A simple and effective option to help enhance a cashback rewards program is by integrating a shopping portal (aka rewards directory, deal portal, or offer wall.) A shopping portal serves as a dynamic, yet convenient, shoppable interface that displays various offers from a wide range of merchants.
Deliver more customer value from your rewards program
A shopping portal is more than just a list of deals - it's a benefit of being a member of your company’s rewards program, and a way to build deeper connections with your customers. By prominently displaying a centralized place (such as from your online account page after login) where your customers can discover and browse through an extensive list of rewards and offers, you encourage them to interact with your rewards program more frequently.
When customers earn rewards by shopping from the offers you showcase in the shopping portal, they feel they are gaining more value from their relationship with your brand.
Increase visibility for available shopping rewards
A shopping portal can also be a powerful tool to increase customer engagement. They allow customers to discover deals that they might not encounter through the other components of your cashback rewards program.
For example, some ecommerce sites don’t allow being featured in browser extensions that display cashback rewards when the shopper visits a merchant’s site. For those merchants, a shopping portal provides an alternate way to showcase offers from those brands, and add more depth to your shopping rewards program's merchant offering.
Personalization is also critically important. Your shopping directory should tailor the experience to display merchants that align with the user’s preferences. For example, leveraging a customer’s purchase history to best maximize relevancy of their shopping directory experience.
Shopping portals should also include the ability to search by category or merchant to make it easy for your customers to find rewards and offers relevant to them, or an upcoming purchase, further enhancing their shopping experience.
Increased revenue
Incorporating a shopping portal into your cashback program also opens up new revenue opportunities. Whenever a customer clicks on a brand's offer tile or link in the offer wall and completes a purchase, your company earns a commission.
In fact, customers purchasing through a shopping portal typically have a significantly higher average order value (and resulting commission) to your rewards program.
And because some merchants, including many in the high-order-value Travel category, don’t allow their offers to be featured in a browser extension, your customers might miss out on valuable rewards. But with a shopping portal, you can ensure your customers still have access to those “non-extension” merchants’ cashback offers there.
Don’t forget: You must promote your shopping portal
Simply launching a shopping portal isn't enough. It needs to be actively promoted to drive your members to visit and use it. Customers won't engage with offers they don’t know exist.
Whether through email campaigns, in-app notifications, in-account banners, or digital statements, you must consistently spotlight your shopping portal as a benefit of your rewards program. Effective promotion helps increase repeat visits, reinforces program value, and boosts overall revenue.
For best practices on how to promote your portal and maximize its visibility, check out this guide to marketing your shopping portal.
Wildfire makes it easy to launch a branded shopping portal
Wildfire’s hosted shopping portal is a turnkey solution that makes it easy to showcase thousands of cashback offers from popular merchants, including those that don’t allow placement in browser extensions. The portal is fully branded to your company and includes built-in personalization, category search, and performance tracking.
Wildfire’s solution provides a fast path to launch, without your needing extensive development resources to build it.
Final thoughts
Adding a shopping portal to your cashback program creates a richer, more rewarding experience for your customers - and more impact for your business. It expands your ability to surface high-value offers, improves customer perception of your rewards program, and increases your opportunity to earn incremental revenue through your customers’ rewards program purchases.
Just remember: visibility is key. A well-promoted, personalized shopping portal can turn a passive offering into a compelling reason for customers to purchase from your rewards program again and again.
