More Money Podcast - 335 How to Shop Smarter - Jennifer LaForge, General Manager at Rakuten

Episode Date: September 15, 2022

The way we shop has changed significantly over the years and with the rising cost of goods and growing inflation, now is the time to figure out how best we can stretch a dollar and shop smarter! But what does shopping smarter actually mean? To answer that and more is my guest for today’s bonus episode, Jennifer LaForge, the General Manager for Rakuten Canada and expert when it comes to savvy shopping. Jennifer LaForge is the General Manager for Rakuten Rewards Canada. Before joining Rakuten in 2012, Jennifer spent a decade in the online travel space working for Fairmont Hotel & Resorts, Expedia.ca, and Globus. While at Rakuten, Jennifer has facilitated and was selected as one of the Globe and Mail’s top 50 best executives in Canada. In today’s episode, Jennifer shares why Rakuten is Canada’s number one place to save money while shopping at their favourite brands online. Jennifer explains how Rakuten works, including what affiliate marketing is and when the best time to buy certain items is based on the time of year. This episode is great for anyone else feeling the pinch when it comes to buying their essentials or wanting to save money when you’re in the mood to splurge. For full episode show notes visit: https://jessicamoorhouse.com/335 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello, Lulu, and welcome back to the More Money Podcast. My name is Jessica Morehouse, and I'm the host of this show. And this is episode 335 of the podcast. Welcome back. This is a bonus episode because I usually just do, you know, one episode on a Wednesday. But you know what, this is a special week. This is the the premier week of season 15 of the show. If you're new to the show, yes, 15 seasons and over seven years, over seven years of this show. I started this show in June 2015. That's a long time ago. I was literally a different person with a different life. What I love hearing the most, honestly, is people coming to me, DMing me, emailing me, being like, hey, just started

listening to the podcast. I started listening from the beginning. And I'm like, oh, cringe a little bit. Those are some raw episodes. Needless to say, I know a lot more now, seven years later, than I did back then. And so it's been an evolution for me. But I think that's also kind of cool if you're just starting out learning about personal finance to start from episode one and listen to all of them. I mean, also props to you for listening to that many hours of this gal. But yeah, that it'd be an evolution for you too. We're learning together because honestly, when I first started the show, I knew I knew some stuff because I'd been a blogger for, I don't know, four or five years or something like that. But there were so many topics that I was not comfortable talking about, especially investing. And I was just so scared about it. And I just pushed myself, which also then gave me the motivation and confidence to do some formal training and actually get some certifications and stuff like that. So it's been a journey. It's been a journey. So welcome and I hope you enjoy the journey with me. And so excited for this bonus episode because we're talking about something very, I think, timely, which is really about spending money, shopping, and trying to

stretch your dollar. Because as we all know, interest rates are up. Inflation is high. Everything is super expensive. It's just too much. And for me, a little like getting flashbacks of not that we've really experienced anything quite like this, but I'm getting severe flashbacks of me being a broke 20 year old and trying my best to stretch the little money that I was earning. And I was working two jobs, but everything was just so expensive. Living in the city of Vancouver and just, you know, yeah, struggling. And now we're kind of back to the situation where we're like, okay, everything is crazy expensive, but my needs haven't changed. How the heck am I going to afford the things that I need or the things that

I want? Because I don't want to just focus on necessities. And that is why I have Jennifer LaForge on the show. She's the general manager at Rakuten Rewards Canada. And you can find more information about them at Rakuten.ca and follow them on Twitter and Instagram at Rakuten CA if you are interested. I've been a member of Rakuten since 2016. If you are not sure what Rakuten is here, well, you may remember them. They used to be called Ebates. So maybe you're familiar with Ebates. But basically, they are a platform in which they are, you know, you can get cash back if you use them is totally free to use as user. So you do are not charged any money to use it. Also, they have lots of, you know, you can get cash back if you use them is totally free to use as a user. So you do are not charged any money to use it. Also, they have lots of, you know, promotions and deals and

help you find discounts. I like them, especially because whenever I'm shopping online, you can use their browser extension, it will show you, hey, you're going to get this amount of cash back. But also here's some promo codes, who doesn't love a promo code. So you can save a little bit of money on something that you're going to buy? Anyway, so we because this platform Rakuten has been around for a long time, they've actually celebrated 10 years recently, they have so much data and information about shopping habits of Canadians and trends and things to look out for. And so we talk about how to be a smarter shopper. So you can still pay for things during this crazy high cost of living time. But, you know, try to find some ways to save some money, to stretch that budget, your purse strings, all those things that we love to say in personal finance.

So really excited about this episode with Jennifer. So without further ado, let's get to it. Welcome to the More Money Podcast, Jennifer. I'm excited to have you on to talk about spending money and shopping during this time of this interesting time of where everything is so expensive, but we still need to buy things. So welcome to the show. Thank you, Jessica. Happy to be here. Love your podcast. So I really appreciate the time. You're so welcome.

So you currently are the GM of Rakuten. And Rakuten is a platform that I've used. I think on the platform it says I've been using it since 2016. So a while. A few years. And I feel like this is such a timely time to talk about saving money, finding deals, being strategic when we're shopping because of what we're seeing with high inflation, rising costs. And yet we're still in a, you know, we still need to live our lives. And I think a lot of people for a while, like I remember, honestly, this is very what's going on right now in the world is very reminiscent to what I experienced around when I graduated university 2009, 2010, the recession, all that kind of stuff and everyone was

just talking about how to cut back and save money and now we're kind of in it's a different world but we're still oh hey we're going back to that time of it's not about spending and you know everything's on the rise now everyone's trying to talk about saving money and cutting back once again so before we really dive in because I've got a lot of things to ask you, tell me a little bit about yourself. What led you to the point where now you're the GM of Rakuten? Have you always worked in kind of the retail space? Yeah, so great place to start. And the answer is no, actually, I've not been in the retail space outside of my life at Ebates and Rakuten. Post-secondary, I decided I was going to be a computer programmer, as many people did around the time of my post-secondary.

But that wasn't ultimately where my heart was. I'd ended up at Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, so started in the travel industry through a work placement and was doing some database coordination for them. But that got me into travel, which led me over to the world of Expedia.ca. Fabulous time, loved the company. Then moved into Globus Family of Brands and was trying, you know, my wings in the cruise ship and river cruising travel. But ultimately, my career has always been these big steps to the next opportunity. I didn't have that solid educational background to fall back onto, you know, knowing

that programming wasn't my thing. So it was always looking for that next big opportunity. And that came when I had actually relocated. I had moved with my then boyfriend, now husband. And so the commute to Globus was not reasonable. So I was looking for opportunities. And I saw this one for Ebates.ca. And it just said risk. You know, it was this brand new company, they hadn't even launched in Canada, my entrepreneurial spirit really came alive. You know, my mantra at the time was I'm young enough to fail, big risk, big reward. And so I joined this really incredible company and was there even before it launched in the Canadian market. So really exciting.

And from there, I had one of the best mentors. I've always had a mentor throughout my career. But the former general manager, Adrienne Down Coulson, was just a fantastic leader. And not only did she build the foundation of this amazing company, but she's really focused on helping us to grow and develop. And I'll never forget the day she asked me, you know, where do you want to go in the next couple of years? What would you like to do? And I looked at her and I said, I want your job. And she just, she just said, okay. And so I had gone on mat leave back in 2017. And while on mat leave, she called me up and she said, Are you sitting down? I'm going to move to California.

She became the COO of the Americas. And she said, I'd like you to take over the seat of general manager. And of course, I had said yes. And when I came back from that leave, I took the the seat of general manager and I haven't looked back now over four years later. Well, I guess it's well, that's something to be said. Usually, I would think if you tell your boss, I want your job, they'd be threatened. But also, maybe it plants a seed. You're like, hmm, if I need a successor, that's maybe the person who just said they want my job. That's a good idea. Yeah, we had a really great relationship. So I felt comfortable enough really, really frank with her. And she wasn't surprised at all. She knew I was was quite ambitious. So. So yeah, Rakuten used to be Ebates. And I remember Ebates, that was kind of one of the

the kind of size I used to go to when I started blogging over a decade ago. So Rakuten has now celebrated 10 years, which makes me feel a little old. But what's really cool, I would imagine, especially since you've been there for a while, is because it's been around for so long and part of what Rakuten is, and you can probably explain also more in depth what it is, is you have so much, you know, user data, you get to see how people spend money and trends, which I think is such an important thing right now, because I think a lot of people are wondering what's going on? What should I anticipate? How do I plan anything? That's, that's a big thing when I talk about,

you know, on social media and on the podcast is when we're shopping, it's not just about, you know, spending money is bad or good. Spending money is a way of life, but you need to be strategic, you need a plan, you need to do your due diligence. And it's important to have kind of some some information to help you. But before we kind of go into that, you want to kind of share a little bit more specifically about Rakuten is because I feel like it's also evolved quite a bit since it first started. Yeah, absolutely. So Rakuten is Canada's biggest and best, well, it's in the US as well, but the biggest and best online shopping website that

actually gives our members cash back for every purchase they make through our site. So you essentially go to rakuten.ca, you get a free account, you just need an email and a password. You click on any one of your favorite brands, we have over 750 of them. And that takes you directly to the retailer's website, you're going to shop on that website, like you always do. And when you check out that website is actually sending us your order back. So that confirmation that you've made that purchase, and what we do is we get paid for sending them your order, sorry, sending you to them. And what we do is we get paid for sending them your order. Sorry, sending you to them. And what we do is we split that commission.

We keep half and we give half to the member. Every three months, we send you a check or a PayPal. And you have that three month period to really just do all your online shopping, earn that cash back and then get a surprise check in the mail. Yeah, easy. Or to your PayPal, which I got. Or PayPal, yeah. Yeah, no, Or to your PayPal, which I got. Or PayPal, yeah. It's easy. Yeah.

No, I mean, that's obviously a huge benefit. I always kind of tell people, again, going back to how can you shop smarter, is using a platform like this that is a free, so it doesn't cost you anything. You can earn cash back. The other kind of benefit that I utilize quite a bit on certain retailers is you can, well, through Racket, you can find certain discounts or certain sales that you may not have been aware of but also like I use the browser extension on my Google Chrome and so every time I go to the retailer you can click a button and then you'll you know see what kind of cash back you can get but also

sometimes when you're at the checkout it could automatically find coupon codes for you and that's like for me the biggest thing I used to spend so much time Googling, is there a coupon code for this retailer, because I want to see if I can get a few dollars off or get free shipping or something like that. And Rakuten can actually do that automatically for you. So it's just for me, a no brainer. And then too, if you use like a credit card that has points, then you're also getting points. It's, you know, a lot of ways to kind of double up the situation. So I think it's Yeah, firstly, I'm a big fan. That's why I still use it. I've been a user for a while. But going back to kind of some of the things that I'm sure you've seen over the years, let's talk about it. So when it first started, you're just gathering those first few customers and to now 10 years later, what are some of the biggest, I don't know,

changes maybe you've seen in terms of consumer behavior? Yeah, for sure. I mean, 10 years ago, the e-commerce space was so different. We're really trying to catch up with the US who were years ahead of us, not only from, you know, consumers being less trusting of online shopping or just not online shopping at all yet, but even the big retail players in Canada were lagging behind in creating a digital presence. And, you know, this was really from a start-stop kind of mentality in Canada, where a number of years before that, they had tried, and it just wasn't the right timing. So they back-burnered. And then right when we launched in 2012, everyone's realizing,

oh, now we have to catch up. And so we were helping our retailers catch up and create a digital presence. We're helping them to understand the world of affiliate marketing and how to use services like Rakuten as a tool to generate these online customers. But there are so many other challenges in terms of cross-border shopping, currency exchanges, hidden duty fees, etc. And so when we launched, originally that experience was to help consumers really understand how to shop online in Canada and not be surprised by those duty fees where suddenly you have a package at the door and they want 70 bucks before they'll give it to you. I mean, those things were stopping Canadians because they didn't trust it necessarily. There was all these surprises. It wasn't easy. And so a big focus in the beginning was just getting our retail partners on board and helping

them to build the right strategies, helping consumers kind of gain that confidence. And then a lot has changed since then. The one thing that hasn't changed is that that trust factor where people just believe this is too good to be true. And so Jessica, people like you, I love members like you who recognize it as a financial tool and they're planning not only to find the best deals and take those coupons, but to use it to find additional savings to stack with other types of cards, credit cards and such. So there was a period where we had a pretty loyal and savvy member base, and it was taking them the next step to how do you use this as a tool? How do you stack the savings?

And then, of course, we find that parity in the. e-commerce space. And now it's all about making sure that we let people know this isn't too good to be true. We actually do just give people money and it's free and there's no catch. And so that's a big part of what we've always had to do. But now we're starting to shift into a new world and new technologies and payments and things like that and trying to capture those younger audiences who are even less trusting than, say, boomers and millennials. So things like Buy Now, Pay Later, we're behind on in Canada. It's pretty big in other places of the world. But the ability to make that purchase in installments, it speaks so well to the younger demographics

is they're so used to that subscription-based buying. I mean, everything's a subscription. So really trying to move into the direction of new and different payments and incorporating that into our space today and then helping to create more omni-channel experience with our retail partners in that, you know, we have online cashback, but we also have an in-store cashback program as well,

where you can link that retailer and cashback offer to your credit card. And then you walk into the store and shop like you normally would. And again, that credit card transaction comes back and we give you cashback there as well. So really building omni-channel strategies, helping Canadians. Our mission is to be the most rewarding everyday, everywhere, cashback shopping website where we're almost shopping with you every day and just putting cash in your back pocket as you go. Exactly. It's funny. I feel I've used Rakuten for so long, but I actually wasn't fully aware of the in-store. Maybe it's new or maybe I was just living under a rock. But again, it's like one of those things where it's what I find very interesting about, you know, using an app like this is that it does make you think more about spending, which is like I feel like a big kind of movement in the personal finance space is mindful spending, being more thoughtful thoughtful being more conscious of what you're spending instead of mindless spending and i think that that probably was when you were talking about how people were really kind of resistant for a while and i remember like i used to work at a retailer on kind of the web uh kind of side i i used to

work at sears canada before it folded um it was like right right when they were actually going under and bankrupt but it was one of my first jobs when I first moved to Toronto and I wrote some of the the copy for their products for their online space but they were still like they were so behind which is why they folded but it was interesting because yeah there was a big resistance even within the company to to do online I think a lot of it was, oh, no, people like that experience going shopping in the store because they just trust it more. And you can get scammed or something like that online. And it's kind of funny now thinking about what we've experienced the past few years because of COVID. So much has changed. So much has shifted. Most of my shopping now is online because of

convenience. And you can sometimes find some better deals or it's easier to do your comparison shopping than going to the mall and then having to go to all these stores and spending your time where it can take you five minutes as opposed to like 30 minutes or a couple hours. But that being said, I do sometimes like going to the stores and taking a look, especially for clothes and stuff, taking a look at things, trying things on. And I think that's great that there's now like an opportunity for you to still kind of get some of the benefits of doing the online shopping and getting some of those rewards or those commissions and doing it. But all that is just to be saying that when we're shopping, I think we are moving

to a place where we have to be more conscious and aware of what we're actually purchasing. Because I think what my point was, I think I lost my train of thought, but now I just remembered, it's that a lot of people were scared of online shopping because they thought it would force them or convince them to spend more. Because you could just click, click, click, shop, shop, shop. Whereas when you're at the store, it's not, you can shop till you drop, but you're more aware because you're like, okay, my bags are getting heavy. I should stop shopping. Whereas when you're doing it online, you're not holding any bags. You can keep on shopping. But I feel like with using an app like this and having a shopping list and a budget and

all that kind of stuff, it does make you more aware of where your money is going. So with that, I'm curious, have you seen kind of a shift in consumer behavior? They are being more thoughtful of where their money's going? Yeah, absolutely. Especially in the first or the last few years, pandemic obviously drove this massive surge and everyone's forced to really shop online. So that that helped some some, you know, Canadians get over that hump and they're forced into it. And then they realize, oh, it's not that bad. But I have to double back and say, we don't have impulse aisles when you're checking out online. And I get the impulse aisle for me is where all of that waste of spend is.

Every time I'm at Winners or Homestead, I'm like, oh, here's a candle. I don't need another candle. Or hairbrush or makeup. I mean, it's always the impulse aisle. So there is a place in the online world where you're right. You can be very strategic. And I think what we've seen through our members, now that the pandemic has settled down, people are going back to in-store, but they're also still shopping online. And when it comes to apparel and you want to feel it or you're confident with the size, I have a very short list of retailers where I purchase clothes from. So I know I'm a size six at store X.

And so when it comes to buying those staple clothing, you're shopping online, getting cash back. It's really quick. It's easy. Boom. You're out playing with the kids instead of, you know, chasing them around the mall. So I think there's, we call them very savvy shoppers who have learned that, you know, joining a program like Rakuten is not just about coming in and going shopping or creating a list and following it. But you nailed it in the beginning, getting that toolbar extension or the button where you don't even, once you've signed up, you don't even have to go to Rakuten.ca. You can just shop online like you normally would. And we'll let you know if there's cash back or if there's a coupon or if this store doesn't have cash back. But hey, here's 10 stores that have very similar products. And if you shop here, you'll get cash back as

well. Another tool that our members have caught on to is subscribing to our emails. And I always tell people you could have an inbox filled with an email from 750 different retailers, or you can have one email from Rakuten and we're going to tell you where the hottest deals are of the week. We're going to tell you about big events, like Sephora always has annual sales where they give extra discounts to VIB members. We've got Bay Days, we always know when that's happening. You know, we always do big cashback promotions where we do, you know, up to 10-15% cashback around periods like Prime Day. You know, all the other retailers in the space are going to be having really great deals and offers around Prime Day as well to try and, you know, compete with that big shopping event. And so you come to Rakuten

and now you're getting even more cash back. So subscribing to the newsletter, being in the know, knowing when the sales are coming up, you almost fall into the cadence where you're like, this season, I know these are the going to be the big sales, I'm going to hold off till next week. And we help help our members to plan long term. And because it's everything from essentials to, you know, moving, we just launched to make your move program so you can get cash back on your mortgage or cash back on a credit score to things like, hey, you know what, I have a really fancy dinner and I need a really fancy new pair of earrings and that that recreational or splurgy luxurious

spend. And we've got you covered every day everywhere. So our members have really learned to use us as a tool and to stay in the know on the ever shifting kind of sales and who has what when. That's amazing. I'm curious, can you speak to any of certain times of year? Because I know there's always, you know, an article or two that, you know, comes out every year about these are the best times of year to buy furniture or clothing or, you know, end of season. I'm personally waiting for, you know, some more deep discounts on some outdoor furniture. I was like waiting at the beginning of summer. I'm like, nope, nothing's gone on sale, but we're getting close to fall. So I'm waiting for the sales to happen. Can you speak to some of those, you of those times that people should keep in mind?

Obviously, like signing up for the newsletter, you'll be in the know. But what are some of the best times of year to buy certain items? Yeah. So going back again, the history over 10 years, there were one or two big retail periods or sale periods that Canadians looked forward to. And it was Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Boxing Day. And then Prime came out in the July time period and really changed that landscape. And so now suddenly in July,

you're getting these huge sales and offers. And then there's events like 11-11, Singles Day, where again, it created this other really big online sale shopping seasonality. And so what we found is that Canadians don't necessarily wait for the big sales anymore, because they're always happening throughout the year. But what we work really hard to do is to stay on top of, you know, inventory shortages or surpluses and seasonal sales, as well as flash sales, you know, that come out. And we plan our promotions. If you come onto the site, you'll see we always have a double

or a triple or bonus cashback event going on. And we plan and we tie these to those seasonal periods. So there'll be a tech week. And this is really geared around our retail partners when they're seasonally having their big electronic sales to flush out and get new inventory in. For this, everyone I know is starting to feel nervous with the holidays coming up and the pinch of inflation. And so retailers are aware of this as well. So in Black Friday period, it's not just going to be November anymore, but it's really starting at the beginning of October. There's going to be a lot of deep discounts coming out.

There's going to be a lot of retailers who are trying to get rid of surplus inventory that was created by the pandemic. And so it's no longer waiting until the, you know, that that big weekend in November to get all your your Christmas shopping done. It's it's planning and being meticulous and watching, you know, your favorite retailers through our newsletter for the best deals. That's good. One thing that I started doing because I find sometimes, you know, you're just on your phone watching TV, you're like, Oh, I just remembered we need this for the house or whatever. I started actually making a list. I used to have it in Excel. Now I have it in a little to-do list app or whatever of things that I keep on thinking about for the house. Because sometimes, I think lots of people could probably relate to this, you'll be on

your phone, you'll do a little, you know, look at some retailers online and then you're like, all right, I'm going to buy it now because I just need to, you know, buy it before I forget it. But now I'm like, you know what, that is not the best way to shop because maybe I'm not getting the best deal and I may want to, you know, that same item could be at another retailer for, you know, significantly less. So I'm just going to put everything I think of in this list. And then, you know, then when I have time, do the research, look on apps like Rakuten to be like, okay, who has it for the cheaper kind of thing. So with that, I kind of want to talk, this is obviously a hot topic, inflation, rising costs, we're going to be seeing this. I mean, I feel like that's all I've been talking

about for since 2022 started. What do you kind of see, I guess, in terms of how people's shopping experiences or, you know, their habits have changed because everything is more expensive? Or have you seen that no people are still shopping because there's still a lack of inventory for a lot of different items? And what are some of your tips for how to deal with it? Obviously, planning and using, you know, trying to find those discounts. But is there anything that you know, you've done in your personal life that's helped you? Yeah, I mean, first, you are the poster child for RackTings. You are doing everything right. Stealing all of my best tips. but we love members just like you. No, scream it from the mountaintops.

But yeah, we are seeing a shift primarily in, I think, recreational spending as people are trying to really tighten up their wallets. They're dealing with the high price of gas and groceries is really surprising people. And so they're trying to find ways to, to be more conscious, they're, they're switching brands. So, you know, essentially going to lower priced brands. And so that's actually something that we saw, you know, that push into e commerce really kickstart. And on our site, in particular, we saw a lot of diversification and where our members were shopping, they were shopping at new retailers, our shopping trips had had actually gone up and the order conversion went

down a bit. Because people were just saying, Hey, I want to check out this store, or I want to see what is at, you know, this retailer, they have the same brands, maybe I can get that better deal. And so people were spending a bit more time getting to know all of their options online. And because you're not standing in a store or you're not waiting to, you know, your kids having a fit beside you, you have that time and space to be really thoughtful in your planning and where you're purchasing from. So that's some of what we've been seeing. But we're also seeing Canadians just be more smart so they don't have to come back on that recreational spending. And because we have everyone from all different economic kind of situations on our side, I mean, we have millionaires who are members of Recton, you know, and they don't need the money, but they're smart.

They say, hey, I can get money back. I'm going to do it. So when you're looking at those, that group of members, luxury has been booming. And it is a category that has grew rapidly in the pandemic, and it's continuing to grow. Whereas you're seeing, you know, on the other side, where there's maybe less economic security in a household, individuals who are being more thoughtful in their planning, who are saying, hey, I'm going to start buying some essentials online so I can get cash back. And one of the great things that we have on our site as well is our gift card shop. And so we have many retailers

that are not part of the affiliate program. Grocery, for example, we don't have a lot of grocery partners. But you can go into the gift card shop and you can get cash back on a grocery gift card and then go to the grocery store and use that gift card and get, you know, for your groceries. Same thing for gas. And so we've seen a really nice uptick in gift card purchases as people are being thoughtful from gas and grocery side. And then on the recreational spending, again, it's just finding different retailers, different price points, you know, log, you know, signing up for those sales and pulling the trigger when it's right. And then, of course, travel, you know, travel, travel did not happen for a while. And, when the pandemic, things are lessening up, what we saw is Canadians really sticking to home. So we saw an increase in car rentals. We saw people just having a great day a couple hours away, renting a lot of hotels were way up compared to all-inclusive packages and flights. And so you saw people sticking close to home.

Now you flash forward and everything's pretty much opened back up and people are itching for experiences. And so there's two really big themes happening right now. It's the experience side and getting out and living life and connecting with family and friends that are far away that you haven't seen, but also living life to its fullest and not really caring about the cost because a lot of people had built up savings from the pandemic. And so that all fleshed out to just having those experiences.

The other big trend is expression. And so during the pandemic, athleisure wear was selling like hotcakes. Everyone wanted really hot sweatpants. And I don't mean hot like warm. Just the coolest I remember. I'm like, oh, gosh, I bought so many sweatpants. And then we get kind of sick of that. And people are trying to now either they need a size bigger or a size, or they're just sick of feeling like a bomb.

You know, that self-expression and apparel type category is really starting to explode as people are coming back out into the world. So those are the two big ones that are actually happening right now. That's awesome. So I'm not sure if you do this, but I'm assuming maybe just because you do have so much data, are you able to make any kind of future projections about what you'll see? Obviously, we have no idea. We don't have a crystal ball what will happen in the next year or two. But do you kind of have any, I don't know, data that kind of, you know, this is what we foresee will happen in the next, you know, two, five, 10 years? I would say things are changing so much that it's

hard to predict that far out. What we tried to do is predict the next couple of years out and where we see some of the biggest shifts and where we're actually working really hard right now is in new verticals and new categories. So again, I mentioned earlier, trying to get the younger demographics to come online and to shop and to trust your cashback site, but also give them reason to, bring them buy now, pay later options, bring them more retailers in the circular economy space.

We actually just launched the Reverend Ravant yesterday last week where it is high-end second-hand clothing resale and this is huge this is huge there's all kinds of retailers that are starting to tap into that circular economy H&M they have that wonderful program where you can actually get money back for returning your used clothing in good condition. It's hard to find on the Bay, but if you go to the Bay online, they also have a resale section to their site. I've seen that a lot. Yeah. And so you see retailers really not only bringing in more circular type retailers, but they're also bringing in the direct to consumer retailers. So smaller retailers who are actually really struggling to, you know, get the scale and to pay those those huge media fees, because that's a side of it to retailers. I think everybody, you know, it just costs more to get a

new member, it costs more to advertise. And so you see a lot of small direct to consumers actually taking up square footage in some of the bigger retail spaces. So the Bay or Macy's, for example, in the US, just, you know, they're moving more aggressively into toys. And so there's that shift where now you can go into a big department store and buy those direct to consumer brands, or you can buy resale items. And I think being more conscious of small business, locally owned, sustainable options is going to be really where the direction is going to lead. And, you know, I say I can't say five or 10 years out, but I'd really love to see those verticals taking over the bulk of online shopping in the future. Absolutely. I mean, that's definitely one thing I've been seeing over the past few years,

especially as we're all at home on Instagram and stuff. I've seen a lot more people. I mean, I feel like the whole theme of shopping local has been in the conversation for the past decade, which is great. But now I feel like there's, I mean, so many people have started a small business in the past few years. It would be great to see, yeah, not just like the big box stores to kind of get that attention, but also a lot of younger people, especially Gen Z, they really love to shop local, shop, you know, with someone they found on Instagram that maybe lives in the country or somewhere else in the world, which is kind of a cool thing. So it makes it more, yeah, like you said, there's so much more diversification. There's so much more, um, you know, options for you and to support small business, big business, what have you. And then if we can still, you know, get the

same kind of benefits, like, you know, deals or cash back, that would be awesome. I think. Absolutely. So if anyone on your podcast is listening is a direct to consumer or small business, I mean, places like Rakuten is where you want to be as well. So it's not just the big brands. We're working really hard to bring Canadians, you know, as many retail options as we can and really tune into what they're what they're shopping for and what they're buying. Absolutely. Absolutely. So before I let you go, you know, again, you know, we kind of touched on just the rising costs of things and inflation, and that's going to be around for a little bit. You know, just, you know, you've been in kind of the travel space and the retail space. What are some of your kind of

personal top money saving tips that have maybe helped you in your personal life or you've seen have been really helpful for kind of customers you've seen along the way? Oh, gosh, yeah, I am known for being exceptionally frugal and smart. Makes sense why you work for Rakuten. Makes sense. Yeah, I mean, if I didn't work there, I probably would have been their first member. But we've hinted at it throughout this entire conversation and that it's just it's taking advantage of tools like Rakuten to build a financial awareness of how you're spending and where you're spending. Not just making those lists and being really conscious about what you have to buy, but not to be afraid to try a less expensive brand or to try a new brand that you maybe haven't before. And I think it's

really about taking the time to learn and be comfortable in the e-commerce space and realize it as that money saving tool. And so one really great example, I have two that I always use. So number one, Home Depot, they've got the buy online pickup in store, which is also really fun and part of our program. We tell you specifically who you can pick up. So we were building a new deck in our backyard. And so we had bought all the materials online. And we said, we want to pick it up in store. So not only did we get a ton of cash back from purchasing all of our building materials at Home Depot, but when we got there, we picked it up at customer service and it was all ready for us. And we didn't have to wander over this giant store looking for nuts and bolts. So that's one

great story. And then the other is really, again, understanding that it's not one or the other, and that you can really stack your savings. And so learning how to look for the deal or the best coupon, getting that great cash back, using a credit card that has cash back on it as well, as well as, you know, collecting loyalty points at these retailers, you can you can really stack it all up. And I've had, I won't say the retailer in case they stop, but there's one retailer and I have caught on to the best times to shop there. And I have got bought $100 worth of items. And at the end of the day, it cost me less than $10. Oh my gosh. Can you not say who the retailer is? Or I can ask you later. I want to know. You can ask me later, but I don't want to ruin it. If you really want to know,

just sign up for Acton. Make sure you have our newsletter. And then you'll catch on to when these things happen. But that's all that we do is we find ways, we follow trends, we really try and learn what's going on across all categories in the retail space. And, you know, I get to stand up every day and tell people I give people money for a living. Like, how cool is that? And and it's legit, it's free, it's easy. It's, you know, if you're feeling the pinch right now, it's time to look into sites like Rakuten.ca for all your shopping. Yeah. And I feel like I see a lot of things, especially on social media, where

when I was first starting blogging, it was all about finding those coupons and money saving. And it could be just because I was in my 20s. And so that was kind of the information I was looking for, but also during the recession. But again, we're seeing that a lot now. And honestly, I'm telling you, it is so much easier to figure out how to shop smarter and save money than it was a decade ago, because back then it took it took a lot of time, so much time that you would sometimes it would be like, you know, would it actually be better if you just focused your efforts more on how to say or how to invest your money to let it grow? Now you can do both. Like I see a lot of things online being like, oh, don't worry about, you know, couponing and all that kind of stuff. Just focus

on, you know, investing and growing your wealth. I'm like, you know what, you actually can do both. It's not one or the other. I do both. I am very still frugal. And it's one of those things where it's once you kind of build that muscle, you can flex it whenever. So even though, you know, the past few years pandemic, I may not have been as frugal as I usually were, because we're all emotional spending, and we're just stuck at home. And you know, you buy a lot of things are like, why did I buy that $500? Whatever. Believe me, I do have some regrets in my home, like, why did I buy that? But now we're in a kind of a time where I'm like, even though you know, I'm, you know, I've got my investing going on, I'm doing that, and I'm earning more money through my business and stuff.

I'm always looking for how can I stretch every single dollar because it doesn't take that much time. It does take some practice and some planning, but similar to how I always talk on the podcast about passive investing, it shouldn't take you more than a few hours per year to invest your money and let it grow. When it comes to saving money, it really shouldn't take you that long either, especially when you figure out what the tools are. You don't have to look through the newspaper anymore and clip coupons. You don't have to do that anymore. Everything's pretty much online. And it takes a few minutes. If you're watching a TV show,

you can do your little research, make your little shopping list while you're doing a thing anyway. You know, and Jessica, I love your podcast because you do help people understand, you have a little bit of money, how do you make that grow? And how easy or difficult is it? Those are things I also tell my friends and family about Rakuten is that money that you're saving through our cash back program,

that could be what you're using to invest in. That could be what is funding your Christmas for your family. I mean, holding on to this pocket of money that you've saved all throughout the year can actually turn into, again, a long term investment, or it can help ease some of those those more expensive times of the year. And again, it's not a tool just to get out there and find the best deals and to earn that cash back. But what are you going to do with that cash back? And before it was a lot of permission to buy, you know, cash back, buy yourself something nice. It's your money, you earned it. And now we're in different times. And it's well, now you have an extra,

you know, $1,500 that you've saved by online shopping this year, maybe you need to go listen to the More Money podcast and figure out what to do with it. I know. Maybe you can put it in your investments if you're like, I don't have any money to invest. Or, I mean, I've been seeing this a lot. This is a great time to put it on any high interest debt. You got some credit card debt.

That's money that you could put towards that. There's lots of things. But yeah, again, as we've kind of shared a lot on this episode, it really comes down to planning and planning really shouldn't take you too, too long. And once you do it, then it's done and you don't really have to do it again. Like it's again, a muscle that you can flex. You never forget. It's almost like for me, finding those deals, it's automatic. Like I don't even think about it. So yeah, I was going to say it becomes just part of your DNA. It's who you are. And you know what? It's still shopping.

It's still fun. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, Jennifer, it was such a pleasure having you on the show. Thank you so much for sharing all your insight and some of the kind of background information that I think a lot of us probably aren't really aware of because you don't have those tools, that data that you have about kind of what's been going on in the retail space.

So I appreciate you. Where can people find more information about, you know, maybe you if you're online or more information about how to sign up to Rakuten? Yeah, absolutely. Just go to rakuten.ca and sign up for free. It takes less than 15 seconds and it's really that easy. But thank you so much.

We are available. We have our member services 24 hours. So even if you want to just call and ask questions, we'll be happy to help. So just don't be afraid to check us out. Thank you so much, Jennifer. It was a pleasure having you on the show. Pleasure is mine. Thanks, Jessica. And that was episode 335 of the More Money Podcast with Jennifer LaForge, who is the general manager for Rakuten Rewards Canada. If you want to check them out, if you want to sign up, you know, using them,

you can go to Rakuten.ca and also follow them on Twitter and Instagram at Rakuten.ca. Also, though, and this is I mean, this benefits you, but also benefits me. If you did want to sign up, you can actually use my referral link. This is an affiliate link. So I do get a bonus. But if you use it, and the link is rakuten.ca slash r slash Jessica Morehouse, you receive a $30 bonus. So you know, why don't you use my referral link and get a $30 bonus. Also, when you become a member, you then get a referral link. And you can also accrue these bonuses by referring your friends and family. So you know, just a little hot tip. If you you want to get a $30 bonus, you can use that link if you like. I also have a blog post on my website, JessicaMoorhouse.com slash blog. It's called how to save money with rising costs. That gives you

some great tips on how to you know, how to make things work, save money and, and also how Rakuten works if you're unfamiliar with the platform. So make sure to check that out on my website. So in case you didn't listen to yesterday's episode, just a few little updates I want to share about. First, I interviewed Nicole Lappin. So if you want to enter to win a copy of her book, I'm giving a copy away of her book called Becoming Superwoman. Just go to jessicamorehouse.com slash contest and then you can find that right there. Also, if you're not aware, I have a YouTube channel in addition to this podcast. And I have not put out too many videos this year, but I am going to be putting

out more. And the ones that I do have out are amazing. What can I say? I also just spent a lot of time. I mean, to be fair, I've been a busy bee this year with moving to a new place and stuff like that. But we have this room in our basement that's pretty useless that I turned into a YouTube studio. And so finally, I feel like I look like a real YouTuber with all my colored lights and my little setup with a fake plant and stuff. So make sure to check me out. You just go to JessicaMorhouse.com slash YouTube or just search Jessica Moorhouse in YouTube and you will find me. But I've got a lot of great videos that go more in depth about more how to and how to do things. But a lot of the same kind of things that we talk about on the show. So anyways, that is really it for me. A little teaser for next week. Got a great guest named Eric Balchunas. He is the author of now one of my,

like, I love this book. I thought it was great, but I'm also a huge money nerd. But you know what? You're a nerd for listening to the show, so you're probably going to like it too. It is called The Bogle Effect, and it is about, you know, Jack Bogle, who invented the index fund. Also, I have been pronouncing John C. Bogle's name or Jack Bogle's name wrong for years, for whatever reason. I thought it was Boggle. It's not Boggle. There's not two Gs. There's one G. It's Bogle. I felt like a real idiot, like literally years saying Boggle. And now it's still hard to not say Boggle because that's a fun, it's a fun name. Yeah, that's, that was embarrassing. I read a whole book about him and didn't know how to pronounce his name. Anywho. Yeah, that's something to look forward to next

week and got some amazing episodes coming in the following week. So thank you so much for listening. And I will see you back here next Wednesday for that episode. And of course, make sure to follow me on the gram. No one's called no one calls it that Jess, no one calls it that. But that's I'm old. I am actually old. I feel like not actually, I mean, old is relative. It is what it is. It is just a number, right? But I'm definitely not a 20-year-old. They have words that I don't understand anymore. And that's, I think, when you know you're old, when you don't understand what the heck these 20-year-olds are saying on their terminology and their youth. I don't get it. Anyways, you can follow me on Instagram at Jessica I. Morehouse. That's where I am. And of course,

make sure to follow the podcast at the more... No. what's it called? No, at More Money Podcast. That's the handle. That's it. That's it. So that's it for me. Thank you so much for listening. A big shout out to my podcast editor, Matt Rideout. And I will see you back here next month. Have a good rest of your week. Good weekend. See you next Wednesday. Have a good rest of your week. Good weekend. See you next week. This podcast is distributed by the Women in Media Podcast Network. Find out more at womeninmedia.network.