Inside the Ibotta Performance Network and Its Latest Partnership
What Is Ibotta & the Ibotta Performance Network
Most people who are familiar with Ibotta know of its consumer app. It launched in 2012 with the goal of disrupting the traditional model of paper coupons and giving people cash back on everyday purchases. Since then, Ibotta has expanded its reach to more than 200 million U.S. consumers and delivered more than $1.8 billion in cash-back rewards. Driving much of that growth is its white-labeled solution — the Ibotta Performance Network (IPN) — which powers the rewards programs of some of the leading retailers and publishers in the country.
Launched in 2021, the IPN is a technology platform designed to empower brands, retailers, and publishers to influence where consumers shop and what they buy. By enabling brands to distribute their promotions across an ever-growing network of third-party retailers and publishers — like Walmart, Dollar General, and Instacart — Ibotta has created a dynamic rewards ecosystem that gives brands access to unprecedented performance marketing scale.
Meet our Newest Partner: Instacart
Instacart has joined the IPN as a preferred partner to source national digital offers. For CPG brands, this new partnership creates an enhanced opportunity to reach consumers across Instacart’s marketplace of more than 1,500 retail banners with a footprint of more than 85,000 stores across North America. In addition, CPG brands can continue to leverage Instacart’s high-performing retail media network to drive product discovery and incremental sales by connecting to consumers who are directly at the point of purchase.
“We are excited to enter into this strategic partnership with Instacart, which represents the first delivery service publisher to join the Ibotta Performance Network,” said Bryan Leach, founder and CEO of Ibotta. “The addition of Instacart will allow our 2,400 CPG brand partners to reach millions of additional consumers with targeted promotions on Instacart’s digital properties, all while benefiting from our network’s unprecedented real-time measurement capabilities.”
The U.S. grocery industry is projected to grow 5.6% to $1.5 trillion this year, according to a report from data firm Coresight Research. To stand out in this massive industry and earn consumer loyalty, many CPG brands turn to promotions. But as more and more consumers shop online for their groceries, paper coupons aren’t cutting it anymore. Nearly twice as many Americans use digital coupons rather than paper coupons from a circular when shopping for groceries, according to a survey from United Natural Foods Inc.
“Instacart is committed to helping consumers find more value, and today’s announcement underscores our goal of making online grocery shopping accessible to all,” said Chris Rogers, Chief Business Officer of Instacart. “Our partnership with Ibotta is designed to benefit both consumers, by providing valuable savings, and CPG brands, by continuing to drive real business impact and consumer engagement. We work with more than 6,000 CPG brands and we believe Ibotta will help us quickly scale our CPG-funded promotions business.”
The IPN Is a Win-Win-Win
The IPN allows brands, retailers, and publishers to influence where consumers shop and what they buy. This symbiotic relationship fuels what we like to call the win-win-win flywheel.
Consumers come to Ibotta and its partners, like Instacart, for great deals on the products they want and need. The more of those digital offers we can make available to them, the more they can save and the more personalized those offers can be.
Brands, publishers, and retailers benefit from greater offer personalization too. For brands, personalization means a larger addressable audience and the ability to get the right deals in front of the right consumers at the right time. For retailers and publishers, personalization translates into increased sales, basket size, and trip frequency — in other words, greater customer loyalty and engagement. This entices even more publishers and retailers to join the IPN.
Our network grew substantially with the addition of Instacart, and as additional retailers and publishers join, shoppers can take advantage of cash-back rewards in even more places.
Ready to make every purchase rewarding — for your brand and for shoppers? Contact us to learn more about how the Ibotta Performance Network can drive brand growth and incremental sales for your business.