Online Rewards

The Marketing Model

Cash back and reward based websites operate using a marketing model known as affiliate marketing, which is a performance based marketing tool. Affiliate marketing networks make it possible to track in detail where users come from (which website is referring the customers), what users buy (down to the product) and when. Rewards based websites track and reconcile this information with their own user database, and pass on a proportion or even all of the commission received to the customer. From the customer's perspective they are getting something back, usually at no extra cost and often with an additional discount or bonus. From the retailer's perspective, the role and costs of marketing are passed on almost entirely to the affiliate. While hundreds of thousands of websites can easily use affiliate programmes to advertise products and retailers (from sports blogs, fanzines through to almost any niche website), cash back and rewards based programmes are much fewer in number, because of the need to track, store and retrieve individual customer information with a high degree of precision.