Leading rideshare platform increases new customer spend by 47% in 1 quarter with Kard

In rideshare, standing out is a constant battle.

Offer a promo, consumers will see if another app has an even better one. Tell them a driver is 5 minutes away, and they’ll see if a competitor can offer someone closer. People are willing to switch based on just about anything — and when your core offering feels interchangeable, traditional performance marketing tactics can only go so far.

One of the most popular rideshare apps in the world decided to try something new: cash back offers. Displayed directly in banking apps, these offers reframed the brand as a smart way to spend, not just a convenient way to get from A to B.

Partnering with Kard, specifically, meant:

• Access to high-value, digital-first cardholders through Kard’s modern issuer network.
• Built-in segmentation so the brand could influence first-time, existing, and lapsed riders.
• Automatic rewards. Users wouldn’t need to remember promo codes or even see the offer to benefit, they’d just link their card to their rideshare app and get a notification when cash back was applied.

Goal

The rideshare app needed more than just impressions. They needed rides, fast. Kard’s 50+ issuer and partner network, would help them get in front of over 61M+ cardholders, consisting mostly of people on the go (entrepreneurs, families, young professionals).

And instead of blanket awareness campaigns, the brand could use Kard’s offer segmentation to target four high-priority groups, New, Light, Churn, and Deep Churn, with a tailored cash back incentive.

Solution

Knowing exactly who they wanted to target and how, the brand teams up with Kard to:

1. Give new customers a 5% cash back reward on a ride.
2. Displayed in banking apps (whose primary users are Gen Zers and Millennials), during the summer months, when people are more likely to be out and about.
3. Sent redeemers a push notification right after they earned their reward, reminding them of the money they saved buying with this brand.

Results

Over the course of one quarter, the campaign generated thousands of transactions. More specifically:

• 59% were new riders, making up 59.8% of total sales
• 23% were light riders, making up 22.1% of total sales
• 18% were churned riders, making up 18.1% of total sales

The more offers were redeemed, the more the brand began to steal market share from competitors. The brand started with 17.9% market share before the Kard campaign launch, then increased share by over 50% by the time the campaign wrapped up — reaching 26.9%.

“In a category where loyalty is hard to come by, this campaign proved that personalized rewards can drive measurable growth – not just among new customers, but existing and lapsed customers, too. We’re excited to see how rewards will continue changing the dynamics in rideshare.” - Ben Mackinnon, CEO of Kard

To reinforce the value of card-linked offers, Kard ran incrementality tests. Despite behavioral differences, each segment showed real lift:

• New customers (0 previous purchases) saw a 47% increase in spend rate and a 56% conversion rate
• Light customers (hasn’t ridden in past 3 months, but at least 1 ride before that) saw an 18% increase in spend rate and 27% increase in conversion rate
• Churn customers (only taken 1-2 rides in last 45 days) saw an 37% increase in spend rate and 38% increase in conversion rate
• Deep Churn customers (no rides in past 12 months, but has ridden before) saw an 21% increase in spend and 24% increase in conversion rate

By pairing rewards with precise segmentation, the brand gained market share in one of the most competitive categories. But they’re not stopping there. The brand’s next opportunity lies in refining its messaging and timing to continue growing loyalty in their new and existing customer base. 

Kard makes that possible. Besides top-notch account management and marketing science teams with years of experience under their belt, Kard’s platform has customizable offer notifications with attribution to show which push notifications and emails drive the highest conversion.

Want to prove incremental returns on your ad spend?

‍Get in touch with the Kard team or take a quick tour to see what your offers could look like.