Walmart Just Teamed Up With Ibotta To Bring Even More Savings To Customers
Are you a Walmart shopper who likes saving money? Wait — that's redundant. Are you a Walmart customer who likes using apps to save money? Now, Walmart shoppers will have a reason to fall in love with Ibotta, thanks to a new partnership between the biggest retailer in the world and one of the top cash-back platforms in the United States.
According to a statement sent to Mashed, Walmart shoppers will be able to tap into Ibotta's cash rebates through the Walmart app or website. A how-to article in Chain Store Age from May 2020 explained that you could get Ibotta deals at Walmart through the Ibotta app, so this new partnership appears to make Ibotta's cash-back deals more convenient for people who routinely do their online shopping through Walmart's digital platforms. Under this new arrangement, those cash-back rewards will go straight into customers' Walmart accounts — so they can spend their free money at Walmart, of course.
"The partnership is a win-win," said Janey Whiteside, executive vice president and chief customer officer for Walmart U.S. "We're able to find new and exciting ways to help customers save even more with Walmart, all while propelling our business forward, driving loyalty and creating new ways for us to engage suppliers."
You get good prices, while Walmart and Ibotta get your information
The new partnership between Walmart and Ibotta, just announced today, has another new wrinkle. While Ibotta offers its rebates on its own app, website, and browser extension, and now Walmart's platforms, it also places these deals on certain other websites or social media sites. Walmart is getting in on these Ibotta deals that are sprinkled throughout the internet. While Ibotta is free to use, in the company's privacy policy, it does indicate that you'll be handing over some information in exchange for deals: "You use Ibotta as your shopping companion, and we and our partners will use the information we collect from and about you in many ways to help you shop and learn about your shopping habits."
Websites know a lot about you, thanks to cookies — per Vox. In fact, information about individual shoppers may be the most valuable commodity in the digital age. Ibotta makes some money from its retail partners because it gets you to shop with them (via Life and a Budget). But it has also collected a treasure trove of information about consumer behavior since it launched in 2012, according to PR Newswire. Shoppers taking advantage of Ibotta's rebates have purchased 26 million boxes of cereal, 11 million packs of beer, and 7.5 million packages of toilet paper — among other things, of course.