Editor’s note: This content is sponsored by ShopBack and was produced by BrandRap, the sales and marketing arm of Rappler. No member of the news and editorial team participated in the publishing of this piece.

Have you ever been budol’ed? How about deinfluenced?

It’s no secret that many of us were bitten by the “add to cart” bug amid the pandemic. From giant haul videos, (toilet paper) panic buying, to e-commerce campaigns every month, there was a time that scrolling through shopping apps became a part of my daily routine. Now, a new social media trend is taking over: Deinfluencing.

In the videos going viral on TikTok and other platforms, users are openly sharing the items that are simply not worth spending money on, and ultimately urging people to think long and hard before they join the hype of trending products.

Although we’ve got a long way to go before fully becoming deinfluenced, the time for smart shopping is upon us. And there’s one cashback platform perfect for treating yourself and spending wisely at the same time: ShopBack. 

Using the shopping cashback app is simple enough, as you only need to go through the platform’s wide array of known merchants, get redirected back to their page, and have the option to receive your “earnings” via online wallet or bank account after you check out.

Through their tagline “For the wins,” a massive part of the brand’s success comes from its over 600 partnerships with some of the country’s most trusted retailers in travel, fashion, tech, marketplaces, and more. They also now have 5.5 million users in the Philippines – and the numbers just keep growing. 

On new ventures

With this growth in mind, ShopBack held the first-ever Users’ Choice Awards on March 30 to bring together and champion local and well-known brands. The event decorated the Fairmont Makati Hall with entrepreneurs and trusted partners as they networked and dined throughout the night.

“Without both [brands and buyers] in sync, it would be very hard for us to grow,” said ShopBack Head of Merchants, Timothy Tuason. “That’s why we listen to what our users say and deliver that. With Users’ Choice Awards, we decided to see which brands our users are particularly looking into because that’s something important for our partners as well.”

The Users’ Choice Awards recognized 13 partner merchants, with the winners being determined from votes on the app (50%), users who visit the partner store via ShopBack (25%), and the number of users who have their store bookmarked or added to their watchlist (25%).

Here are the winners of the first-ever ShopBack Users’ Choice Awards. Did your favorites make the cut?

• Smart Shoppers’ Choice: Lazada
• Trendsetters’ Choice: Zalora
• Foodies’ Choice: Foodpanda 
• Mommie’s Choice: Edamama 
• Revenge Travelers’ Choice: Agoda 
• Glow Getters’ Choice:  Shopee
• Fitness Junkies’ Choice: Nike
• Tech Savvy’s Choice: Samsung
• Superfans’ Choice: Adidas  
• Top New Merchant: SHEIN
• Brand Trailblazer Special Award: Lazada
• Local Groundbreaker Special Award: Edamama and Metromart

In between awardings, ShopBack also treated guests to panel discussions and fireside chats with leading industry leaders on the role of innovation and technology in driving profitability.

Shopping and synergy

For the entrepreneurs themselves, the Users’ Choice Awards served as an essential way to communicate with fellow local brands and strengthen their collaboration with ShopBack. 

“To receive an award from a prestigious partner is such an honor for us,” said Edamama co-founder Nishant D’Souza. “We’ve been collaborating with them for a while now and just building on the partnership and taking it to higher and higher levels.”

Edamama is a testament to the growth of pandemic online shopping. Launched in early 2020, the baby-centered e-commerce platform didn’t just offer trusted childcare products, it also provided a community for wais parents who needed support at home. 

Three years later, Edamama won the night’s Mommie’s Choice Award and Local Groundbreaker Special Award and is the platform’s top growing merchant with a 612% increase in Gross Merchandise Value (GMV)

“To a great extent, ShopBack brought exposure to so many consumers and they basically allowed us to help convert sales at a very efficient rate,”  D’Souza added.

What’s to come

With ShopBack entering the livestream game and adding search ads to their list of app features, the future looks bright for this future-proof platform that wants more Filipinos to get in on the habit of wise spending. 

“The market share is there,” shared ShopBack Acting Country Manager and General Manager (APAC) of Brand Solutions, Prashant Kala. “Now is the time to get the mind share of the consumer. We want users to know more about us. We want to become that household brand. That’s why you’ll see us having more events and reaching out.”

“And at the same time, what’s better than shopping while getting something in return?” added Tuason.

The Users’ Choice Awards is just the beginning for this platform that wants to reach out and prove that a new era of budol is here – one that connects and converts shoppers to what matters most on their terms. 

ShopBack is available to download on the App Store and Google Play Store. For more updates, visit the official ShopBack website at shopback.ph and click here to start your cashback journey. – Rappler.com