Shoppers could soon be getting money off when they pay in-store or online with such retail giants as Debenhams, Groupon, Feather & Black and House of Fraser, following a tie up between marketing firm Affiliate Window and payment card-to-voucher linking start up Birdback.
Using Birdback’s offline voucher system, StoreWindow, shoppers can register in-store cashback programmes, vouchers, and loyalty schemes directly to their payment cards. Once they see an offer they like, they enter their card details and automatically receive a discount when purchasing from that retailer in-store. These ‘card-linked’ offers provide a simple way of rewarding customers, encouraging loyalty and gaining better insights into consumer behaviour.
Luxury bedroom and home furnishings brand, Feather & Black is the first retailer on the Affiliate Window network to adopt the new StoreWindow solution. With 33 stores nationwide and a product that is often tested for comfort by customers prior to purchasing, they make a great launch partner.
Edwyn McFarlane, Head of Publisher Services at Affiliate Window says: “StoreWindow is an innovative solution that allows retailers to set the terms of promotion, as opposed to a continuous cashback scheme. The customisation capabilities of store locations, categories and duration makes this a really powerful marketing tool. We look forward to seeing the potential that StoreWindow can deliver for retailers, publishers and consumers.”
Nicolai Watzenig, CEO and co-founder of Birdback, is more forthright about the significance of the deal: “This is the final hurdle to making card-linked offers commonplace for consumers around the world. Soon after this turning point, it won’t just feel normal for customers to forget about printed discounts and loyalty cards – it’ll be expected.”
Online offers led to more than £14 billion in sales last year, creating 150 million transactions for UK retailers. But there’s a reason that most of these offers were fulfilled online: convenience. Customers click a button and immediately activate the discount as they pay, never having to worry about vouchers, apps or loyalty cards. Birdback wants to bring this convenience to all shopping. Customers simply pick an offer on a deal site like VoucherCloud, put in the 16 digits from their payment card and automatically activate the discount when they pay in store.
These “card-linked offers” can see adoption rates as high as 350% of vouchers and loyalty cards, claims Birdback, because they make it easy for normal people to use. There’s less to forget, no paper to worry about and once you’ve linked one offer from a retailer, new deals can be activated automatically. The customer simply receives a notification informing them that this week they’ll get 10% off if they use their linked credit or debit card.
While previous schemes have only offered this service to customers of a specific bank or store, Birdback is the first technology to overcome this limitation. Birdback offers can be activated anywhere, by any customer of any bank or deal site.
To learn more about the StoreWindow solution and the Affiliate Window partnership with Birdback, watch the demo videos here
