RetailMeNot was acquired in 2020 for around $420M, and it generates an annual revenue of around $250M, all without selling any products or services by itself!
Even more, they actually bring to people discount coupon codes for millions of products from different merchants and brands.
And they even sometimes pay shoppers a cash back on some items if people go through the RetailMeNot.com website before buying them from the original store or brand like Amazon or Adidas.
How does RetailMeNot make money?
This is the normal question that everybody asks when they know these facts about RetailMeNot.com.
And knowing the answer to this question might help you as well in making money online without selling products or providing services by yourself with the same business model of RetailMeNot.
You have come to the right place!
I will explain to you, in five minutes only, how RetailMeNot works and makes money online, and how you personally can benefit from the same model in order to increase your income even if you don’t have prior experience in making money online.
So, without further ado, let’s begin!
How Does RetailMeNot Make Money?
RetailMeNot makes money by connecting people who are looking for products at discounted prices, with the merchants and store that sell these products, in exchange of a commission on every customer that comes to these merchants or stores from RetailMeNot.com.
And this method of making money with commissions is called affiliate marketing.
And it is a legitimate business model, and many other coupon sites make money with this model.
The way this model works, is that RetailMeNot will find discount coupons from big online stores and marketplaces, like the ones in the following screenshot.
And when someone is looking for a certain product or service through RetailMeNot.com, let’s say they want to book a flight, they will find discounted offers from big sites in this industry, like Priceline for example.
And if someone clicks to learn more about that offer, they will be redirected to the website that have that discounted offer, but through a unique link that is called affiliate link.
This will help this website to track people coming from RetailMeNot.com.
And if these people book a service or by a product, this website will credit RetailMeNot for the purchase, and will give them a commission that depends in value on the product or service, the order value, the company that sells it, and many other factors.
But it could be anywhere from 2%-15% or even more from the order value.
And the more people go from RetailMeNot.com to these sites and buy products or services, the more commissions RetailMeNot will make.
And that’s how RetailMeNot makes money online without selling products or services by themselves.
It is by promoting others’ products and services to people looking for them.
But you might ask the question:
Why would people click through from RetailMeNot.com to the original merchant or store, instead of going directly to that website that sells what they want?
There are two things that make people go through the RetailMeNot website first before buying anything:
1 – RetailMeNot.com offers its visitors deals and discount coupon codes that people might not be able to find by themselves, even if they go directly to the store that sells what they are looking for.
2 – RetailMeNot offers, in addition to the discount coupons, a reward in the form of a cash back on some of the items that you buy if you go from their site to the original merchant.
And the cash back is usually a percentage that depends on the product, the brand, the order value, ..etc.
And now you might ask yourself:
How Does RetailMeNot Make Profit if They Pay You a Cash Back?
RetailMeNot will pay you a cash back on some products, but at the same time, they will get a commission from the merchant who sells those products.
And the commission they get is usually higher than the cash back they give you.
For example, from the screenshot above, they would give you an 8% cash back if you go from their site to Nike’s site and buy what you want.
Let’s say that you go to Nike.com and buy stuff for around $200.
RetailMeNot will give you a cash back of 8%, which is $200*8%= $16.
However, Nike has an affiliate program that pays RetailMeNot (the affiliate), up to 11% on what you will buy after going from RetailMeNot.com to Nike.com.
And to calculate how much RetailMeNot made from your order, multiply $200*11%= $22.
And since they paid you $16 in the form of a cash back, this means that they netted $22-$16= $6 in profit from your order alone.
Now considering that RetailMeNot.com gets ten’s of thousands of visitors per day, usually shoppers looking for all sorts of stuff and willing to buy immediately, this means that they might make thousands of commissions from different merchants and online stores.
And all of that without selling anything by themselves.
They are just the middleman.
And that my friend is how the RetailMeNot website operates and makes money online.
And this is almost the same way how Rakuten.com (Ebates.com previously) makes money.
And now to the most important question you should have:
Can Anyone Make Money with The RetailMeNot Business Model?
Sure. Affiliate marketing is a beginner-friendly method that can be started by almost anyone and at a very low cost.
I personally make the most of my income with this method that RetailMeNot follows.
And the nice thing is that you don’t have to start a big business like RetailMeNot.com and offer products in almost every industry or category.
You can start as small as you want, and you can scale later to increase your income, like RetailMeNot does.
Actually, it is better if you start by focusing on one niche or industry, as that will help you find better deals and connect better with your audience and find what they need and what is best for them.
While RetailMeNot.com offers products in almost every industry, such as: sports, hobbies, health, luxury, apparel, fitness, electronics, …etc., you can start by focusing on only one niche or category.
And better, you can choose any industry that you like such as: a hobby, a passion, a sport, some kind of art, a profession you know well, a skill you have, …etc., and build your affiliate marketing business around it.
I have built many affiliate businesses in different niches such as: basketball dunking, Mediterranean cooking, engineering, finance, and more.
And the nice thing is that I can promote not only physical products, but also digital products like courses or software tools, and get a commission on the purchases that I bring to their owners.
For example, on one of my sites, I promote a software that helps people create a customized Mediterranean meal plan based on their gender, age, body, activity, …etc.
And if someone purchases this software through my site, I get a commission from the owner, which is around 50% of the software price!
This is the best business model for making money online for beginners, and one that comes with the lowest level of risk and requires the lowest possible investment.
However, as any business model, it requires you to put in the work on consistent basis until you succeed, following three simple steps.
3 Steps to Start a Website Like RetailMeNot.com
To start a website that works and makes you money like RetailMeNot.com, you need to follow these three simple steps:
1 – Select a Niche or Market for Your Business
One of the most important secrets of succeeding in any business is to understand your target audience, which becomes easier if you focus on a specific group of people looking for products in a certain category or industry.
RetailMeNot promote products in almost every industry, but they have a big team that can work on these industries at the same time.
But when you start, you are alone, and that’s fine.
And if you want to succeed, then you need to focus on a specific niche in order to understand your audience and be able to promote relevant products and good deals to them, and make money with the same way RetailMeNot makes money, affiliate marketing.
And as I told you earlier, you can choose your niche to be around anything that you are interested in, or something that you like, such as:
- A sport, such as: baseball, golf, basketball, soccer, boxing, …etc.
- An art, such as: painting, writing songs, drawing, playing guitar, …etc.
- A hobby, such as: collecting stamps, indoor rock climbing, card tricks, …etc.
- A passion or cause, such as: meditation, yoga, veganism, weight loss, …etc.
- A profession or skill that you have, such as: a language, web design, video recording and editing, maintenance, DIY, …etc.
Almost anything you can imagine can be your affiliate marketing niche.
But to make a real life example, let’s say that you want to make your niche all about grills, which is one of the many products that are promoted on RetailMeNot.
2 – Create a Simple Site Like RetailMeNot.com
Don’t worry!
Gone are the days of learning how to write codes or hiring others in order to have a website.
With the tools and services available nowadays, like the ones in the following section, you can start an affiliate site in under 30 seconds, without any technical skills or experience.
You are not a web developer, and you don’t need to learn the technical side of websites.
You are an affiliate marketer, and your role is to find the best deals for your target audience, so that you make money like Retail Me Not does.
But having a website that you own is a must as you need a place where you place the offers and deals that you found, and it is where you bring people to see these offers and take them so that you can make affiliate commissions.
3 – Start Helping Your Niche Like RetailMeNot Does
How does Retail Me Not convince people to buy through their website?
It is by offering them help, in the form of discounted prices and cash back rewards.
That’s why people go through the RetailMeNot website before buying what they want.
And you too need to help your audience so that they buy through your site and you make money.
And you don’t have to offer a cash back, you can only focus on getting them discounted prices for the products they want.
And sometimes, you don’t even need to bring them coupon codes, but you need to help them make a decision and find the best product for them.
For example, let’s say that you decided to make your site about grills.
Your audience might ask on Google questions like:
- Best gas grill under 500.
- Best propane grill under 500.
- Best pallet grill under 500.
- Best natural gas grill under 500.
- Best kamado grill under 500.
- Best smoker grill under 500.
- Best infrared gas grill under 500.
And so on.
And here comes your role.
For each one of these search queries, you would write a simple list-based article where you mention the best 5-10 grills that people can buy for under $500.
And whenever you mentioned a certain grill, you would link to where people can buy it, on Amazon for example, but you link through a unique link that allows the merchant or the marketplace to track your referrals and credit you for that sale.
And for each sale that comes to these merchants from your site, you get a commission that is anywhere from 2%-15% of the price of that grill.
And with these three simple and easy-to-follow steps, you can make money with the same business model of RetailMeNot, affiliate marketing.
Need More Help in Getting Started?
If you liked this model of RetailMeNot.com, and you are interested in learning how you can make money with it, but you need someone to show you every step in detail, and help you until you succeed, then you are in the right place.
I want to tell you here where you can find all what you need to start your RetailMeNot-like business, with all of the training, tools, help, and without having any prior experience.
This is the same place the helped me learn and build many affiliate marketing businesses that are making money the most of my income now.
And this place is a platform and community that is called Wealthy Affiliate.
This platform will literally provide you with all of what you need, such as:
- A step-by-step affiliate marketing plan.
- A detailed affiliate training course on implementing that plan.
- A reliable web hosting with premium support so that you don’t confuse yourself with the technical stuff.
- Research tools to find opportunities for making money within your niche.
- An amazing support of a community of experts and like-minded internet entrepreneurs who are willing to help you whenever you ask.
And more.
All of that at one place and for a very affordable monthly fee that allows you to take advantage of the business model of RetailMeNot.com, which is worth more than $400 million.
Not sure yet?
Here’s the deal.
This platform I’m recommending offers a FREE Starter membership option so that you see it from the inside and get to know the community.
And in this free membership, you will get access to the first part of the training (10 lessons), which will explain the business model of RetailMeNot in detail.
After finishing this level, you get to decide if this model is for you or not, and you can upgrade to the premium membership anytime you want in order to unlock the advanced levels of the training and to use the tools in full capacity.
This is where I personally started my affiliate businesses the right way, and that’s why I recommend it to you.
If you are serious about learning the RetailMeNot.com business model in detail, check out my Wealthy Affiliate review here in order to learn more about this great platform and see how you can get started with the FREE Starter membership first.
Conclusion
I hope that this 5-minute article helped you understand how RetailMeNot makes money online with affiliate marketing, and how personally can make money with it like I, and many others, do, even without a prior experience or technical knowledge, thanks to the platform I mentioned in the previous section above.
If you still have any question about RetailMeNot’s business model, or about anything I mentioned here, then please, leave it in the comments’ section below, and I will do my best to come back to you asap 🙂