Cashback extension

What it means

A cashback extension is a browser add-on run by a cashback or rewards site, which joins the store's affiliate program as a publisher. When the shopper clicks to activate it, the extension sends them through its affiliate link, the store pays commission on the order, and the shopper gets part of it back. Rakuten says stores pay it a commission for sending shoppers its way, and it shares part of that commission with them as cash back.[Rakuten Help Center, Oct 2026] (opens the source) Many cashback extensions also find and apply discount codes.

On your store

A returning customer opens your product page and a badge offers cash back. They click Activate, the tab reloads through an affiliate link, and they finish the order they had already planned.

Why it matters

Cashback, loyalty and rewards publishers took 35% of US affiliate spend in 2024, the largest single category in the Performance Marketing Association's industry study.[Affiverse (PMA study), Jun 2025] (opens the source) In a test Haus published, a brand switched off its US loyalty and cashback partners for seven weeks and saw no change in revenue against comparable regions. Haus sells incrementality testing.[Haus, May 2023] (opens the source)

What Benson does

Attribution integrity flags orders where an extension's affiliate click landed after the shopper arrived from another referrer.

Sources

1. 1Rakuten Help Center, “How Does Rakuten Work?”, Oct 2026. rakuten.com (opens the source)
2. 2Affiverse (PMA study), “US sales through affiliate hit $113B as investment jumps 49%”, Jun 2025. affiversemedia.com (opens the source)
3. 3Haus, “Affiliate on/off test reveals the incrementality of loyalty sites for global DTC brand”, May 2023. haus.io (opens the source)