Between a new headquarters planned in Madison, aggressive hiring, additional retail partnerships, emerging markets, a debit card and international expansion, Fetch Rewards is growing on many fronts.
The shopping loyalty app started out partnering with brands to offer savings to consumers regardless of where they purchase a product. Now, it's also teaming up with specific retailers — most recently, Albertsons Cos., which owns more than 2,220 grocery stores across the country including chains like Safway and Jewel-Osco — to offer discounts on a range of items throughout stores.
"Expanding our business model to include retail partners is the next step in the evolution of Fetch Rewards as we work to maximize the value and savings we deliver for our shoppers," Fetch Rewards chief growth officer Jason Marker said in a June 8 press release.
Fetch has partnerships with more than 500 brands including Molson Coors Beverage Co., General Mills Inc., PepsiCo Inc., Conagra Brands Inc., L'Oréal and The Hershey Co. It plans to add more retail partners, as well as partnerships with restaurants and gas stations, according to comments earlier this month by Fetch Rewards founder Wes Schroll at the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs' Conference.
On the restaurant front, Fetch has partnerships with KFC, Jersey Mike's Subs and Panera Bread, Schroll said. Looking ahead to the coming years, Schroll said Fetch will expand into electronics and apparel, and it expects to launch internationally in 2022.
"We believe that saving in an easy and fun way is not unique to the U.S.," Schroll said.
Fetch makes partnership decisions largely based on the brands and stores it sees on receipts that app users scan. Users submit an average of 22 recipients per month totaling around $75 billion a year, he said.
After noting that about 50% of users make purchases with a debit card, Fetch launched Fetch Pay, a rewards debit card powered through a partnership with the banking platform One Finance Inc. If a user buys a product from a Fetch brand partner at a Fetch retail partner and then pays with a Fetch debit card, they would get rewarded three different times, Schroll said.
As Fetch grows, it expects to increase its employee count from more than 500 to about 750 this year, Schroll said. It's opening a new headquarters on East Washington Avenue in Madison, he added. It's currently located at 131 W. Wilson St. in Madison.
Fetch also has offices in Chicago, San Francisco and New York City. However, it's a remote-first culture with employees in 34 states, Schroll said.
Founded in Madison in 2012, Fetch Rewards has been valued at more than $1 billion. The app launched in 2017 and the company has raised more than $350 million, according to Schroll.
