Five things we keep hearing from FMCG brand teams.
Pulled from conversations with marketing and brand leads across European FMCG. The pattern is consistent enough that we're building a solution against it.
What we keep hearing
01
"Shoppers in-store are price sensitive and on autopilot. Whether we're trying to win a new buyer or bring back a lapsed one, getting them to deviate from their usual basket is hard."
02
"Price promotions lift regional rate of sale, but they're a blunt instrument. To target shoppers more precisely we rely on retail media or other third parties, rather than driving in-store sales through channels that we own and control."
03
"Awareness campaigns through influencers and ads give us broad reach, but they're costly and offer almost no attribution back to in-store sales."
04
"We spend heavily on delayed panel data to make decisions and have limited first-party data on the core shoppers actually buying us in retail each week."
05
"We can spike sales with a promotion, but repeat falls off the moment it ends. We can't see why a buyer drifts away, and we have no clean way to bring them back into the store."
How we solve them
A verified-purchase layer for the channels you already own
SeeGap turns any marketing channel you own into a way of putting a specific shopper into a specific retailer, buying a specific product.
The mechanic is receipt-verified cashback. The brand funds a cashback offer on a specific product. The shopper buys it in retail, uploads a photo of the receipt, and the brand pays the cashback directly into their bank account or digital wallet.
For every purchase, you get first-party consumer data on who bought, so you can keep marketing to that person. The sale also ties back to the channel that drove it, so you have verifiable proof of which channels are driving purchases.
How it works
See it in action
Watch the full shopper journey, from the first tap to the cashback landing.
As proven in the US
Ibotta
US brands have run receipt-verified cashback through Ibotta for years. It's a core part of the FMCG marketing stack there, used by major FMCG brands alongside thousands of smaller brands running on regional or single-SKU budgets. SeeGap brings that capability to brands selling through European retail.
What you get back
A
The buyer record
A first-party data asset you own and can act on
These are real buyers, not panel estimates or recruited samples. Every cashback claim creates a record of a receipt-verified buyer who paid full price for your product in retail last week.
Plug into your existing CRM and retarget the highest-intent customers first. Build a cohort you can target through Meta, email, or SMS. Hand the file to the buyer at Tesco when the listing is up for review.
Verified buyerIllustrative
Profile completeness100%
AM
Aoife Murphy
New verified buyer · #SG·4471
✓
Email
aoife.murphy@gmail.com
✓
Phone
+353 87 412 3390
✓
Verified purchase✓ Verified
[Brand] Protein · 4-pack
Tesco Dublin 8 · 04 May 2026 · €12.49
Channel attribution
Instagram → @creator_handle · post #4421
Klaviyo · added to “Verified Buyers” segment
Opted in to marketing & retargeting · GDPR consent recorded
B
Post-purchase surveys
What you learn from a verified buyer, and what to do with it
You can ask every verified buyer the questions that matter: why they picked you, whether they would buy again at full price, what they would tell a friend about the product, and anything else you want to know.
Every answer is attached to a verified buyer in your first-party database, so you can retarget the customers who said yes, segment new-to-brand from repeat buyers, and feed the open-ended responses straight into pack claims and product page copy.
Because you own the buyer, you can ask again later. A short follow-up two to four weeks on tells you whether they bought again, how often they're using the product, and if their frequency has dropped, why. That is the question panel data can never answer.
To keep that second touch worth answering, the follow-up is designed to run on a prize draw rather than a fresh cashback on every response. Answer a few quick questions, get entered to win. It keeps the repeat loop cheap, and it can sit alongside a light re-offer for the buyers you most want back in store.
It all becomes a zero-party data layer that travels with you into the meetings that matter, from the next category review at Tesco or Dunnes to the budget defence in finance, the brief for the media team, and the next product launch.
Three survey momentsIllustrative
1 · Pre-purchase, at sign-up
Is this your first time buying from us?
Yes, first timeBought before
What are you mainly looking for?
Something healthierA treatQuick and easyA brand whose values match mine
2 · Post-purchase, at the claim
How did you have it?
On its ownIn a shakeWith breakfastBaking or cooking
When did you have it?
BreakfastOn the goPost-gymEvening
Would you buy us again at full price?
YesOnly on promotionNo
How likely are you to recommend us?
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
3 · Follow-up, 2–4 weeks later
How often are you buying us now?
WeeklyFortnightlyMonthlyStopped
If your buying has dropped, why?
Too expensiveCouldn't find itSwitched brandStill using it
Completed follow-ups are entered into a prize draw
Verified-buyer responseWhere the answer landed
Answers you'd get back, and what each one informed
70% identified [hero benefit] as the standout reason for purchase
Informed claim hierarchy on pack and in advertising
69% said the product exceeded expectations at price
Validated the price-point conversation with the buyer
92% would recommend us to a friend
Used in the next sell-in pack for the retailer
82% wrote positive open-ended feedback, with the top themes ranked: texture, price, packaging
Fed product page copy and review syndication
Figures shown are illustrative of the outputs, not results from a live campaign.
C
What aggregates up
Evidence you can take into retailer conversations, budget reviews, and planning sessions
You see cost per verified buyer by channel, verified buyers per retailer each week, the new-to-brand versus repeat split, and repeat-purchase rate by segment as it moves over time. Numbers you can put in your brand plan and outcomes you can defend in front of finance.
This isn't a panel estimate from six months ago or a retail-media report filtered through the retailer. It's the kind of insight that used to cost ten grand from a research agency, generated as a by-product of a campaign that also drives shoppers into the store.
First, the growth model the use cases sit inside. Then three worked examples of how brands put it to work. The mechanic stays the same, while the audience, the trigger, and the data captured change to match the moment.
How brands grow with this
One campaign drives trial. A programme drives growth.
Getting a new shopper to try you is the hardest and most valuable thing in retail, but trial on its own fades. The brands that grow pair a big launch push that recruits new buyers fast with a lighter, ongoing follow-up that turns those buyers into repeat buyers and keeps learning from them. SeeGap is built to run both halves on the same audience: a launch activation that captures every new buyer, then an always-on follow-up to the exact people who already bought, driving the second and third purchase and showing you why behaviour is changing over time.
1
Launch activation
Recruit new verified buyers fast, and capture the first-party data and channel attribution behind every one.
→
2
Follow-up loop
Re-offer to known buyers through SMS, email and Meta, lift frequency, and run a repeat survey on what changed.
→
3
Re-activate
Pull lapsed buyers back into store and start the loop again, so the programme compounds rather than resets.
This is how the model is designed to be used, shown as the method rather than results from a completed programme.
01
New product launch with influencers
Drive trial with the right consumers, and learn what they think.
The challenge. A challenger snack brand is launching a new SKU into grocery. The first 90 days will decide whether the listing survives the next review, and the brand needs to drive trial fast, with the specific consumers most likely to become repeat buyers. The brand also needs to know what those consumers think of the product early enough to shape the rest of the launch, not after the listing has already been pulled.
The mechanic. The brand partners with a small group of influencers whose followers match the consumer they want to reach. Each influencer posts a full-cashback offer on the new SKU. Followers sign up through the influencer's link, walk into their nearest retailer, buy the product, upload the receipt, and get the purchase price back. Every buyer is tied back to the influencer who drove them. A short post-purchase survey runs within hours of the sale, capturing why they bought, what they thought of the product, and whether they'd buy again at full price.
User journey swipe →
1
Influencer posts offer
2
Followers sign up via link
3
Buys SKU in retail
4
Uploads receipt
5
Cashback paid + post-buy survey
What the brand getsand what comes next
Verified first-time buyers, each attributed to the influencer who drove the sale, defensible in the next budget review
First-party data on every launch buyer, ready to retarget through Meta, email, or SMS
Post-purchase survey responses within hours of the sale, feeding the next wave of campaign creative and pack claims
Then the loop
The new buyers you captured become the audience for a follow-up offer four weeks later, driving repeat purchase and a second survey on what changed since the launch.
02
Sampling events
From free sample to verified sale.
The challenge. A premium drinks brand is running an activation at a summer festival. Traditional sampling hands out thousands of cans, but the brand has no way to know who tried it, where they went next, or whether the sample led to a purchase. The activation gets reach. It doesn't get evidence.
The mechanic. Instead of handing out free product, the brand offers consumers a cashback claim on the spot. Consumers sign up at the event, giving the brand first-party data on every one of them reached. They walk into a participating retailer, buy the product at full price, and upload the receipt to claim the cashback. Every event becomes a verified trial-to-purchase campaign, with rate-of-sale data tied back to the activation that drove it.
User journey swipe →
1
Brand at the event
2
Consumer signs up on the spot
3
Buys product in retail
4
Uploads receipt
5
Cashback claimed
What the brand getsand what comes next
Trial-to-purchase rate per activation, the kind of number that turns a sampling line item into a measurable investment in front of finance
Channel attribution tied to each event, so the next sampling spend goes to what worked, not where it always went
First-party data on every consumer reached, attached to a verified purchase, ready for the next retargeting wave
Then the loop
Every consumer reached at the event is now a known buyer you can re-offer to weeks later, turning a one-off activation into an ongoing repeat-purchase driver.
03
Repeat, frequency and loyalty
Turn first-time triers into repeat buyers.
The challenge. A household brand sees repeat purchase drop off in the weeks after a price promotion ends. It owns a CRM list of past customers but has no clean mechanism to bring them back into the store, and panel data shows frequency is down without telling the brand who to reach or what to do about it.
The mechanic. Because the brand already holds the buyer's contact details and consent from the first purchase, it can reach them again without paying to find them. It retargets known buyers through the channels it owns, SMS, email, and Meta or other paid social against the captured first-party list, with a light incentive to buy again. The shopper buys in retail, uploads the receipt, and answers a short survey on how often they are using the product and why. Two to four weeks later the brand re-offers, runs a fresh survey, and repeats, so a single touch becomes an ongoing loop.
A buy-one-get-one or single-unit reward is one option here, used as the lever to prompt the next purchase rather than the headline of the campaign.
User journey swipe →
1
Known buyer retargeted by SMS, email or Meta
2
Sees a light re-offer
3
Buys again in retail
4
Uploads receipt + quick survey
5
Reward paid, repeats at 2–4 weeks
What the brand getsand what comes next
Verified repeat purchase per segment, proof that the retargeting wave worked, defensible in the next quarterly review
Segment-level data on which CRM cohorts respond, refining targeting on the next wave before the next campaign starts
Retailer-level data on where lapsed customers come back, evidence you can take into the next category review
Also works for
Receipt-verified cashback runs in any moment where a brand wants to put a specific shopper into a specific retailer, buying a specific product.
Use caseThe job
Defend a shopper a competitor is trying to take
When a competitor goes live with a cashback, sampling, or price promotion, match the move in the same window with your own offer. Capture the shoppers they were trying to take.
Defend a listing at the next category review
A new SKU is on shelf but rate of sale isn't proving itself yet. Run a cashback campaign in that retailer to drive verified rate-of-sale, and walk into the next category review with receipts, not panel estimates.
Drive sales in a seasonal window
Whether it's health in January, hydration in summer, or premium at Christmas, time the cashback to the month the category fights hardest for, and capture verified buyer data attached to the season.
Benchmark channel effectiveness with cost per verified buyer
Run identical cashback offers across multiple channels at the same time. Compare cost-per-verified-buyer per channel, side by side, for the next board, agency, or planning meeting.
A short walkthrough of the cashback flow: what the shopper sees, what the brand sees, and the data that lands in your dashboard.
Any questions? Reply to this email or message us directly. We're happy to walk through specifics, talk through a use case for your brand, or jump on a quick call.
The brand does. SeeGap acts as a data processor under your GDPR terms. Every record we collect on a verified buyer, every survey response, every consumer email captured at sign-up sits in your CRM, in your name. We don't sell it, share it, or use it to power any other brand's campaigns.
Minimal, and fully GDPR compliant. At sign-up we capture the consumer fields the brand needs (typically name, email, and any pre-screening answers that gate access to the offer). Bank details are never collected up front. The consumer is only asked for payout details once their receipt has been verified and the claim is approved. At that point all we need is an IBAN or a PayPal email address to send the cashback. We never collect card numbers or bank logins, and nothing sensitive is stored against an unverified claim.
The brand pre-funds a rebate budget at the start of the campaign. SeeGap draws down from that balance only when claims are approved. You see spend, redemptions, and remaining budget in real time. When the budget is exhausted, the campaign ends. No overspend.
We're still finalising this, but the direction we're heading is a performance-based model where SeeGap only earns when a verified shopper actually buys your product in store. On top of that there will be a small platform fee for access to the dashboard, first-party buyer data, retargeting tools, and the rest of the stack. The intent is to keep the brand's exposure tied to real, attributable in-store sales rather than upfront media spend.
SeeGap will be live in the next month or two. In the meantime we're actively looking for a small group of brands to pilot the platform with us. For pilot partners there's no platform fee, and the brand only funds the cashback budget itself. In return we work closely with you to shape the campaign, the dashboard, and the data you get back.
Two layers of control. First, the offer is distributed through the channels you already target on: paid social, influencers, CRM segments, or email. You decide who sees it. Second, before a consumer can access the cashback claim, we run pre-screening questions that gate access to the offer. If your target is women aged 18 to 29 who train regularly, only people matching that profile get through to the cashback. Every verified buyer in your database ends up matching the ICP you set, not a random opportunist.
Every receipt passes through over 32 automated checks: retailer match, SKU match, basket logic, image tampering, account hygiene, duplicate detection, geographic plausibility, and more. A human reviewer then confirms each approved claim before payout. Fraudulent or invalid submissions never reach the brand's budget.
Yes. You can cap claims per SKU, per buyer, per retailer, per channel, or per day. Everything is capped at the level you set and measurable in real time. If a single influencer over-performs or a single retailer over-indexes, you see it within hours and can adjust before the next wave runs.
Yes. Receipt-verified cashback works in any retailer. The brand funds the offer outside the retailer's promotional calendar. From the retailer's view, it's trade spend that drives shoppers into their store. We recommend a courtesy heads-up to your category buyer at large grocers ahead of go-live, but no retailer permission is required.
Within 12 to 24 hours of claim approval, sometimes sooner depending on the campaign. The cashback lands in the buyer's bank account or digital wallet the same day or the day after they bought.