Amazon will give you cashback in exchange for your shopping receipts
Amazon’s Alexa mobile app is primarily useful for Echo owners for changing various settings of the voice assistant and the associated device, but the app also offers a shopping list functionality that might have flown under the radar for many Echo users. The e-commerce giant is looking to change that with itsAlexa Shopping List Savingsprogram and is even offering cashback to lure users into it. The move will also provide the company with valuable insight into consumers' shopping habits.
First spotted byTechCrunch, Amazon will be listing offers from various retailers in the Shopping List section of the Alexa app. From there, you can collect and redeem the offers you like and then proceed to shop at the retailer’s store. To claim the cashback, you’ll have to scan the product barcode and the receipt showing the store’s name, location, and date/time of the transaction using the Alexa app. If required, you can upload up to five different photos of the receipt.
Depending on how big the shopping list is, the e-commerce giant will process your cashback within a week, and the money will be sent to your Amazon Gift Card account. You can then use the balance towards your purchases on Amazon.
Amazon notes in the FAQ that it is important to claim the offer before you head out shopping. Additionally, if you feel a receipt is incorrectly declined for a rebate, you can contact the helpline for a re-assessment.
As noted on the feature’s page, Amazon will collect and use all the personal data and information shared with it as per its privacy policy. There’s no clarity on whether the data would be anonymized and how it would be used. Nonetheless, the e-commerce giant is not the first company to offer customers cashback in exchange for getting hands on their shopping habits. There are other apps like Fetch Rewards and Checkout51 with a similar premise — they all work on an affiliate commission model and pass a slice of their revenue to users. For Amazon though, the data it collects could be a treasure trove and well worth the cashback it would be offering to consumers for using the feature.
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