn 20% cash back for four straight days include American Eagle, Disney Store, Home Depot, Kohl’s, P.C. Richard & Son, Macy’s, and two dozen other shoppers’ favorites.
Beyond 20% cash back at 30 popular retailers all Memorial Day weekend, FreeShipping.com members save year-round Via marketwired.com
DubLi is a Leader in Global Cash Back Shopping and Savings
DubLi is a leader in global cashback shopping and savings.
Its current promotion offers up to 30% cashback savings on more than 10,000 stores worldwide including Hudson’s Bay, Lowe’s, Expedia, Travelocity, hotels.com, Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, JCPenney, eHarmony, Dell and many more. Via dubli.com
5 of the best supermarket beer deals ahead of the Euro 2016 kick off and the Queen’s birthday
With two of the summer’s biggest calendar events on the radar many of us will be looking to celebrate over the weekend.
Whether you’re staying in to watch the first matches of the European Championship over the weekend, or you’re hosting a street party to celebrate the Queen’s 90th birthday you’ll probably want to stock up on some food and booze.
There’s also savvy cashback deals that will help you shave extra pounds off your bill too. Via mirror.co.uk
Cashback here, there & everywhere
We’ll keep you up-to-date on cashback industry news and occasionally a few fun Friday promotions like today to let you know what other companies are doing to build their business with cashback promotions.