What are shopping portals?
Shopping portals are a great way to earn extra rewards while you shop online. With a few tips and tools, you’ll be well on your way to earning maximum rewards.
Shopping portals, also known as cashback or rewards sites, allow you to earn cash back, points, or miles when you shop at participating retailers. If you shop online and have never heard of shopping portals, you are probably missing out on some significant rewards! However, there are some challenges to using these portals effectively, such as choosing the right portal and remembering to check for offers. In this post we cover the basics of shopping portals and offer some tips and tools that will help you maximize your reward earnings.
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How do shopping portals work?
Shopping portals are websites or apps that allow users to browse retailers and/or products in one location. These portals typically partner with a variety of retailers, allowing users to search and compare products from multiple stores. Users earn rewards when they make purchases through the portal. Some portals also offer additional features such as personalized product recommendations, reviews, and price comparisons. Transactions are completed on the retailers’ website, and once the portal validates the transaction, the rewards are credited to the user’s account within a specified timeframe.
How do shopping portals make money?
Shopping portals make money primarily through affiliate marketing. Retailers partner with portals to increase their reach and visibility to potential customers; in return, the portal receives a commission for any sales that are generated through their site. Part of this commission is passed on to the user in the form of rewards. The commission is typically a percentage of the sale, and can range from a few percent to over 20%. Additionally, some portals also make money through sponsored content, sponsored search results, or by selling advertising space on their site.
Types of shopping portals
Credit card companies
Some credit card companies have their own shopping portals, such as Chase Ultimate Rewards and Citi Bonus Cash Center. These portals allow you to earn points or miles for your credit card purchases in addition to any rewards you may earn from using your card.
Companies with loyalty programs
It’s not just credit card companies that have shopping portals – other large companies with loyalty programs do as well. Examples span the travel industry, and include Delta SkyMiles Shopping, Wyndham Rewards, and Amtrack Guest Rewards.
Shopping-centric companies
One of the most popular shopping portals is Rakuten (formerly known as Ebates). Rakuten offers cash back at over 2,500 stores, including popular retailers like Amazon, Target, and Macy’s.
Another popular shopping portal is Honey. In addition to their browser extension that finds and applies coupons at checkout, Honey also offers PayPal Gold (formerly known as Honey Gold), which is a rewards program that allows users to earn points for every purchase made through the extension. These points can then be redeemed for purchase credit, gift cards, or directly to your PayPal account as cash.
Challenges
When using shopping portals, it’s important to compare the rewards offered by each one to ensure you are getting the best deal. This is a time-consuming exercise that is often overlooked. In fact, it’s easy to overlook shopping portals all together. Most portals offer browser extensions that will remind of opportunities to use them, but this requires the user to have multiple extensions installed and active. Note that it’s also important to read the terms and conditions of each retailer’s cash back offer to ensure that your purchase qualifies for rewards.
Alternately, the AddUp extension allows you to see and compare offers from multiple portals offers in a single view. AddUp currently supports Chase Ultimate Rewards and the Citi Bonus Cash Center, and we will be adding support for additional portals in the coming weeks.
Overall, shopping portals are a great way to earn rewards while doing your regular online shopping. By starting your shopping trip at a cashback or rewards site, you can earn cash back, points, or miles on your purchases. Be sure to compare the rewards offered by different portals and read the terms and conditions of each retailer’s offer to ensure you are getting the best deal.
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