Rakuten Rewards
Appearance
![]() | This article contains content that is written like an advertisement. (July 2021) |
![]() | |
Industry | Cashback website |
---|---|
Founded | 3 May 1998Menlo Park, California, United States | in
Founders | Alessandro Isolani and Paul Wasserman |
Headquarters | San Mateo, California |
Area served | United States, Canada, China, South Korea, Singapore, Japan |
Key people | Amit Patel (CEO) |
Number of employees | 760 (worldwide, 2019) |
Parent | Rakuten |
Website | www |
Rakuten Rewards (/ˈrækətɪn/),[1] formerly known as Ebates,[2] is a cash-back and shopping rewards company.[3] Its revenue comes from affiliate network links.[4] Members of the site click through affiliate links before shopping at a retailer's site.
History
[edit]Rakuten Rewards was founded as Ebates in 1998 in Menlo Park, California, by two former deputy district attorneys, Alessandro Isolani and Paul Wasserman.[5] Funded by the venture capital firm Foundation Capital,[6] Ebates.com was launched on 3 May 1999, offering up to 25% cash back from about 40 online retailers.[7]
In September 2014, Ebates was acquired by the Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten for US$1 billion.[8] In 2019, the Ebates brand was phased out and replaced with Rakuten Rewards.[9]
Acquisitions
[edit]Date | Company | Business | Country | References |
---|---|---|---|---|
8 September 2011 | FatWallet | Comparison shopping site | United States | [10] |
9 August 2012 | BFAds | Coupons site | United States | [11] |
8 September 2012 | AnyCoupons | Coupons site | United States | [citation needed] |
22 June 2012 | OneReceipt | Receipt digitization service | United States | [12] |
10/12/2012 | PushPins | Coupons mobile site | United States | [13] |
25 June 2013 sold 6 December 2017 |
Extrabux | Comparison shopping site | United States | [14] |
7 March 2016 | Shopular | Product discovery mobile app | United States | [15] |
23 January 2017 | Cartera Commerce | Rewards program provider | United States | [16] |
3 April 2017 | ShopStyle (and Cosmic Cart) | Fashion discovery site | United States | [17] |
Services/tools
[edit]Name | Description | References |
---|---|---|
Mobile app | Free application for Android and iOS allows users to shop and earn cash back on mobile devices. | [18] |
Hotels | Users can book hotels to earn cash back. | [19] |
Cash Back Button | Browser extension for Google Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari, Alerts users to cash-back possibilities on store sites and highlights offers in Google and Bing search results. | [20] |
Marketplace | Formerly located at Rakuten.com, the marketplace is an e-commerce site where users can buy goods from third-party sellers. | |
In-Store Cash Back | Users can earn cash back in stores by adding a credit or debit card to their accounts and using that card to pay in stores. |
Logos
[edit]-
2017
-
2018
-
2019 (US, before renaming)
-
2019 (Canada, before renaming)
-
2019 (US and Canada, after renaming)
References
[edit]- ^ "Ebates is now Rakuten". Rakuten Rewards.
- ^ "Ebates is Becoming Rakuten & Super Bowl Ad (How to Pronounce Rakuten)". Travel with Grant. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
- ^ Suknanan, Jasmin. "The Rakuten shopping portal gives you cash back for purchases you were already planning to make". CNBC. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
- ^ "Rakuten to Acquire Ebates for $1 Billion". Business Wire (Press release). 9 September 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
- ^ Capital, Foundation (11 September 2014). "Remembering a Scrappy Little Startup Called Ebates". Foundation Capital. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
- ^ Kemp, Ted (17 May 1999). "ebates.com Pays Cash to Net Shoppers, Hopes to Lure Advertisers". Direct Marketing News. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
- ^ "Ebates.com launches discount rebate site". Advertising Age. Crain Communications Inc. 3 May 1999. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
- ^ Perez, Sarah (9 September 2014). "Rakuten Buys Ebates For $1 Billion". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
- ^ "Rakuten Review: Rakuten vs. Ebates - What is Changing". Dyer News. 8 March 2019. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
- ^ "Backed By VCs, Ebates Buys FatWallet.com And AnyCoupons.com, Starts New Company". TechCrunch. 9 September 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
- ^ "Ebates acquires BFAds". StartupRanking. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
- ^ "Performance Marketing Brands Announces Acquisition of OneReceipt". Businesswire. 6 September 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
- ^ "Performance Marketing Brands Expands Into Grocery Retail Market with Acquisition of Pushpins". Businesswire. 22 January 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
- ^ "Ebates Inc. Acquires Extrabux®". Businesswire. 17 March 2014. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
- ^ "Ebates Acquires Shopular". Businesswire. 24 March 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
- ^ "Ebates Acquires Cartera Commerce". Businesswire. 27 January 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
- ^ "Ebates Acquires ShopStyle From PopSugar Inc". Businesswire. 24 February 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
- ^ "Rakuten Review: Rakuten vs. Ebates - What is Changing". Dyer News. 8 March 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
- ^ "Ebates Hotels Review: Earn 10% Cash Back". Hustler Money Blog. 22 August 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
- ^ "Rakuten Review: Rakuten vs. Ebates - What is Changing". Dyer News. 8 March 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
Categories:
- American companies established in 1998
- Internet properties established in 1998
- 1998 establishments in California
- Companies based in San Mateo, California
- Rakuten
- 2014 mergers and acquisitions
- American subsidiaries of foreign companies
- Cashback and rebate
- Reward, cashback and comparison-shopping digital platforms
- E-commerce websites