RetailMeNot, Inc., a leading digital savings destination connecting consumers with retailers, restaurants and brands, both online and in-store, announced that it has acquired GiftCard Zen Inc, a secondary marketplace for gift cards. The company also provided preliminary financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2016 and updated financial guidance for the calendar year ending December 31, 2016.
“RetailMeNot wants to be the one-stop shop for savings when a consumer shops at one of our thousands of retail partners or takes their family to a restaurant. GiftCard Zen is a great fit with RetailMeNot as its inventory of discounted gift card content will provide consumers another meaningful way for RetailMeNot to fulfill our mission to help people save money,” said Cotter Cunningham, CEO & Founder, RetailMeNot, Inc. “We expect that GiftCard Zen’s existing operational capabilities and its ability to capture and grow secondary gift card inventory pair well with the power and size of the RetailMeNot audience. We believe this acquisition will help us accelerate our overall growth, and will quickly provide a broad selection of discounted gift cards from over 700 different retailers, brands and restaurants, further solidifying RetailMeNot’s position as a leading savings destination.”
GiftCard Zen is a leader in the secondary gift card market, which involves buying gift cards from, and selling gift cards to, consumers and businesses at a discount to face value. The acquisition of GiftCard Zen accelerates RetailMeNot’s strategy of providing consumers with more ways to save across the shopping journey. RetailMeNot believes the addition of GiftCard Zen’s discounted gift cards alongside RetailMeNot’s e-commerce and in-store coupon, sales and rebate content further differentiates the RetailMeNot brand and will drive higher frequency with users, across the company’s mobile app and websites, whether shopping in-store or online. RetailMeNot estimates that approximately $44 billion in unused, closed loop gift cards had accumulated in the United States between 2008 and 2014 and could have been made available for sale on the secondary gift card market.
“GiftCard Zen shares the same mission with RetailMeNot, to help consumers save money when they shop at their favorite retailers, restaurants and brands,” said Aaron Dragushan, founder, GiftCard Zen Inc. “I’m incredibly pleased we are joining a company and culture that values the business we’ve built over the past three and a half years.”
