Poles shop with their heads. They can save up to several thousand zlotys a year on online transactions.

Nearly half of Poles shop sensibly, actively looking for and taking advantage of various types of promotions - according to AdRetail research "Smart Opportunities. Shopping habits of Poles". An increasingly popular alternative to traditional discounts or loyalty cards is cashback, i.e. the return of a portion of the value of purchases made. Customers who buy online can save up to several thousand zlotys a year.

- Cashback, or the return of part of the money for online shopping, is online magic, perpetual mobile smart shopping," says Newseria Biznes agency Jan Sikora, founder of Planet Plus platform. - Smart shopping is only just beginning to take root with us and Poles are beginning to notice that, as with discount codes, promotions or discounts, they can receive an additional refund in the form of a cashback. There is a really big group of people who are looking for opportunities to buy more cheaply.

Cashback is a refund of part of your expenses for shopping in online shops. It is an attractive and increasingly popular alternative to discounts or loyalty programs. When a user makes a purchase, part of the transaction value is returned to his payment card or PayPal account. This is usually between one and several percent of the purchase value. The form of payment is irrelevant here - the refund is made both on card payment and on cash on delivery.

- The benefits are many, both for e-shops and users. The shop has a guarantee that a given product from the shelf or from the warehouse will be sold at the right price. We are responsible for ensuring this sale. The store pays us a commission for this, which we share with the users in the form of a cashback. The user is pleased that the product he is looking for can be bought cheaper and with a partial refund. We are in a triple win-win-win situation," says Jan Sikora.

Planet Plus is a business model well known in Europe and popular in Germany or Great Britain, while in Poland it has appeared relatively recently. The platform, which has been operating for nearly 3 years, has over 600 thousand users and cooperates with over 1 thousand online shops, among them e-commerce leaders (e.g. Allegro, Empik, Answear, Frisco.pl, Pyszne.pl, Douglas, MediaMarkt, Grupon, Eobuwie.pl or AliExpress).

- We are currently the largest company in Central and Eastern Europe that offers cashback, but we see that others are appearing that imitate what we do. It just shows how much this market is still undeveloped. There are five such large companies in the UK. The two largest are Quidco and Top Cashback, which work with more than 3,000 retailers and in fact they dictate the conditions on the cashback market in the region. We are only at the beginning of this road in Poland - says Jan Sikora.

The motto of Planet Plus is "rewarding for buying". After free registration and logging in to the platform, the user has to search for an online shop of interest to which he will be redirected via a link. After making the purchase and payment, the return of part of the transaction will automatically appear in his account within 24 hours. Once you have collected at least 20 PLN, you can withdraw it to the indicated bank account or PayPal account.

Through the platform, you can do shopping, among others, in shops from the clothing, cosmetics, household appliances and electronics industries, use the services of the insurance, banking and finance industries, and even do food shopping. Information about your purchase history, the amount of money you saved, the offers of the day and special promotions that connect to cashback is clearly visible in your customer panel when you log in.

Planet Plus business model benefits from the growing popularity of online shopping. According to Gemius data, every second consumer (56%) buys over the Internet and Poland is one of the fastest growing e-commerce markets in Europe.

- We offer cashback in over a thousand stores we work with. These brands are recognizable, both in Poland and abroad. The best form of advertising is the internet and non-intrusive targeted ads for people who are really looking for promotions and will use them, rather than creating another empty account. Customers are aware of the percentage of cashback they can get," says Planet Plus founder.

Smart shopping, i.e. clever and thoughtful shopping, is a trend that is gaining popularity among Polish consumers. According to the AdRetail study "Smart Bargains. The shopping habits of Poles", already almost half (43%) declare that they regularly use various types of promotions and actively seek them. Whereas 23% use services and applications with discount coupons. According to a survey conducted by GfK Polonia smart shopping is practiced by nearly 50% of Poles.