New app the ‘Tik Tok of shopping’

It’s the shopping app that walks and talks like Tik Tok or Instagram, and promises young Aussies an experience tailored to their individual desires.

Welcome to Cheddar, the new deal-stacking cashback tool billing itself as the go-to for “non-Boomers” ahead of this year’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.

The latest offering in Commonwealth Bank’s retail stable essentially mimics the scroll-happy feel of popular social media apps, except regular posts are subbed out for thousands of styles and offers from your favourite merchants.

Much like Tik Tok or Instagram, Cheddar uses artificial intelligence to anticipate customers’ needs and preferences to curate a personal shopping experience, while also sourcing deals and rewarding shoppers with cashbacks.

Cheddar managing director Helen Hey said more than 600 merchants had already signed up for the platform ahead of its Apple Store launch on Tuesday, with names stretching from Sephora to Culture Kings and Agoda to Pizza Hut.

It’s no coincidence the app arrives just days out from Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, with Ms Hey counting on Cheddar to make the post-Covid retail binge as fun as possible without the shopper doing all the heavy lifting.

“So you get inspired by (something you saw) on social media … then you would go on to a deals website to try and find the best deal,” Ms Hey told NCA Newswire.

“(But) we can actually curate both … and make it really fun for you discover a new brand, and then we’ll reward you on that one platform.”

“We’ve built a platform that’s native to how Gen Z approach life, not just shopping.

“I like to think of it as ‘you do you, and we’ll sort the rewards’.”

Cheddar – which proudly advertises itself as for “non Boomers” only – is backed by CBA’s venture scaling business x15 and follows the bank’s recent investment in gift card disrupter Karta, its partnership with online shopping hub Little Birdie, 50:50 joint venture with Klarna Australia and its cashback program CommBank Rewards.

As part of the Cheddar pilot, the firm said it engaged more than 1000 young Australians in its design process to create a product that delivered what they want.

“It looks a lot like a social media platform: We’ve taken a lot of design cues from like an Instagram around boosted content where you will find really great deals,” Ms Hey said.

“There’s also the ability for you to search for brands and offers, and then once you land on something, you can just click through and it will give you the detail of the cashback or the discount you can get and you can just click through merchant’s website and transact the way that you normally do.

“As soon as you’re done, we’ll send you a push notification and say that your transaction was processed and your cashback will appear in your wallet.”

x15ventures managing director Toby Norton-Smith said his firm’s research showed two distinct behaviours in Gen Z shoppers: ‘deal hacking’ involving loyalty email signups, multiple tabs and coupon codes, and ‘digital window shopping’ finding inspiration through social and branded content.

He said Cheddar offered the benefits of both – aggregating and serving up the best deals, but delivered in a way that’s shareable, engaging “and actually feels fun”.

Cheddar has offers from more than 600 merchants including Menulog, Agoda, Under Armour, Net-A-Porter, Pizza Hut, Culture Kings and Cotton On.

It is available to download in the Apple App store, and will be available on Android and offer a web-based experience early next year.