The rise to fame of the cashback website.
The rise of cash back web site.
The cash back business model has been around for a number of years now and completely grew out of no where in 2006. If you haven’t heard about the success of cash back web sites you must have had your head in the sand for the past 2 years. It is a phenomenon that has taken the affiliate industry by storm and fits in perfectly with social media marketing model.
The idea is a simple one that benefits the users as well as the cash back site and the company selling the product or service. Instead of paying commission to a publisher or advertiser the end consumer receives the commission as ‘cash back’. Everyone benefits apart from Publishers who loose out to savvy web users.
- The customer Receives the ‘cash back’ within a period of time providing the transaction has tracked.
- The cash back site receives money from advertising banners on the site, e-commerce affiliate bonuses or by charging the user a nominal fee or percentage.
- The company selling the product or service increase their sales.
The History of cash back websites
The cash back model first appeared around 2006. Initially it had slow take up by new members but it soon gathered momentum like the similar idea of the cooperative movement. One of the main advantages these companies had was that they all help consumers save money. This timed with the rise of social media has led to a whole community of people ready and waiting to spread the word. Community sites like moneysavingexpert.com and national newspapers reporting on them helped to generate huge interest in a short period of time.
My experience of cash back websites.
Before cash back sites were around I used affiliate programs from sites I ran to earn revenue. Some times I used to use those adverts when I was buying something so I got the commission through my affiliate program. How I wish I had thought of the cash back model.
Since then every time I need to buy some thing my first stop is my favourite cash back website. I’ve used it from car insurance to booking hotel rooms and in total over the past 3 years saved over £2000. So for something which doesn’t require hardly any effort and pay for a few treats once in a while I can not recommend cash back web sites enough.
