Presidents Day Promotion: Can E-tailer Repeat 90% Growth?

While deal sites like Groupon have garnered media attention by offering steep discounts, another e-commerce platform is gaining popularity by offering cash-back rebates. Indeed, at Ebates.com, a Presidents’ Day “double the cash” rebate promotion generated more than $2 million in business over the week including Presidents’ Day last year.

Ebates.com has taken the affiliate concept to a new and very profitable, it seems, level. It has built an online platform that attracts both merchants and consumers by sharing affiliate revenue with online shoppers. Suppose a consumer wanted to make a purchase at Kohls.com; by logging into her Ebates account, then accessing Kohls’ site, she could earn a rebate of roughly 5% of her total purchase value, all enabled by just by tacking on a few clicks to her e-commerce workflow.

Ebates has grown significantly since its founding in 1998. In September, it created a new company — Performance Marketing Brands Inc. — to act as a holding entity for a pair of newly acquired subsidiaries, FatWallet.com and AnyCoupons.com. Combined, the three websites estimate shoppers spent $1.1 billion using one of their rebate/deal assets in in 2011.

This week, Ebates is hoping to replicate some of the same growth it saw last year during its double cash back Presidents Day promotion. Between Feb. 14 and Feb. 21 of 2011, retail affiliates that participated in the promotion generated $2.2 million in sales over one week. That total is up 90%, when promotion affiliates saw $1.2 million in sales.

The online shopping portal has already identified a number of participating retailers on its blog. To date, the list includes: JCPenney, Staples, HP, Sears, HSN, Kohl’s, Dell, Lands’ End, and Saks Fifth Avenue.

Systemwide, Ebates has established e-commerce connections with more than 1,500 retailers, and has paid out more than $50 million in cash rebates since its founding, according to TechCrunch. Kevin Johnson leads the company as CEO.