Payback Turns Its App Into a Shopping Marketplace With 'Payback Produkte'
Updated: 6 days ago
Germany's Payback has launched 'Payback Produkte', an in-app marketplace selling thousands of items, as the 35-million-user loyalty giant evolves from a points scheme into a full commerce platform.
From points programme to shopping platform
Payback, Germany's dominant loyalty programme, has moved into direct commerce with 'Payback Produkte', a marketplace that lets members browse, buy and collect points without leaving the app. Launched in late September 2026 as a beta under the app's Services section, it spans electronics, home, garden, fashion and sport.
It builds on an existing e-commerce marketplace of more than 700 partners, and Payback plans to add further merchants in the coming weeks. Rather than a big-bang launch campaign, the rollout is deliberately low-key, promoted gradually through the brand's own channels.
The scale that makes it serious
The numbers explain the ambition. Payback counts 35 million users, with 18 million on the app, and its partners generated more than €46bn in incentivised revenue last fiscal year. That is a vast, logged-in, data-rich audience — exactly the foundation a commerce and retail-media business is built on.
'We want to develop the app consistently and create many additional offers and benefits for customers,' said CEO Dominik Dommick. Translation: the app is becoming the destination, not just the loyalty wallet you open at the till.
Marketing Minute's read: loyalty data is the new storefront
This is the logical endgame of modern loyalty. A points programme sitting on 35 million opted-in profiles is a retail-media and commerce engine waiting to be switched on. By owning the transaction as well as the data, Payback can sell products, monetise attention and tighten its grip on the customer relationship all at once.
The lesson for any business with a loyalty scheme or first-party database: that data is a storefront, not just a discount tool. The brands winning in 2026 are turning logged-in audiences into owned commerce and media channels — and the ones treating loyalty as a cost centre are leaving that value on the table.
Quick FAQ
What is 'Payback Produkte'?
A new in-app marketplace from Payback, launched in beta in late September 2026, selling thousands of items across electronics, home, garden, fashion and sport while letting members collect points.
How big is Payback's audience?
Payback has 35 million users, 18 million of them on the app, and its partners generated more than €46bn in incentivised revenue last fiscal year.
Why does this matter for marketers?
It shows loyalty data becoming a commerce and retail-media engine — a logged-in, first-party audience turned into an owned storefront and ad channel.
This is where loyalty was always heading. Thirty-five million opted-in profiles aren't a discount scheme — they're a commerce and retail-media engine. Payback owning the transaction and the data at once is a masterclass in turning first-party audiences into owned channels. Every brand with a loyalty base should be asking why they haven't. — Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing
Your loyalty scheme isn't a discount tool — it's a storefront. A logged-in, first-party audience is the foundation of owned commerce and retail media.
If you have a loyalty base or first-party database, are you treating it as a cost centre — or as the storefront it could become?
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Sources: Horizont, Lebensmittelzeitung, etailment.
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Written by Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing Ltd and Marketing Minute
