Ecommerce Firm POP Launches Marketplace with Digital-First Brands Offering Discounts with POPcoins

Ecommerce firm POP announced its plans to introduce a marketplace featuring a curated selection of modern digital-first brands, where users can avail discounts using reward currency.

Founder and CEO of POP, Bhargav Errangi, expressed the company’s aim to establish this Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) marketplace through a straightforward approach, allowing brands to leverage deeper data insights and POPcoins.

Errangi, formerly a senior director at Flipkart, emphasized the growing challenges of expensive digital acquisitions and crowded marketplaces, driving the need for a more cost-effective customer acquisition channel.

Since its inception in May last year, POP has onboarded 140 brands, offering POPcoins as an alternative to traditional loyalty points. POPcoins serve as a unified currency across various brands on the network, facilitating seamless transactions and rewards redemption.

Additionally, POP is introducing loyalty to everyday payments through its UPI platform, allowing users to earn 2% back in POPcoins on every transaction.

The surge in online purchases post-pandemic has led to a rise in online-first D2C brands, intensifying competition and driving up customer acquisition costs. Consequently, platforms like Facebook and Google Ads have become saturated, making it challenging for brands to stand out.

D2C brands such as Perfora and Slurrpfarm have joined the POP network, offering loyalty constructs powered by POPcoins.

POPcoins aim to simplify loyalty programs and provide consumers with a rewarding shopping experience across the POP network. Since its beta launch in May 2023, POPcoins have engaged over 1.5 million customers, with further growth expected by March 2024.