How TopCashBack was created to ‘help people save as much money as possible’

Zlata Rodionova speaks to Mike Tomkins and Oliver Ragg about TopCashBack and how Black Friday became not just a day, but a whole month

Tomkins and Ragg run a tight ship (TopCashBack)

Savvy shoppers will tell you that you can save hundreds of pounds every year by earning cashback on your spending. While it may sound too good to be true, some websites really enable you to make money as you shop, by rewarding you with a cash perk for buying anything from beauty products to insurance.

Oliver Ragg and Mike Tomkins are behind one of the best-known of these platforms – the cashback website TopCashback.co.uk.

The pair launched the company, based at the Staffordshire Technology Park in Stafford, in 2005. Today, the firm has 11 million registered users and 250 workers across the globe. In addition to the UK, it operates in the US, India, China, Russia and Germany.

We speak with Oliver and Mike ahead of Black Friday, one of the busiest periods of the year for the website, as shoppers take advantage of the sales day and use cashback to make additional savings on their festive shopping.

With shops having shut their doors again in England, it is logical that all signs should point to an increase in online shopping with the founders predicting that Black Friday, which falls on November 27 this year, will be extended to a full calendar month.

Mike tells The Independent: “Over the last few years, since it became absolutely huge over here, Black Friday gradually turned from a one-day spike through to a week-long event. This year, we think it’s going to be a Black Friday month. People are doing their Christmas shopping a little earlier, while they can still get hold of things.

“We typically prepare for the event throughout the year because, as a growing business, we do have an increase in traffic and we need to make sure our services and websites can keep up with demand.

“Meanwhile our partnerships team will spend a lot of time preparing to get the best deals out for our members.”

As advocates of mindful spending, the entrepreneurs encourage shoppers to plan what they are looking to buy in advance on Black Friday and only ever spend within their means. Despite their company’s impressive growth, Oliver and Mike, say their main mission remains to help others save money on their purchases.

The pair, who both have a background in IT and computer programming, met while working at a travel company.

Oliver says: “The idea of what we wanted to do at the start was simply develop a website that would help people save as much money as possible on their everyday spending.

“As computer programmers, we spotted a gap in the market. We’d written comparison tools and from that we could see a commission was paid to us.

“What we realised is that we could pass these savings onto our members to help online shoppers save money and, of course, create a loyal following – that was the business idea in essence.”

Over a year, TopCashback estimates that members can earn £325 by doing their shopping, utility switching and renewing insurance policies through the site.

What we need to overcome constantly is to, actually, convince people to believe it’s true. You can often see they understand what you say, but they don’t believe it

Both founders say their savvy parents were the ones who gave them their frugal mindset.

Mike, who grew up in Bolton and studied computing at university, says: “My parents were very hardworking and money savvy. I think that's probably partly why we ended up going down this route. For instance, my mother would take all the labels off the tins of food, send them off and get vouchers back. Dinner time would be food roulette, you would be opening up a tin that had no label on.”

Oliver, who studied physics at the University of Birmingham, has similar memories: “We realised over the years that we actually both had parents that were very money-savvy. Mine wouldn’t take labels off food but we would get off a bus stop early just to save 60p on our bus fare.”

Like many start-ups TopCashback began in a dining room and on a “shoestring” budget. Mike says: “We actually had the servers running under the house. It was just reality at the time and the only way we could keep the business going. It was just running on a home internet connection. We coded a website that had no members – except me and Oly – and we’re not from marketing backgrounds. There was no influencer or social media to get it out there. It was hard work to get the numbers in.”

Today, the firms passes through 100 per cent of rebates to their members, and works with around 5,000 brands including retail giants such as Asda, Debenhams, eBay and M&S but also fashion favourites like ASOS, Next and Topshop and travel retailers including Expedia and Lastminute.com.

When a shopper buys an item, the cashback website is then paid a commission for referring them on, the cash reward is then passed on to the shopper – and the founders’ biggest challenge is still to convince their customers that there’s no catch. TopCashBack relies on adverts and sponsored links to support the site.

Oliver says: “It’s grown organically for sure. But what we think about a lot is – how to tell members about our service.

“What we need to overcome constantly is to, actually, convince people to believe it’s true. You can often see they understand what you say, but they don’t believe it. They think there’s a catch. Conveying those messages really have been the challenge all along the way.”

Like any business this year, TopCashback has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic – but it is continuing with its growth and expansion plans.

Oliver says: “We’re still marketing, still aiming to grow this year, we are carrying on being a real living wage employer. That said some sectors of the website are little down like travel but equally other sectors are doing really well, like DIY and furniture.”

The pair have recruited about 50 people remotely since the first national lockdown in spring with most of those being university placements and graduates.

In the UK, TopCashback is also launching a new section on its website called  “green cashback”, which will gather all the environmental and social businesses together, so people who are interested in ethical brands can find them more easily.

Small businesses and young entrepreneur have struggled this year, crippled by the Covid-19 pandemic and the restrictions associated with it.

But Mike and Oliver, who have been focusing on growing a website with a great reputation as opposed to short-term profits, say having a long-term mindset and playing fair is the way to succeed.

Mike says: “Find something you’re passionate about, and don’t rush. It does mean that things might take a bit longer rather than cutting corners. But you can sleep at night knowing you’ve done everything to the best of your ability. With that comes long-term success versus maybe short-term wins.

“We came up with our fair policy about 12 years ago and stuck to it during every decision-making process. It is just about making sure that we’re playing fair by our members, staff and all the people we work with, from brands to agencies. It’s our guidance principle and our staff and members are really onboard with that.”