Rakuten, a company that offers shopping rewards, offers a web platform and mobile app that can help you save money on routine purchases. Everyone desires financial savings. Why pay full price for anything like clothing, furniture, electronics, or other items when you may get a discount or cashback?
You can receive up to 40% back from Rakuten on purchases made at thousands of stores where you most likely already shop. Over the past several years, the web platform and its mobile app have gained popularity and enabled users to receive cash back on various purchases.
But how does Rakuten generate revenue with the app completely free to use? Before making money on the site, we examine the solution to this query.
Describe Rakuten.
You can save money on regular purchases by using the web platform and mobile app offered by the shopping rewards company Rakuten. The business rewards your in-person or online purchases with cashback or rebates.
Paul Wasserman and Alessandro Isolani founded Rakuten in California in 1997. Following the Japanese-based online retailer Rakuten Group, Inc.’s acquisition in 2014, the name Ebates was eventually changed to Rakuten.
More than 15 million consumers receive cash back from Rakuten on their purchases. Rakuten has given its customers $2.2 billion in cash-back payments since 1999. In 2020 alone, the typical Rakuten cashback website and platform user made roughly $64.
How does Rakuten function?
By utilizing the Rakuten mobile app on an Apple or Android device or entering the website, customers of Rakuten can save money on their purchases.
Additionally, you can apply the Rakuten Cash Back Button, a free browser extension, to Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Microsoft Edge. With the Cash Back Button browser extension, Rakuten will alert you to any promotional codes available on the websites where you shop.
Additionally, you may connect a credit card to your Rakuten account to take advantage of cashback offers when you use that card in-store at partner restaurants and businesses.
Offers for new users.
Only Rakuten members are eligible for these benefits, but joining is free and straightforward. Your name and email address are all that are required. After making their first purchase of at least $25 in merchandise during the first 90 days of joining, new members are given a $10 welcome bonus.
Discounts and cashbackÂ
After becoming a member, you can use Rakuten to make purchases from more than 3,500 merchants. Your potential cash back through the program could be between 1 and 40%, depending on the partnering businesses. 1.5%, 15%, and 4% cash back are available at H&M, Lands’ End, and Foot Locker, respectively.
It also provides unique discounts at particular retailers. Members might use the deals to receive cashback and discounts on their purchases. For instance, a J.C. Penney Co. promotion gave Rakuten customers 15% off any order and 3% cash back.
How does Rakuten generate revenue?
Affiliate marketing is the main method of revenue generation for Rakuten. A corporation or affiliate receives a commission for advertising another company’s goods or services during lawful business operations.
Clicks and purchases are how Rakuten generates revenue.
Affiliates like Rakuten receive commissions when customers follow a link to a different company’s website and purchase there. Rakuten receives commissions from its partners in three different ways as an affiliate:
- Pay-per-click (PPC): When you use the website or Rakuten app to access the website of a Rakuten partner, Rakuten receives a tiny compensation solely for your click.
- Pay-per-sale (PPS): It receives a commission from each sale made by a partner it has partnered with.
- Pay-per-lead (PPL): Companies want to sell you stuff but are also interested in acquiring your contact information. Because of this, some Rakuten affiliates give the company a percentage when users register for future promotions.
It provides its users with cashback credits from a portion of the revenue it receives from its partners, in contrast to other affiliate marketers who keep that commission.
Selling marketing data is how It generates revenue.
It will never sell your personal information to a third party. It does, however, record every transaction with its affiliate companies. Advertising companies utilize the data they purchase from the site to help create campaigns for their clients.
And Rakuten earns this much money.
The Group, the parent business, earned $13 billion in revenue in 2021. indicates that the business generated $35 million in revenue on average every day last year, 15.5% more than it would generate in 2020.
The publicly traded Japanese corporation uses several business strategies for mobile applications, finance, and internet services. In 2021, all three segments had double-digit growth.
Making money on Rakuten
It provides several opportunities to generate money, including cashback incentives, savings, and promotions. You might use these advantages to decide how to manage your finances and stretch your money further.
To make the most of your Rakuten membership, follow these tips:
- Receive cashback incentives. Check if your preferred retailers are among Rakuten’s thousands of partners before purchasing from Macy’s, Walmart, Nordstrom, Target, or Kohl’s. You can use Rakuten to access their websites and activate the cashback offers if they are.
- Use exclusive offers and discounts. Members may be eligible for exclusive discounts or promotions from some partners. Check the fine print carefully because these reductions might only be available to new customers or be for a limited time.
- Use the button for cashback. Downloading the Rakuten browser extension might be advantageous if you conduct most of your online shopping from a PC. When coupons or discounts are found on the websites of Rakuten partners, this plugin automatically notifies you.
- Your credit card is linked. To earn rewards, you don’t have to shop online. Connecting a credit card to your Rakuten account could also receive store cash back when you make purchases at brick-and-mortar stores of some firms.
- Earn bonuses for referrals. Encouraging friends to sign up could increase your earnings if you enjoy using Rakuten. It makes it simple to refer friends by giving you a special link to share on social media or give to pals. If a friend registers using your link and makes a qualified purchase within 90 days, you might be eligible for a bonus.
How does Rakuten pay awards?
Every three months, It will send you the money you have earned. The reward comes in two forms: a printed check, the Big Fat Check, or a deposit into your PayPal account. To accept payments with PayPal, You must already have an account with Rakuten linked to your registered email address.
If you’re feeling kind, you may contribute to Rakuten’s Cash Back for Change program by donating the change component of your cashback payouts. If your payout is $60.50, you would receive $60, and the remaining $0.50 would be donated to the Cash Back for Change program. Three nonprofit organizations each receive a portion of your donation.
Conclusion
When you use the marketplace gateway of Rakuten’s business, you can access online stores and get cash-back incentives. It makes money anytime you visit or purchase from one of its partners using an affiliate marketing business model. Rakuten thanks its customers by giving them a share of its profits through cash-back incentives.
It may not make you wealthy, but it may teach you how to budget and personal finance and find ways to save money on common purchases.