This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” is with Wes Schroll, founder and CEO of Fetch.
The Madison-based company’s mobile app offers users a rewards program for the products they buy, awarding points for scanning receipts that can be redeemed for gift cards for major brands. After launching in 2013, the business now has 6 million daily active users and has been valued at more than $2.5 billion.
“I always tell my team that even though it’s a completely free app that pays people to use it, our consumers are demanding,” he said. “They are always wanting something new and exciting … if we deliver something that is amazing today, by tomorrow it’s expected and by the next day, they’re just bored and waiting for the newer thing.”
Schroll says that “forces us to keep innovating and changing things,” pointing to this year’s launch of “Fetch 3.0” as the latest example. This iteration of the platform features an updated interface that’s aimed at improving how consumers interact with other businesses on the app.
Fetch this year added more than 200 new brand partnerships to the app, more than any prior year.
“Lots of things to kind of bring engagement up for consumers and just make it a more fun experience,” he said.
Schroll also shares his perspective on the latest retail trends informing the decisions of Fetch’s leadership, ranging from the impacts of inflation to shifts in consumer preferences.
“Our consumers are still hurting … That inflation that helped partners be able to beat year-over-year growth goals also comes on the back of consumers having to pay more,” he said. “So I think we feel an urgency now more than ever to continue to find additional ways to help people save money.”
Listen to the podcast below, sponsored by UW-Madison:
