Your grocery business has untapped potential to attract new customers who aren't shopping with you yet. Everyday consumers spend significant money on grocery purchases — families doing weekly shopping, individuals picking up essentials, busy shoppers looking for convenience — and many of these shoppers often spread their shopping across multiple stores. A cash back app for groceries can help you capture this spending. While many cash-back partnerships use generic promotions, Upside's personalized approach connects you with nearby consumers through targeted offers that drive them to your location instead of competing stores.

A cash back app for groceries that brings new customers to your store

Cash-back apps like Upside work alongside your existing grocery store rewards program to create a direct connection between your store and nearby consumers who are actively deciding where to shop. Upside's personalized promotions reward all customers, but at different incentive levels based on their shopping patterns — offering higher rewards to shoppers who haven't been choosing your location and smaller incentives to your more frequent customers.

You generate measurable revenue when Upside brings new or infrequent customers to your store who wouldn't have visited otherwise. Unlike traditional advertising, which often targets a broad audience without direct attribution, Upside leverages transaction data and proprietary technology to identify nearby consumers who are likely to choose your business when presented with a meaningful offer. This targeted approach delivers higher conversion rates than generic marketing while ensuring you only pay for proven results.

Upside's measurement methodology tracks exactly which customers are incremental to your business versus your existing shopper base, so you can see the direct impact on your bottom line from day one.

Customer segments worth targeting

Regular consumers make frequent, predictable purchases across multiple categories, but many shoppers spread their spending across several different stores. Increasing sales in retail grocery stores requires attracting these specific consumer segments that Upside helps you reach:

• Convenience-focused shoppers: Busy families and individuals who make frequent trips for essentials, often choosing stores based on location and ease rather than loyalty — exactly the customers you can capture through Upside's targeted cash-back offers.
• Price-conscious consumers: Shoppers who compare options and look for value represent consistent revenue that often goes to competitors offering better deals or incentives. Upside's personalized promotions give you a competitive edge with these value-seekers.
• Uncommitted customers: Known as secondary or tertiary shoppers, these are people who make regular grocery runs but haven’t built a strong preference for your store. They represent multiple opportunities for you to capture more visits and spending through Upside’s marketplace.
• Mobile shoppers: Consumers who use apps to find deals and make shopping decisions on-the-go — Upside reaches these customers right when they're deciding where to shop, often capturing ongoing spending from their household.

Partnership structure that protects your profit margins

Upside's profit-share model ensures you only pay when we deliver proven incremental customers to your store. Unlike platforms that charge based on clicks, impressions, or total sales, Upside's cost structure is tied directly to the incremental profit we generate for your business.

You maintain complete visibility into customer acquisition patterns and can optimize performance over time. The partnership is structured so incremental revenue from new customers always exceeds what you share with Upside, guaranteeing profitability on every transaction we drive.

How Upside measures real results

Upside automatically tracks consumer purchases and provides detailed reporting showing exactly which revenue is incremental versus your baseline performance. You get complete visibility into customer acquisition through Upside's proven measurement methodology.

Upside uses test-versus-control analysis to prove which consumers are truly new to your store. When a customer claims an Upside offer, we build a profile based on their shopping behavior, then match them with 10 to 100 similar non-Upside users as a control group. We compare the Upside user's actual spending against what the control group represents they would have spent without Upside.

The difference between these groups is what we measure as incremental — revenue directly attributable to Upside that you wouldn't have earned otherwise. This rigorous methodology ensures you only pay when we deliver proven incremental profit to your business.

Joining Upside as a grocery retailer

Launching your grocery store with Upside requires no new software or employee training. The setup process integrates with your current grocery operations and POS systems.

Setup requirements

You'll work with Upside to connect your grocery store's payment processor for transaction tracking, share your store locations and operating details, and provide grocery margin guidelines that ensure all promotions remain profitable across your product categories.

Testing phase

Upside validates their data connection by analyzing your grocery store's historical shopping patterns and customer transactions. This verification step ensures accurate measurement of new shopper activity once your grocery locations launch.

Go live

Your grocery stores appear in the Upside app with tailored offers for nearby shoppers looking for grocery deals. You gain access to a personalized dashboard where you can view your grocery store's performance metrics and verify that you're only paying for genuinely incremental grocery customers.

Ongoing partnership

A dedicated account manager guides your grocery business through launch and provides regular performance updates. Your grocery store staff continues normal operations while Upside automatically manages shopper targeting and results tracking for your locations.

Start attracting new grocery customers with Upside

Upside connects grocery retailers with everyday shoppers through personalized cash-back offers that drive consumer spending to your stores. We connect millions of consumers with personalized cash back offers at more than 100,000 restaurants, grocery stores, gas stations, and convenience stores nationwide. The performance-based model drives measurable business profit and puts real money back into shoppers' pockets — $2.3 billion in incremental profit for retailers to date and nearly $1 billion in cash back to consumers.

Request a demo today to see how Upside can grow your grocery business.

Frequently asked questions

Which grocery stores work with cash-back apps?

Most major grocery retailers can technically work with cash-back platforms, but Upside is different: participation is exclusive. Once a retailer joins Upside, nearby competitors are typically blocked from doing so—securing a market advantage for early adopters. That’s why national and regional chains are acting quickly to lock in their spots.

How do cash-back apps target customers at grocery stores?

Cash-back apps analyze spending patterns to identify consumers who regularly shop for groceries but haven't been choosing your store, then deliver personalized offers that incentivize them to try your location instead of competitors. Upside's measurement methodology proves you only pay for customers you wouldn't have acquired through normal business operations.

Where does the money for cash-back offers come from?

The cash-back offers are funded through a profit-share model between you and Upside. When we drive an incremental customer to your store, you keep the profit from their purchase and share a portion of that incremental revenue with us to fund their cash-back reward. This ensures every dollar you pay generates more than a dollar in new profit for your business.