How to Add Shopping Rewards to Your App with an Offer Wall

You want shopping rewards to give members another reason to use your app, but issuing points alone creates a cost. The program also needs offers people want, commercial outcomes that fund the benefit and a way to connect each result to the right member.

For the user, the experience can break just as quickly: an irrelevant list, confusing qualification rules or a reward whose status is unclear. A large points reward cannot fix those gaps.

AON Offer Wall supplies structured merchant offers and the attribution connection behind qualifying outcomes. Your application can associate results with members and use applicable earnings to fund its own reward policy. AON provides the commercial foundation; the app defines the benefit and manages the user’s entitlement.

Build the journey around a useful offer and a benefit the business can sustain. That connects the reason a member participates with the source of value that supports the program.

Give Members a Reward Worth Earning

A reward should make sense inside the app people already use.

For a membership product, the reward might add to an existing points balance or unlock a familiar member benefit. The user understands why that benefit matters before opening the offer list. The offers should also fit the audience: something members have a reason to consider, with conditions they can understand.

That is a stronger starting point than choosing the largest advertised payout and inventing a reward around it. Select offers and commercial terms suitable for the intended rewards experience. Give users a clear reason to explore them.

The product promise should be simple enough to explain: complete the specified qualifying action, and receive the benefit under the app’s stated rules. Keep the required action, eligibility and reward timing understandable. The reward should make a useful choice more attractive without obscuring what the user is agreeing to do.

The benefit can take different forms:

• Points add to a balance that members redeem under your program’s rules.
• Cashback gives members a monetary rebate that your app manages and pays.
• Member benefits unlock a feature, service or other entitlement your product provides.

Choose the format your members already value. AON supplies the commercial opportunities and result information; your product manages the balance, redemption or benefit delivery.

How a Qualifying Action Becomes a Member Reward

Consider a membership app that awards 200 points for a qualifying purchase under its own reward rules. A member finds a relevant offer and can see what they need to do, the reward they can earn and when it becomes usable.

The journey has five steps:

1. The member chooses an offer. They continue through its tracked action to the merchant.
2. The purchase happens at the merchant. The merchant or supply partner reports the outcome to AON.
3. AON connects the result to the referral. The app receives the result and the associated earnings updates it has subscribed to.
4. The app applies its reward policy. It can record the 200 points as pending, then make them available when its stated release conditions are met.
5. The member uses the reward. They redeem the points for a benefit, and the app updates their balance and reward record.

Opening the wall or following a link does not itself earn those points. The purchase must satisfy the applicable offer conditions, and the app applies its own reward rules. Keep that distinction visible so members understand their progress.

The wall itself can be hosted by AON or rendered in your own UI. Adding an Offer Wall without a chatbot covers the browsing experience. The additional work here is connecting the commercial outcome to a benefit your app owns.

Budget Rewards from What Your App Keeps

The amount shown on an offer and the earnings your application retains are different inputs.

Build the reward budget from your applicable earnings under the commercial arrangement. Include the cost of delivering the benefit and operating the program.

Continue the points example: suppose the app lets members redeem 200 points for a $2 voucher, which costs the app $2 to provide. If the qualifying outcome leaves the app with $4 in retained earnings, $2 remains before support, processing and other operating costs. These are assumptions for the calculation, not AON rates or reward terms.

The basic model is:

Retained earnings − reward delivery cost − program operating costs = contribution from the activity.

If the reward costs $5, more user activity will not fix the $1 shortfall on each such result. Another source of value would need to justify the subsidy.

Keep points conversion explicit too. A benefit’s displayed value and its delivery cost may differ; a feature unlock has different economics from a purchased voucher. Work back from the benefit you will provide, then decide what the program can afford to issue.

Points awaiting redemption still represent a promise to members. Include future redemptions in the budget rather than treating unredeemed balances as cost-free income.

Connect Each Outcome to the Right Member

A rewards feature needs to connect the commercial result to the member who earned the benefit.

AON Offer Wall carries your application’s member reference through sub_id. Pass it on the hosted wall link, or append it to the returned action link before opening an offer in your own UI. Result notifications carry that reference back to your application.

Use that reference to find the member account. A member can complete several activities, so sub_id should not be the identity used to deduplicate each event or earning. The Offer Wall guide explains how the hosted and API routes preserve this association.

On your server, verify callback signatures before applying account changes. Then follow three rules when updating the reward ledger:

1. Process each event once. A retried notification should not create another reward.
2. Update the same earning record. Earning amounts in successive status events are snapshots, not extra commissions to add together. Use the documented sequence to apply the latest state, including when deliveries arrive out of order.
3. Reconcile reversals with actual credits. Adjust the reward already credited for that earning under your policy. An earning that was never credited should not create a debit from the member’s balance.

The Webhook reference specifies event identities, state ordering and credit reversal handling. Keep those mechanics behind the interface so a member sees one coherent reward history.

Make Reward Status Clear to Members

Members should be able to tell what happened to their activity and when the benefit can be used. Choose labels around your own reward policy. For example:

These are member-facing product states. AON’s earning states describe commercial progress for the application; your reward states describe the benefit promised to the member. An earning becoming available for payout does not itself release points in your app. Your policy defines that connection.

In the 200-point example, the member can first see the pending activity, then an available points credit, and finally the voucher redemption. If a later cancellation affects that reward, update its history and apply the policy explained before participation.

A simple member experience can sit above careful reward accounting. Show the benefit, its status and any next step the member can take. Explain reward timing before they act.

Build Rewards Worth Returning For

A rewards feature works best when the offer is worth considering and the benefit is worth returning for.

AON supplies the structured merchant opportunities, user-attribution connection and commercial result information. Your application uses that foundation to turn applicable earnings into a benefit that fits its audience and economics. Useful offers give members a reason to participate; connected results give the app a basis for funding and managing the benefit.

Design one understandable benefit, give it sustainable funding and connect it to a clearly labeled offer list. The Offer Wall integration guide provides the setup steps. Users gain a useful opportunity and a clear benefit, while the value created can strengthen their relationship with your app.

FAQ

Can an app choose the rewards offered through AON Offer Wall?

Yes, your application chooses the member reward and the rules for earning and using it. You can apply an existing points policy, provide cashback or unlock a member benefit. AON supplies merchant offers and attributed result information; your app manages the reward account and delivery.

How does AON link a shopping outcome to the right app member?

Pass your member reference as sub_id on the hosted wall link or the tracked action link. AON includes that reference in the associated result notifications. Your application maps it to the member record, then uses the event and earning identities to process each reward correctly.

How should apps fund shopping rewards from AON Offer Wall earnings?

Start with the earnings your application retains under its applicable terms. Subtract the cost of providing the reward and operating the program. Include benefits members have earned but have not yet redeemed, and allow for changes in the underlying earnings. A displayed payout or points total alone does not establish the budget.

Can AON shopping rewards work with an existing loyalty program?

Yes, AON-attributed shopping outcomes can be connected to your existing loyalty program. Connect attributed results to your existing member records and apply the program’s points or benefit rules. Keep the associated earning and reward records so subsequent status changes update the same activity. Members can use the familiar balance and redemption experience your app already provides.

Can apps control when shopping rewards from AON Offer Wall become available?

Yes, your application decides when a reward becomes available under its stated policy. AON’s earning updates provide commercial information for that decision; they are separate from the member’s reward balance. Apply the policy consistently, including how later cancellations or adjustments affect a pending or credited reward.

Do users need a chatbot to earn shopping rewards through AON Offer Wall?

No, members can browse an Offer Wall and open an offer without chatting with an assistant. The wall can be hosted by AON or rendered in your app. This lets rewards fit an existing membership experience without adding a conversational step that the shopping task does not need.