Bangalore based online cashback portal, Pennyful.in allows users to make the desired purchases by directing them to the retailer's site and availing the cashback offer. The perk is over and above the ongoing discounts and coupon deals. The cash reward is credited to the customer's account when the minimum redeemable limit of Rs 150 is reached. The money can be wired to his bank account or delivered through cheque.
India Digital Review caught up with Pennyful.in’s CEO Ravitej Yadalam on how the business model works.
“We first launched Pennyful.com for the US market in January 2011 and today we work with 1500 companies there. Pennyful.in came into being in November of the same year. There are two aspects in the website first is Coupon codes – online users can get instant discounts with all the partner merchants we have. The other part of our service is cash back so this works on an affiliate marketing model and it is a performance marketing engagement in which we market our online merchants’ product and brand in exchange for a transactional cut. The catch is we only charge the merchants when a transaction happens not for traffic or banner click. A part of the transactional cut goes to the customer as a part of cash back,” he explains.
The website current have a hundred thousand registered user base and it gets one lakh hits a month said Ravitej. It has tie-ups with ecommerce brands like FlipKart, SnapDeal, HomeShop18, Myntra, FutureBazaar, Sulekha.com, Yebhi.com as well as brick and mortar companies like Fastrack, Globus, Bata, The Fern etc. It also provides cashback on services like OlaCabs, FreeCharge.in, Yatra.com etc.
Pennyful.in works on a subscription model where a customer has to go to the merchant website after setting up an account at Pennyful. The sign–up presently is free. This account act as a virtual piggy bank for the customer so when they make transactions their discounted money goes in this account and they can keep a track on it via our website.
“In US, we do not have any minimum limit but here in India a small amount of Rs 150 which can be redeemed in one or two transactions,” Ravitej adds.
Touting following international best practices and ensuring great customer experience as their strengths, Pennyful has witnessed good traction with travel and electronics initially when it launched, however, the customer interest has now picking up in baby care products which is doing ‘quite well’ says Ravitej. The website offers cash back in categories like Apparel & Accessories, Book Sites, Office Sites, Health & Beauty sites among others.
The company is presently bootstrapped and plans to look for funding in a quarter.
The platform has also launched an offline programme in 2012 in which there were tie-ups with restaurants and salons etc.
“We have built a platform Medicash where an offline retailer can actually give cash back to the consumers in a real time basis. We used innovative technology there. This model picked up in the healthcare sector we have restricted it in the sector itself. In February this year, we have launched a platform in which offers cash back and discounts in health care sector are available using pennyful technology. We have tied-up with pharmaceuticals, diagnostic centers etc. So, one needs to have Medicash account and then he/she can avail the service. We are live in seven cities and we have also partnered with Apollo pharmacy,” he said.
The annual turnover of Pennyful.in is $1.5 to 2 million dollars and the company expects it to grow in this year. Ravitej adds that they plan to replicate their model in other geographies in 2013.
