Intu trials cashback scheme to stimulate in-store sales

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Apr 18, 2019

In a bid to halt the decline of shopper footfall, shopping centre owner Intu has launched an in-store cashback app that will reward customers for spending in its stores.

The Intu Pocket app will give shoppers at least 2% cashback on anything they buy from a list of participating shops and restaurants at Intu’s 14 UK shopping centres.

The shopping centre manager and developer did not name the retailers that will participate in the scheme, but said participating brands will have the option to offer customers from 2% to 10% cashback every time they spend in store.

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Retailers can also offer bonus deals, which could be as much as 90% off, to influence shopping behaviour in a particular location on a specific day.

To get cashback, shoppers must download the app, which uses innovative card-linking technology to track transactions. Then, customers can withdraw the cash to their bank account once a minimum of £5 is accrued.

“Online shopping data is used to build loyalty and drive sales, and we wanted to provide some of the same benefits to Intu’s customers and retailers. Intu Pocket enables us to reward shoppers for spending their money at an Intu centre and helps to increase footfall and sales to our retailers’ stores,” explained Trevor Pereira, commercial & digital director at Intu.

The initiative is designed to fight the ‘no-splurge’ shopper attitude affecting the UK retail sector in the past year. According to data from the British Retail Consortium and Springboard, shopping centre footfall fell again in the five weeks from February 24 to March 30, marking the 24th month of consecutive decline.