How ShopBack’s ethos of giving back is paying off as the company turns profitable

US$5.5 billion (~SG$6.9 billion). That’s the approximate sales value that cashback company ShopBack drove to their online and offline merchants and brand partners last year, according to co-founder Joel Leong.

Suffice to say, 2025 was a big year for the company. In addition to attracting business to their partners, the local start up also expanded to the United States (U.S), its 13th market, and turned profitable for the first time at the end of the year. To reach these accomplishments, the company did not make a dramatic pivot or overhaul its business model; instead, it doubled down on their core operating ethos — to make every day more rewarding.

Cashback is not a new phenomenon; it’s existed in other forms, most notably in credit cards as points. However, ShopBack was certainly one of the first dedicated cashback companies in Singapore. It’s differentiation was its standalone platform around cashback, structured as a performance-based commercial model. 

From the outset, the company treated cashback as reallocating value created from a completed transaction. Merchants pay on a cost-per-sale basis, in other words, only when a purchase is made. Additionally, since spend is tied directly to transactions, brands can measure incremental return on ad spend, optimise for new and repeat customers, and track lifetime value. Therefore, partnering with ShopBack is a marketing and analytics tool all in one.

On the other hand, users earn predictable rewards on purchases they were already planning to make, from travel bookings to recurring household expenses. Clear mechanics and reliable tracking build trust, which in turn drives repeat usage.

A clear vision

To succeed, ShopBack must balance the desires of its clients, both users and merchants, with its own interests. That alignment of incentives is central to its S.U.M. flywheel: ShopBack, Users, Merchants, valuing all these stakeholders in equal value. Or in simple words, the company benefits only when users and merchants benefit.

The result is a system designed for repeat behaviour on both sides. Users return because rewards are consistent and transparent. Merchants stay because the risk is reduced and user behaviour is measurable. 

Building for long-term retention rather than short-term volume meant that when scale arrived, the financial model held. In that sense, profitability was less a turning point and more a validation of a steady approach.

“We stopped treating growth as an end in itself and focused on growth that improves the underlying economics,” said Leong. “That focus, combined with the infrastructure and teams we had already built, is what moved the company to profitability.”

Executing at scale

This philosophy has remained intact as ShopBack expanded beyond Southeast Asia into Hong Kong, South Korea, Australia and most recently the U.S.

Entering more mature and competitive markets required the company to adjust its operating model. In the newer markets of Southeast Asia, it primarily focussed on educating consumers about cashback. In more mature markets like Hong Kong, South Korea, Australia and the U.S., consumers already understand rewards and each market has its unique consumer behaviours. The challenges presented is to integrate into existing behaviour, then differentiate themselves. And first and foremost — ShopBack always starts with building trust.

The fiercer competition found overseas has forced ShopBack to be more precise in everything, from strategy to execution. However, this may have inadvertently also benefited the startup by helping it reinforce its services. 

“Operationally, we deliberately build core platform capabilities to be reusable across markets,” Leong explained. “Attribution, merchant integration and rewards infrastructure are centralised, which allows launch teams to stay small and focused. Instead of scaling large local teams, we set up compact, dedicated launch teams that rely on shared infrastructure to move quickly and efficiently.”

This keeps costs controlled even while the company scales.

Profitability and the path ahead

When asked about what reaching profitability meant for him as a co-founder, Leong said it was deeply meaningful: “It reflects the work, conviction and discipline behind the products we have built, and it validates the vision we are working towards: ‘Making Every Day More Rewarding’.” 

“Profitability sharpens our focus on the real problems users and merchants face and how we can help solve them,” he continued. “We will judge progress by how much easier and more rewarding we make everyday commerce for users, and by how much more efficient and measurable we make marketing for merchants. That is what ‘Making Every Day More Rewarding’ means in practice.”

Moving forward, the company is looking to deepen product innovation, scale AI-driven products within the rewards space, strengthen brand partnerships, and execute discipline across markets as well as focus their efforts on market penetration in the U.S. Market. However, its core vision remains centered on the returns it can give to everyday users, and how much more effective and measurable a marketing tool it can be for merchants.