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Marketing Strategies

Your first call for higher AOV

Average order value is a critical dimension of successful retailing, and the need to maximize purchase size and value is particularly important as the world enters a period of increased market uncertainty.   

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Connecting brands with valuable shoppers is the foundation of everything we do. Our model uses the appeal of Cash Back to encourage immediate and long-term shopping behaviors that create a competitive advantage for brands and retailers. 

Creating Marketing Layers 

To help drive higher AOV, we offer a variety of strategies and solutions that can be tailored to the unique needs of a brand. Every strategic engagement begins by collaborating with you to understand your current business situation, competitive set, and critical marketing initiatives so we can craft a program that maximizes marketing effectiveness within affiliate and across the entire marketing mix.  

Our clients often tell us that their businesses depend on continued strong sales and margins from us. For this reason, foundational “always-on” Cash Back programs almost always stay in place. Our AOV-boosting efforts are additional layers we can add to the baseline program to achieve increased transaction value.  

Rakuten Solutions for Increased AOV 

On their own, Rakuten’s program solutions drive strong performance for brands. However, when working together dynamically our partners see amplified performance. Keeping shoppers engaged with Cash Back and incentives is critical to success. Our shoppers engage with Rakuten because they know we offer more categories and brands than other Cash Back options. 

The key to sustaining presence with efficiency is to leverage a dynamic Cash Back (DCB) strategy. There are two ways to do this. The first is to simply plan and participate in promotions consistently so there is a fluctuation of Cash Back rates. This leads to a high average Cash Back rate for the brand, which keeps shoppers engaged. The second is to leverage targeting to reach a specific audience. By examining internal and external factors such as industry, brand value, seasonality, competitive behavior and shopper behavior we can determine the right rate(s) as well as how and when to optimize those rates based on performance. 

Four ways to plan for a dynamic Cash Back promo calendar with us: 

  1. Mirror your onsite promos . Adjust your rates in tandem with your onsite promos
  2. Between the brand site promos. Increase to sustain rewards presence between your onsite promos
  3. Elevated Cash Back events. Reward shoppers with higher, exclusive rates to drive urgency and excitement
  4. Audience Targeting. Use internal and external factors to calculate the rate and understand the elasticity, to reach your audience.

Making DCB a core tenet of the plan allows brands the flexibility to apply differing rates to specific events for efficiency. For example, quarterly tentpole events that align to big moments in retail, media, and culture. Tentpole participation gives brands the opportunity to sweeten the pot of offers to drive excitement and increased transactions. Historically, Rakuten tentpole events deliver higher than average AOV for brands. Connect with your Rakuten rep for details on your category.   

Personalization & Targeting Solutions 

Because Rakuten has a loyal, growing community of more than 17M active shoppers, we offer unparalleled scale. These passionate, engaged shoppers also make us smarter. Our proprietary data and resulting insights enable us to build highly responsive audiences based on your business needs. 

  • Existing Customers: We can work with your internal data team to define an audience of member customers to reach. Cash Back often offers a more affordable and effective way to motivate large purchases than other marketing tactics. Additionally, brands can share customer data to help create a precise target of existing brand buyers in our community. 
  • Rakuten Champion Buyers: These are our most active and engaged members who shop at the highest rates and consistently purchase through a variety of brands and partners. 
  • Category Affinity Targeting: These machine learning (ML) models help us build and target members based on their category preferences to drive meaningful conversions and delightful member experiences. 
  • Demographic Targeting: By targeting based on demographic categories, we can appeal directly to the audience most likely to engage with the brand and encourage larger orders.  
  • Personalized Rewards: Personalized Rewards serves personalized, elevated Cash Back offers to high-intent, in-market shoppers from Rakuten’s first-party database. Personalized Rewards can be activated across shopping experiences, including integrations with in-store capabilities for measurable, omni-channel actions. 

Media Solutions 

Our Media Solutions promote brand discovery and generate awareness for sales, promotional events and Cash Back offers. When paired with promotions, media increases sales by 3.2x. 

  • Email & Mobile: Reach a customized audience of high-intent shoppers based on member behavior, affinity, and purchase history. 
  • On-site Display: Boost program performance and audience reach with strategic display placements. 

Get More Information 

These are just some ways that Rakuten can help impact average order value. Your Rakuten representative will offer expert consultation to build an effective program to meet your objectives.  

Not already working with us? Reach out to a Rakuten rep to learn more and get started. 

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Rakuten

Rakuten gives brands access to millions of shoppers and gives shoppers the chance to score big Cash Back rewards. We make shopping more rewarding.