PayPal Honey explained

PayPal Honey
Type:Subsidiary
Industry:Cashback website, online coupons
Founders:George Ruan[1]
Ryan Hudson
Parent:PayPal
Location:Los Angeles, California, United States[2]
Area Served:Canada, United States
Key People:George Ruan

Ryan Hudson
Num Employees:209 (worldwide, 2018)

PayPal Honey, formerly known as Honey, is an American technology company and a subsidiary of PayPal known for developing a browser extension that aggregates and automatically applies online coupons on eCommerce websites.

History

Entrepreneurs Ryan Hudson and George Ruan founded Honey in November 2012 in Los Angeles, California, after building a prototype of the browser extension in late October 2012. A bug tester leaked the tool to Reddit, where it went viral.[3] By March 2014, the company had 900,000 organic users.[4]

Honey raised a $26 million Series C round, led by Anthos Capital in March 2017.[5] By January 2018, Honey raised a total of $40.8 million in venture backing.[6]

On January 6, 2020, it was acquired by PayPal for about $4 billion.[7] [8] [9] Nearly immediately after PayPal acquired Honey, Amazon claimed to its users that the extension was a security risk that sold personal information. A Wired magazine article, written shortly after the acquisition, questioned whether the claim was motivated by PayPal's newly acquired ability to compete against Amazon.[10]

In June 2022, the company was renamed PayPal Honey.[11]

Marketing

PayPal Honey has become known for its heavy use of YouTube advertising and channel sponsorships for its marketing. Similarly to NordVPN, Amazon's Audible and , it offers paid sponsorships to popular YouTube channels to advertise the service to its viewers.[12]

In 2019, the company became a shirt sponsor of the NBA team, Los Angeles Clippers.[13]

In 2020, PayPal Honey launched a web series called "Honey Originals", where Honey partners were interviewed, including segments "20 Questions " and "Add To Cart ".[14] [15]

Revenue

PayPal Honey's revenue comes from a commission made on user transactions with partner retailers.[16] When a member makes a purchase from merchants partnering with the company, Honey shares part of their commission with the member in a cashback program.[17] Users are notified of price drops and price history on selected items sold by participating online stores.[18]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Metcalf. Tom. Verhage. Julie. Coupon Duo Now Worth $1.5 Billion After Honey's Sale to PayPal. BloombergQuint. en. January 28, 2020. January 28, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201209044201/https://www.bloombergquint.com/onweb/coupon-duo-now-worth-1-5-billion-after-honey-s-sale-to-paypal. December 9, 2020. dead.
  2. Web site: Online coupon firm Honey taking over historic Coca-Cola plant in Arts District. Vincent. Roger. Los Angeles Times. August 1, 2018. January 3, 2019.
  3. Web site: New Coupon Startup 'Honey' Has Had 9 Successful Investor Meetings in a Row . Shontell. Alyson. Business Insider. January 16, 2013. September 26, 2022.
  4. Web site: Perez. Sarah. Honey Introduces a Universal Cart for Online Shoppers Where Savings Are Automatically Applied. TechCrunch. March 25, 2014. September 26, 2022.
  5. News: L.A. Tech: Can't find a coupon code? This L.A. start-up does all the work for you . Pierson . David . Los Angeles Times. October 24, 2017. September 26, 2022.
  6. Web site: Got a Problem? Turn it into a Business Like These 15 Companies . Ketchum. Dan. GOBankingRates. April 11, 2019. September 26, 2022 .
  7. PayPal Completes Acquisition of Honey . . January 6, 2020. September 26, 2022.
  8. Web site: Why PayPal Paid $4 Billion for Honey Science. Taulli. Tom. Forbes. en. November 23, 2019. January 28, 2020.
  9. Web site: PayPal acquires the company behind the Honey deal-finding extension for $4 billion. Peters. Jay. November 20, 2019. The Verge. en. February 25, 2020.
  10. Web site: Lee. Dami. January 9, 2020. Amazon suspiciously says browser extension Honey is a security risk, now that PayPal owns it. February 8, 2022. The Verge. en.
  11. Web site: What is PayPal Honey? . PayPal Honey . September 26, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220926184049/https://help.joinhoney.com/article/374-what-is-paypal-honey . September 26, 2022 . June 29, 2022 . live.
  12. Web site: Weiss . Geoff . Browser Extension 'Honey', a Frequent Shane Dawson and MrBeast Sponsor, Acquired for $4 Billion . November 21, 2019. Tubefilter . June 11, 2020.
  13. Web site: 2023-04-18 . What is 'Honey' on the Clippers' uniforms? Explaining LA's jersey sponsorship patch . 2023-04-20 . www.sportingnews.com . en.
  14. 20 Questions with MrBeast Honey Originals . Honey. YouTube. July 1, 2019. September 26, 2022. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine.
  15. Add to Cart with Gibi ASMR Honey Originals . Honey. YouTube. March 21, 2020. September 26, 2022. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine.
  16. Web site: Rey. Jason Del. April 2, 2018. Honey — the under-the-radar coupon startup — has held talks to raise around $100 million in a new investment. January 13, 2024. Recode.
  17. Web site: Kane. Libby. A struggling dad built an app to buy his kids cheaper pizza — and now his company has 5 million downloads and $40 million. January 3, 2019. Business Insider. November 17, 2017.
  18. Web site: Ellingson. Annlee. January 31, 2018. How Honey helps users keep their New Year's resolution to save money. American City Business Journals. September 26, 2022.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "PayPal Honey".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.