Walmart Expands Partnership With Cash-Back App Ibotta

The home of "Every Day Low Prices" wants to give customers a chance to go lower—and heighten their loyalty to Walmart, especially for grocery purchases, at the same time.

Walmart and retail cash-back app Ibotta have expanded their three-year-old partnership, which allows Ibotta users to earn cash back on select items they purchase at Walmart stores and on Walmart.com. Now, the cash back that Ibotta users earn on Walmart purchases will be applied directly to their Walmart account, where they can apply it toward future purchases, a Walmart membership or grocery delivery.

Walmart U.S. Chief Customer Officer Janey Whiteside called the expansion of the partnership a win-win, saying it gives the retailer the opportunity to "find new and exciting ways to help customers save even more with Walmart, all while propelling our business forward, driving loyalty and creating new ways for us to engage suppliers."

Previously, Ibotta users' savings on Walmart purchases were aggregated with the cash back they earned from other Ibotta-participating retailers, including Target, Kroger and Amazon. Ibotta allows users to send their cash back to their bank account via PayPal or Venmo or to redeem it as a digital gift card with a participating retailer, but only when their balance reaches $20 or more. Now, users' Walmart savings will stay with Walmart.

Also as part of the expanded partnership, Walmart is joining Ibotta's Ibotta Performance Network, which will serve customers on social-media networks, recipe sites and other platforms cash-back offers for suggested products. Walmart users can then add these offers to their Walmart digital cart for redemption in-store or online. Ibotta founder and CEO Bryan Leach said Ibotta is "honored to work with [Walmart] on this program and to be their exclusive third-party provider of digital item-level rebates on Walmart platforms."

In another move this week to deepen brand loyalty through lower prices, Walmart announced that it is introducing private-label insulin products made by Novo Nordisk, available to customers paying without insurance for 58% to 75% off the cost they would pay for branded products. Walmart also this month debuted a prescription-savings program, Rx for Less, available exclusively to Walmart members. Rx for Less promises select common prescription medications at no cost to Walmart members; the program complements Walmart's existing $4 generics program.

The new savings enticements come after Walmart CEO Doug McMillon emphasized in February the retailer's commitment to earn "primary destination status" with customers and after the Bentonville, Ark.-based company lifted its full-year income and earnings guidance after a better-than-expected first quarter that included share gains in grocery. Walmart's street-beating performance at the outset of 2021, however, may not be enough help it hang onto its No. 1 retailer crown: JP Morgan in June predicted that Amazon will overtake Walmart as the country's biggest retailer by 2022 based on gross merchandise volume.

Denver-based Ibotta was founded in 2012 and competes with Tokyo-based Rakuten, which also offers users worldwide the chance to earn cash back on promoted products.