San Diego, Calif. -- October 3, 2024 – Wildfire Systems, an innovative financial technology platform that powers reward programs, shopping companions, and content monetization, released their 2024 consumer trends report, titled, “Banking on Shopping Rewards: The Value-Added Services Today’s Consumers Prefer.” The report finds that most consumers have continued to refine their deal hunting strategies in order to save money when buying products online.
Wildfire partnered with research firm Big Village for its survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers aged 18+ to determine what’s driving their spending behavior online and implications this behavior has on the financial services industry and retail brands. The results provide insight into how consumers prefer to save money when shopping online, and where consumers would like to access their preferred savings tactics.
The 2024 survey found consumers are using cashback and coupons to earn rewards and save money even more than shopping at discount retailers or buying generic products. Seventy-seven percent of respondents are more interested than ever before in earning cashback rewards for shopping. And they increasingly expect their financial services providers to provide these money-saving features: 54% of respondents expect cashback and coupons from their credit card and 33% expect it from their bank. A majority (64%) of respondents reported they use cashback rewards (30%) and coupons (34%) the most to save money when shopping online, far more than those who reported shopping in an online offer portal or paying with points or miles to save. This further confirms the findings from Wildfire’s 2023 consumer report, “Shopping in the New Normal,” which found that 87% of consumers expected their new money-saving habits to stick going forward.
“Our survey found that cashback rewards and coupons are becoming an essential value-added service for today’s budget-conscious consumer. These services can drive banking customer loyalty as well as increase consumer spending – a win-win for banks and retailers,” said Jordan Glazer, CEO, Wildfire Systems. “Giving banking customers these ways to save, drives tender preference, grows reward program participation, and increases customer loyalty; while benefits to retailers include higher sales conversion and average order value.”
Almost one in three (27%) consumers said they’re using cashback browser extensions more than they did last year. Seventy-percent (70%) of consumers who have ever added a browser extension to their browser said they use an extension for cashback rewards or online coupons frequently.
Wildfire also found that the browser extensions shoppers use to receive cashback rewards and discounts on their purchases benefit online retailers as well:
Survey results show that consumers find value in their cashback browser extensions, including helping them to shop with confidence:
Respondents report that money-saving services are much more useful than other services banks provide, and indicate a preference for cashback rewards and coupons to be provided by their bank and/or credit card:
The 2024 Consumer Shopping Trends Report is now available here.
About Wildfire Systems, Inc.
Wildfire's enterprise platform embeds social commerce, rewards, coupons, and shopping companions into existing services, enhancing user experiences and loyalty while driving new revenues. The patented suite rewards online shopping and harnesses digital word-of-mouth. Wildfire drives incremental sales for more than 50,000 merchant programs in 50+ countries. Wildfire’s newest platform, RevenueEngine, monetizes generative AI-powered e-commerce transactions by turning product and brand mentions into commissionable links. Founded in 2017, Wildfire is based in San Diego. For more information, visit wildfire-corp.com.
Media Contact
Lori Scribner
Market Street Group
email: lori@marketstreetgrp.com