ShopBack has agreed to buy Asia’s hoolah

ShopBack, the cashback rewards site that has more than 1.5 million members in Australia, could soon offer its own ‘buy now pay later’ service after agreeing to buy Asia’s hoolah.

ShopBack is becoming hugely popular in Australia with more than 1.5 million users and could soon offer its own buy now pay later service after agreeing to buy Asia’s hoolah. Picture: Jonathan Ng

The Singapore-based ShopBack, the increasingly popular cashback rewards platform that in recent years has seen its Australian membership base rocket to more than 1.5 million users, could soon add an in-house ‘buy now pay later’ service to suite of consumer tools after agreeing to buy provider hoolah.

If ShopBack decides to introduce the BNPL service hoolah into Australia it will see another shopping platform thrown at consumers who already face intense competition from entrenched players led by Afterpay, which recently was pitched a takeover from US payments giant Square, Zip Money, Humm and the Klarna payment portal backed by Commonwealth Bank.

The difference and advantage for ShopBack is that if it bursts into the local BNPL industry it comes with an existing database of millions of Australian shoppers who have already signed up for their flagship cashback service that hands out cash rewards for purchases from retail partners.

And there is huge growth potential for the cash rewards platform with only 12 per cent of shoppers in Australia taking advantage of cashback programs, compared to 35 per cent in Britain and with growing awareness of cashback benefits here.

ShopBack announced on Tuesday that it has received consent from shareholders of hoolah, a leading regional BNPL platform, for a 100 per cent acquisition of the company by ShopBack. hoolah, combined with ShopBack‘s position as the market-leading publisher and shopping companion across the Asia-Pacific, will provide a one-stop solution for demand generation and user engagement for merchants across the Asia-Pacific.

“We see significant synergies between ShopBack’s and hoolah’s product lines. Together as one, we unlock value by providing a broader platform of new capabilities and services for shoppers and merchants alike,” said Henry Chan, co-founder and CEO of ShopBack. “Shoppers get the best deals and rewards, and more flexible payment options, on a single platform. Merchant partners can access a large pool of high-intent shoppers, and achieve higher conversions and basket sizes. Our best-in-class technology and rich transaction data will enable us to further accelerate the development of the BNPL sector across the Asia-Pacific.”

Launched in Singapore in 2018, hoolah is regarded as the pioneer in the BNPL space in Southeast Asia. Much like Australian BNPL providers, hoolah offers shoppers an option to pay for purchases in three interest-free instalments, and hoolah works with over 2000 online and in-store merchants in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong.

When combined with ShopBack’s regional operations, hoolah will accelerate its growth with a platform to extend its BNPL offering to over 8000 merchants and 30 million shoppers across nine markets in the Asia-Pacific.

The Australian market could be a huge prize for ShopBack and hoolah. Recently ShopBack surpassed $1.32bn in total online transaction value with $610m of this achieved in the 12 months ended September 2021.

ShopBack was established in Australia in 2018 and is the market leader, with registered members growing by over 50 per cent to 1.5 million in the 12 months to the end of June 2021.

ShopBack has now raised over $200m since its founding, including $55m announced last month to fund continued rapid growth in Australia and the region.