Publisher Spotlight: Upstreet

We speak with Upstreet, a share reward program that allows consumers to invest in the brands they love in a first-to-market Publisher Spotlight special.

Can you tell us about Upstreet? 

Upstreet offers its customer a free app where the customer earns shares, instead of points/cashback when making purchases from Upstreet’s App or Google Chrome Extension.

For companies, Upstreet facilitates a fractional share reward program between both public and private companies and their customers. For those unfamiliar with fractional shares, a fractional share is a piece of a share rather than a full share, that way, if the customer receives a reward that is less than the value of a full share, they can still get part of a share.
The benefit of a fractional share reward program is that our users can earn shares just by buying through Upstreet. Also, research has shown that when people own part of a company, they buy more from that company. That way, the company benefits from long term, sticky, loyalty.

For example, when a customer spends $100 through Upstreet, the company rewards them with $5 in fractional shares. This works similar to other cashback programs. Advertisers are able to define the percentage reward that customers receive.
Share rewards can be gained by either shopping through the Upstreet app, Upstreet Google Chrome Extension and/or at the retailer’s brick and mortar locations, by using card-linking.

We currently have over 200 Australian and international brands that customers can earn fractional shares from when they shop with them. Customers can make purchases from these brands through the Upstreet App and Google Chrome Extension.

Upstreet builds loyalty between brands and consumers by incentivising customers to make repeated purchases. Research has shown that share reward programs result in 34% more products purchased and a 30% uplift in purchase frequency. The result is 33% of customers choosing a brand over its competitors.

Upstreet works with both public and private companies in various industries and business models. Some of these include business to business (B2B), business to consumer (B2C), business to business to consumer (B2B2C) and direct to consumer (DtC).

Why do you do it? 

At Upstreet, we’re passionate about giving customers a piece of the action in the brands they love. Upstreet serves not only advertisers but also customers. By facilitating a share reward program we:

1. Assist companies in achieving “True Loyalty” with their customers, leading to improved sales.
2. Make the stock market more accessible for those new to investing.
3. Provide an easy and exciting way for customers to earn shares as they shop at no extra cost.
   

How long have you been operating?
Upstreet officially launched online in 2019, and the app launched shortly after in October 2020.

What benefits do you offer advertisers?
Upstreet offers advertisers a differentiated rewards scheme. Our results have shown a 25-50% increase in sales whilst increasing customer stickiness. Furthermore, research has shown that customers are willing to spend more on brands that implement a share rewards program. We can work with advertisers to send EDMs and post on our social media channels. Additionally, by listing on Upstreet, advertisers can take advantage of the network effects generated by being a part of the Upstreet platform. Our users regularly shop with a wide range of brands listed on our platform.

How would you say Upstreet differentiates from other fintech affiliates?
By offering fractional share rewards to our users when they make purchases with participating brands, they receive an asset that can appreciate over time and might also provide dividends.

What does the future hold for Upstreet?
In the coming weeks, Upstreet will offer international shares through the Upstreet fund. At the moment, we provide (Exchange Traded Fund) ETFs for brands listed overseas, but we will soon offer US-domiciled shares, which are stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange or the NASDAQ. E.g. Apple, Lululemon. These will offer more value for our users and better align with our advertisers.

Additionally, Upstreet is working to build out a simple micro-investing platform. Users will be able to buy and sell shares held within the Upstreet fund at a low cost. We expect that the micro-investing platform will drive higher user engagement with Upstreet and prove a vital user acquisition tool.

For more details about Upstreet and to check out their videos explaining how they and their app works or go to their website upstreet.co.