Today, we’re catching up on the newest cashback developments. Paytm expects tenfold growth in 2016 with customers adding an estimated $500 million into their wallets and supported by an attractive consumer cashback program. New UK cashback site TB Seen is a women’s niche online shopping site that may signal a new trend to narrower cashback niche markets. Paytm and Jugnoo launched an innovative cashback/mobile payments New Year’s Day program for consumers in India. Mehul Jobanputra, Co-founder DesiDime.com predicts coupons and e-commerce will continue rapid growth in 2016. The “concierge economy” is thriving, spanning verticals from wellness to design, with a whole host of broad-based horizontal concierge services as well according to TechCrunch.
Cashkaro will use $3.8 million in new venture capital to expand across SE Asia in 2016. 80% of Americans belong to some type of loyalty program, according to Synchrony Financial but they don’t love all programs equally, poll data show. Find out what clicks with consumers. According to Bond Brand Loyalty, US consumers belong to an average of 13 loyalty programs but only actively use six of them. Learn how to optimize your loyalty program. Investopedia looks at the best cashback credit cards for 2016. Interesting times ahead for cashback programs around the world in the new year.
Paytm looks to add about $500 million in eWallets in 2016
Mobile payments and commerce firm Paytm expects customers to add about $500 million in their wallets in 2016, a tenfold increase over this year, its founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma said. “In 2015, we saw wallets become mainstream. Next year, as more and more businesses push marketing dollar spends to cashback and wallets, the recharge value and frequency will steadily increase,” Sharma told ET.
The projection of $500 million does not include cashback that the company offers its customers on e-commerce transactions, Sharma said. Cashback is an incentive programme through which Paytm offers a fixed sum or a percentage of the amount spent back to the wallet holder’s account to encourage use of the wallet. Via timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Welome to TBSeen
TBSeen is all about ‘smart shopping,’ which means you earn money back or make an exclusive saving every time you spend.
Not reward points or air miles – either actual cash, put back into your bank account or a monetary discount at the point of purchase. That’s the ‘smart’ bit.
The company was founded by Edd Royal, who was already using cashback sites but thought they could be much better. “As a way to shop cashback is a gift to the consumer, but the sites out there felt dated, lacklustre and uninspiring,” says Edd. Via tbseen.com
Paytm and Jugnoo partner to offer Delhi consumers cashback offers during city’s odd-even traffic restrictions
Mobile goods and services company Paytm has partnered with Jugnoo, an online aggregator for auto rickshaws, to offer Delhi commuters cashback offers, on the eve of the city’s odd-even transport rules that come into effect on January 1.
The two ventures are now offering Delhi-based consumers 100% cashback on their first auto-rickshaw ride booked on the Jugnoo, platform, and paid for using the Paytm wallet, according to a press release. The partnership also promises consumers with further offers on subsequent rides booked on the auto-rickshaw hailing platform, and paid for using the mobile wallet, the statement said. “Paytm’s strategic association with Jugnoo will motivate the commuters to leave their private vehicles and opt for alternatives,” said Kiran Vasireddy, senior vice-president, Paytm. Via economictimes.indiatimes.com
Couponing and Cashback will continue to deliver value for e-comm players in 2016
Mehul Jobanputra, Co-founder DesiDime.com predicts some key e-commerce trends to watch out for in 2016.
Couponing and e-commerce
E-commerce has shown incredible growth in the last few years. Accessibility, ease and variety of products available online outdoes the perks of offline shopping. However, only 1-2% of retail sales take place online, which shows the scope of growth in the Indian market.
Currently 13.5% of the total e-commerce shopping in India happens via coupon sites and other affiliates. E-commerce sites often put out attractive deals and coupons for products they wish to promote heavily, new products and to clear stock of old inventory. Couponing sites are an easy way for e-tailers to distribute and advertise their coupons. The traffic on such couponing sites is high intent as those users are looking for bargains; thus it is a great way for e-commerce sites to drive conversions and for shoppers to save money. The popularity of couponing sites will continue to witness a rowing trend in 2016 too. Via exchange4media.com
The Middleman Strikes Back
Priceline and Expedia mostly killed travel agents; Prosper and Avant are fast disrupting bank loan officers; and the car salesman has been diminished in favor of eBay, Autotrader and Craigslist. And yet, just as surely as we thought they were gone for good, middlemen have come surging back to life — rebranded as our best friends: the personal concierge.
Case in point, personal shoppers were once a luxury — a sign of elite class and prestige. No longer: Hundreds of thousands of consumers are now communicating with personal stylists (or data-driven human/artificial intelligence hybrids) via next-gen fashion platforms such as Trunk Club and Stitch Fix — two platforms with demonstrative value (Trunk Club was acquired more than a year ago for $450 million, and few experts would reject Stitch Fix’s $300 million recent valuation).
And while fashion is an obvious use case, the concierge economy is thriving, spanning verticals from wellness to design, with a whole host of broad-based horizontal concierge services also trying to impress their worth. Via techcrunch.com
CashKaro Raises $3.8M Series A to Become the Ebates of Southeast Asia
CashKaro will use its Series A (it previously raised $750,000 in angel funding) on marketing, a mobile app that will launch next year, and expansion into Southeast Asia, starting with Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
CashKaro’s founders are inspired by the success of Ebates in the U.S. and Fanli.com in China. Both are Rakuten-backed companies—the Japanese Internet giant bought Ebates for $1 billion last year and invested in Fanli seven months ago. “What we’re trying to be is the Ebates of Southeast Asia, so we can cover this geography which is obviously a very important geography in anyone’s portfolio,” says Bhargava. Via techcrunch.com
Much Love for Loyalty Programs
Spot a shopper anywhere in the US, and you’ll most likely find a rewards-program subscriber. A vast majority of American adults—80 percent—belongs to some type of loyalty program, according to a recent Synchrony Financial poll. However, while Americans clearly love their rewards, they don’t love all programs equally, poll data show. Synchrony Financial, in conjunction with Reuters Content Solutions, commissioned the Ipsos poll of more than 3,000 American consumers to find out which loyalty programs they liked best, how much they value those programs and what reasons they have for enrolling.
The most popular programs are related to groceries, dining, drugstores, and apparel, which is not surprising given that these types of businesses attract repeat visits. Grocers, in particular, offer products used on a daily basis, which may account for the fact that 86 percent of shoppers surveyed rated their programs as valuable. Dining, drugstore and apparel programs followed, with 70 percent, 68 percent and 65 percent of respondents, respectively, rating them as valuable.
Loyalty programs focused on home goods also garnered a strong valuation with 53 percent, followed by consumer electronics and automotive. Airlines, despite their nearly ubiquitous and well-advertised rewards programs, were rated valuable by only 48 percent of respondents. Via reuters.com
How to Attract, Maintain, and Retain Loyalty Program Members
A loyalty program is meant to retain more customers and boost their profitability when they become members. But you still need to optimize your loyalty program just like every other marketing initiative you run. You want to maximize the number of people who join (attract), number of people who participate (maintain), and keep members from leaving (retain).
In this post we will be going over some best practices that will keep your loyalty program running at its best. When you focus on the three pillars (Attract, Maintain, Retain) you are ensuring that your program is top notch! Via sweettoothrewards.com
Best Credit Cards of 2016
Life’s great reset is upon us. When 2016 arrives it gives us the opportunity to reset and reevaluate. While you’re constructing the perfect weight-loss strategy, also resolve to revisit your credit cards. Are you getting the best perks at the lowest price? We put together our favorite credit cards for the new year. How do your current cards stack up against these?
First, an important rule: You can’t pay any interest. To unlock the value of a credit card, you have to pay it off at the end of the month. Interest payments will wipe out most of your rewards value or any other perks you may receive. Second, ideally you won’t pay an annual fee. The exception: If a card’s perks are better than those of cards without an annual fee, pay it if the math works in your favor. And now the list…. Via investopedia.com
More cashback, e-commerce, retail, mobile and VC investment news as we roll into the New Year. Don’t forget to subscribe for your Mon-Fri fix of global news you can use. No spam, just valuable business intelligence.