Fetch Celebrates $1 Billion in Points Delivered to Consumers

America’s Rewards App just hit an exciting milestone: Fetch users have earned more than $1 billion in Fetch points!

To celebrate, we’ve taken a closer look at how Fetchers are using their points to treat themselves, diving into insights from recent data and user surveys that span from 2020 to today. We found that “little treat” culture is alive and well, with interesting trends emerging across generations and genders and how they live rewarded. 

Whether it’s a quick coffee run or splurging on something special, Fetchers are making the most of their points in ways that bring joy to their everyday lives. We discovered that some love frequent small indulgences, like grabbing their favorite snack or trying out a new beauty product, while others save up for those big-ticket items that feel extra rewarding. Interestingly, emotions and finances also play a significant role in how people choose to treat themselves—some turn to their points for a pick-me-up after a tough day, while others see it as a way to celebrate life’s little victories.

These findings offer a deeper understanding of consumer behavior — and how Fetch plays a role in enhancing those little moments of joy. Let’s explore what we discovered.

Redemption Patterns and Gift Card Choices

The average Fetch user redeems a reward approximately every 130 days, or about three times a year. Seasonal trends reveal a two-peak pattern in redemptions, with one surge during the summer (around Prime Day) and a second in the winter (around Christmas). 

When it comes to gift card preferences, Amazon has consistently held the top spot, with Target, Apple, Starbucks, and Visa shuffling around in positions two through five. The top five rewards categories are: Retail, Restaurant, Entertainment, Cash Card and Health & Beauty.

Gift card denominations also show distinct preferences, with $5 and $10 cards being the most popular, accounting for nearly 70% of all redemptions. In fact, $10 cards alone make up almost 45%. 

Preferences in Treating

Among the survey participants, 55% revealed that they used their rewards on Fetch specifically to treat themselves. On the flip side, 47% used these rewards to offset the cost of their regular purchases as a savvy way to save money.

Notably, the survey shed light on generational and gender differences in Fetch usage. For instance, 58% of Gen Z respondents used their Fetch points to treat themselves, while 54% of Millennials allocated their points to regular purchases.

Little treats may be trending, but we found that big treats are also popular. While 53% of survey respondents prefer smaller treats on a more frequent basis, 47% say they’d rather have bigger treats on a less frequent basis. 

This preference varied by generation, with Boomers opting for bigger treats (52%) and Gen Z favoring frequent small treats (73%). Interestingly, gender played a role too, with men tending to prefer occasional big treats (56%) and women favoring frequent little treats (56%).

Treating as a Lifestyle

Treat culture really is a lifestyle. Most respondents treat themselves on a recurring basis, with monthly treats being the most popular (46%), closely followed by a weekly treat (20%). Surprisingly, 18% of respondents saved their treats for special occasions.

People treat themselves for all kinds of reasons – to celebrate a good day (19%) or to cheer up after a bad day (13%). But 69% of respondents are treating themselves regardless of the type of day they’re having.

• Digging deeper into the responses, a higher proportion of Millennials were likely to be triggered to treat themselves by a bad day (26%) compared to other generations.
• Men didn’t often treat themselves if something went wrong (2% compared to 15% of women)

When asked about potential downsides to treat culture, 41% said they were not concerned about negative implications like overspending or impulse buying – in fact, 23% are of the opinion that people aren’t treating themselves enough. 

• Concerns about people not treating themselves enough went up as age increased.
• Millennials were the most skeptical about treat culture, with 22% concerned about overspending and 13% concerned about overindulgence

Top Treat Categories

When it came to favorite treat categories, retail emerged as the top choice (32%), with clothing items, beauty & personal care, and household items being the most indulged-in treats.

Food wasn’t far behind, with 24% of respondents valuing it as a treat category. Fine dining and fast food were top choices.

Coffee, that comforting companion, came in as the third most popular category for 23% of respondents. And yes, there were variations based on gender, with women more inclined towards treats that made them look or feel good (like retail and coffee), while men leaned towards recreation and entertainment.

To Treat, Or Not To Treat?

We wanted to find out what emotional, situational or material factors play into a person’s decision to get themself a little treat. 

Having extra money is the biggest determinant, with 34% of respondents choosing this option. Notably, gender played a role here, with women being more influenced by the availability of extra funds (38%). 

But the next most popular choice was “no factor” – more evidence that people are treating themselves regularly, no matter what. Men were more likely to give this response, with 31% reporting that they’re not influenced by anything when it comes to treating themselves.

Emotion (12%) and convenience (11%) were the next biggest influencers impacting a person’s decision to get a treat. 

We also noted that favorite treat categories often correlated with these influencing factors. 

• For example, having extra money often led to retail therapy
• Respondents who said location impacts their treat-seeking behavior were more likely to prefer food treats.

Other Interesting Tidbits

We also explored which types of treats are purchased most frequently and which are indulged in more sporadically. Smaller treats – like coffee – seemed to be associated with more frequent treats, while slightly larger treats (like retail purchases) tended to happen on a monthly basis.

Additionally, there appeared to be a connection between living phase and treat preferences. Individuals who are single with children at home favored cost-free treats, while individuals who are partnered with children leaned more towards coffee as their treat of choice.