Saving 101, Tips & Tricks
7 Online Shopping Tips from Rakuten Employees
As a Rakuten member, you know a thing or two about saving, whether it’s finding promo codes, spotting a price drop on an item you’ve had in your cart for weeks or scoring some sweet Cash Back. We’re always striving to provide the best shopping experience possible for our members, though, so we asked several Rakuten employees to share their insider savings tips. They didn’t disappoint, and now we’re sharing them with you.
Install the Rakuten Button extension.
We can’t recommend this one enough. The Rakuten Cash Back Button for your web browser is incredibly useful. We’re all guilty of forgetting to use Rakuten every once in a while, but the Button will prevent that. If you’re shopping on a site that offers Cash Back, the Button will notify you with the Cash Back rate, which you can activate instantly. If you’re looking for a product on any search engine, the Button will show whether a store is on Rakuten and give you the current Cash Back rate, which can help you decide where to buy the item. It also shows coupon codes at checkout, which you can automatically apply so you’re not scouring the internet for codes to manually apply.
Some sites may not offer Cash Back, but their products can be found on other stores with Rakuten.
In a perfect world, every store would offer Cash Back. That sadly isn’t the case, but there are ways to get around it. Lululemon, for example, is not on Rakuten, but Matches is, and it sells Lululemon products. We also recommend using the Rakuten search bar to look for products. It will show you the stores that have what you’re looking for and how much Cash Back you could earn. Did we just share two tips in one? We told you we’re here to help you save!
Check out the Rakuten app for App-only deals.
Some Cash Back rates and deals are exclusive to the Rakuten mobile App, so you should regularly check the app for those lovely deals and have push notifications on so you never miss a high Cash Back rate. If you only shop on your phone, the Rakuten App is a no-brainer.
Link your credit card for Rakuten Dining.
Picture this: You just took your family out to dinner and got a bit carried away with appetizers and desserts, and now the bill is more than you expected. You get home and your phone lights up with a notification from the Rakuten App that you just earned Cash Back. This is Rakuten Dining, a program that offers Cash Back at thousands of restaurants nationwide. The best part is how passive the perk is. Once you’ve linked your credit card to Rakuten Dining in the App, it will automatically activate the offer if you’re eating at a participating restaurant. Be sure to download the App to start saving at restaurants!
Favorite your favorite stores.
You can “favorite” the stores you shop at frequently, and you’ll get notified in your email when a store has higher Cash Back deals that day. Now you won’t have to worry about missing out on higher Cash Back, something no one wants to experience.
Book a travel package to get more Cash Back on your flight.
Many top travel merchants offer only a fixed amount of Cash Back for flights instead of a percentage, and it’s often low. But that’s where this handy tip comes in! If you book the flight as part of a package with, say, a hotel or cruise, you’ll get back more because Packages is its own separate category that offers a Cash Back percentage. Booking a package is also the best way to save money on a vacation, so you’re essentially stacking deals on top of deals.
Check out ShopStyle for other sites outside of Rakuten.
Rakuten has no shortage of luxury retailers or designer brands, such as Neiman Marcus and Rebecca Minkoff, but there are still a few that aren’t available. But don’t fret! Rakuten’s sister site, ShopStyle, may have it. ShopStyle is a digital shopping platform similar to Rakuten, but it’s entirely for fashion. You have the option to link your Rakuten account to earn Cash Back on a brand that isn’t on Rakuten.
We hope some of these tips help you save even more than you already do with Rakuten. Happy shopping!
Join The Conversation