Shopcred launches in Australia as the online shopping rewards market heats up

A new player Shopcred , has entered the Australian cashback market only a month after the launch of Asian behemoth Shopback.

 

Positioning itself as a shopping community, Shopcred is helping bargain hunters and stores connect through the use of new technology that enables their community to earn rewards in a range of innovative ways.

 

These new technologies include rewards for sharing and posting deals, getting upvoted deals, along with cashback, promo codes and deals for over 800 online stores including Australia’s favourite retailers like Catch, Uniqlo, Cotton On, Virgin Australia, Menulog, ASOS and Bonds.

 

With these innovative ways to earn rewards, Shopcred are hoping to differentiate themselves from local competitors Pricepal, Shopback and Cashrewards who have recently raised funding Shopback made news last year when they raised $32 million in a funding round including backing
from Blue Sky Alternative Investments.

 

Australian based competitor Cashrewards also just completed an external funding round that yielded a $5.25 million investment from Partners For Growth.

Shopcred have seen the rise of influencers and are working with Aussie retailers to reach the ever-growing influencer audience. In return, influencers and customers can receive cashback for their purchases and rewards for their interactions, such as sharing with their followers on Facebook or posting found deals on the Shopcred website.

“Our unique technologies help retailers reach new influencer audiences and encourage the community to share and engage with retailer brands and products” explained Glenn Harvey, one of two co-founder of Shopcred.

Across Australia, loyalty program sign-ups have increased significantly as retailers see the ongoing benefits of rewarding customers for their loyalty. Deal and cashback sites like Shopcred reward customers with discounts and cashback to as much as 50% off. Particular retailers, such as telco and insurance providers, can offer one-off cashback bonuses of as much as $50 for signing up on long-term plans.

With Australians spending $21.3 billion yearly online and the arrival of same day postage, Aussie’s are heading online for the best bargains and rejecting physical stores of the past. Consumers are realising they can get a better deal with the use of promo codes and now cashback that are released regularly by the online retailers.

Throughout the past 5 years, deal sites like Ozbargain have recorded a significant increase in members, as have promo code websites like RetailMeNot and overseas cashback sites like Ebates.

Australia isn’t the only place that has taken a liking to cashback deals. Recently, Samsung announced that their mobile wallet, Samsung Pay, will allow users to get cashback when they regularly spending with their wallet. They’ve partnered up with stores including eBay and Walmart where users can earn about 5% cash back when paying with the wallet. This cashback can then be can be used the next time they pay with their Samsung Pay wallet.

Another big player, Citi, are giving their customers 2 percent cash back on all purchases, 1 percent when you shop and 1 percent when you pay your bill. Customers won’t be restricted as they are with other reward programs where users need to make purchases at affiliated retailers.

With online spending increasing by 18.6% since 2016, the future looks bright for Shopcred. “Over the next few months, we’ll be onboarding many more retailers that impact the everyday spending of Australians” an excited Harvey told Digital Grog.

   “We’re working hard on creating unique ways to reward our members. This and gaining a better understanding of their shopping preferences will be where our next investment will be”

Mobile users are also in their crosshairs with the imminent release of a rewards app. “The rewards app will make for a smooth deal finding and earning cashback experience for our mobile users. In Australia, it’s definitely an emerging space that is underutilised in the deal and rewards community.”

Cashback through Shopcred can be obtained at over 700 stores, here’s some of the top Aussie stores we’ve picked:

ASOS
Cheap and high end fashion, ASOS stock over 70,000 branded products from around the world. Next day delivery is available on a huge range of products.

Menulog
Menulog offer a huge variety of food across Australia at over 8000 restaurants. Menulog also offer a loyalty program and exclusive discounts to get repeat customers.

Catch
Catch pretty much sell everything! They currently have over 13,000 branded products from a huge range of categories including clothing, electronics, books, beauty products and even mobile plans.

Uniqlo
Japanese fashion retailer UNIQLO provide hundreds of basics in a range of colours. Their stock includes tees, jackets, hoodies, tops, jeans and pants.

Booktopia
Booktopia sell a huge range of books, ebooks, magazine and stationery items. With a warehouse in Sydney, holding more than 500,000 books, Booktopia are able to ship within 48 hours to Metro areas.