Brands and apps may frown upon double dipping, but if you clip a cash-back offer on one savings app, there’s not much to stop you from claiming another discount on the same purchase from another savings app. The more the merrier! When it comes to using rewards apps or browser extensions to shop online, however, you typically can only get rewarded once. So that’s set off a fierce competition among shopping and savings apps to become your favorite.
Fetch has now become the latest app to offer rewards for using its platform as a starting point when shopping online. That’s one of several new updates Fetch is rolling out, as it looks to retain its title as the country’s most downloaded coupons and rewards app.
The biggest addition is “Fetch Shop.” By navigating to the “Shop” page in the app, users can now earn rewards points for making purchases from national retailers like Target and Walmart, stores like Home Depot and Old Navy, and other popular services like Temu and Uber, all within the Fetch app. It’s similar to what Ibotta first launched way back in 2016, when it diversified from offering discounts on grocery products, to offering cash back for using Ibotta to make purchases from third-party retail partners. In both cases, the idea is to encourage users to make their favorite rewards app their one-stop-shopping destination, beginning every online shopping trip there so they can earn rewards, and the app can earn their loyalty.
But Fetch Shop is just one of what Fetch calls “a host of product enhancements.” Another is “Point Boost,” which highlights brands that offer larger rewards (or “boosts”) per every dollar spent on their products. “Offers Nearby” is just what it sounds like – if you set your app permissions to share your location with Fetch, you’ll be notified of special offers at stores close to where you are. And some users also now have access to “Sparks,” which is currently being beta-tested. You earn Sparks with each receipt you submit, then you use those Sparks to increase the value of a brand offer for extra points.
These updates come alongside a new and improved process for submitting digital receipts. If you’ve connected any online accounts, you no longer have to manually scan for digital purchases eligible for Fetch points. Instead, Fetch will automatically find them and notify you when you have new e-receipts ready to submit.
The additional earning opportunities are the first since Fetch rolled out a somewhat more controversial feature, “Fetch Play.” Users are able to earn points by downloading and playing third-party mobile games. It proved to be polarizing upon launch earlier this year, with some loving it and some wanting nothing to do with it, since it’s the only Fetch feature that has nothing to do with shopping. “It’s a big step towards our goal of making Fetch a true ‘rewards-for-everything’ app,” a Fetch spokesperson told Coupons in the News earlier this year. Some users, however, have complained about the app tracking that’s necessary to earn points, while lamenting that Fetch seems to be straying from its original mission of rewarding users for shopping, not for leveling up on Candy Crush. “I don’t have time to play games,” one unimpressed reviewer sniffed. “Get rid of that nonsense.”
Despite the naysayers, Fetch calls Fetch Play “massively popular.” In the first few months after its launch, Fetch said players had earned more than 10 billion Fetch Points, redeemable for roughly $10 million worth of gift cards, with the average player earning 6,700 points.
Fetch says all of these new features are about giving users “more incentives to use the app daily.” Fetch Play, for instance, is “driving user retention,” Fetch said, with game players more likely than nonplayers to use the app more often and keep up with regular receipt scanning. That, in turn, earns them points and encourages greater engagement with brands, which is really what Fetch is all about.
And new features encouraging greater engagement just might help Fetch retain its title as the most downloaded app in its category. Last year, the app-tracking firm data.ai named Fetch the most-downloaded coupons and rewards app of 2022. The mobile app market research company AppMagic crowned Fetch the winner again in 2023. But so far this year, Fetch has some competition for the top spot, with Capital One Shopping pulling ahead in the battle for number one.
New features, then, just might help keep Fetch top of mind when it’s time to scan a receipt, play a game or shop online. “We’re building a rewards ecosystem so consumers can discover their top point-earning opportunities and brands can create lifelong consumers,” Fetch Chief Technology Officer Wade Bruce said in a statement. “Our consumers have a deep passion for Fetch Points, and we’re constantly improving Fetch to offer the easiest, most fun and most social experience to help them rack up even more.”
And the more you earn, the more Fetch and its brand partners earn as well. With all of these new earnings opportunities introduced in just the past few months, if Fetch ends up losing its crown as the most downloaded rewards app this year – it certainly won’t be because it didn’t try.
Image source: Fetch
