Sears and EcoRebates today announced the ability for California SHOP YOUR WAY Members and appliance customers in the state to save instantly on qualifying products while shopping at Sears.com by accessing instant rebates from leading utilities. Utility-sponsored instant rebates – available on Sears.com for California residents and in Sears stores located in California – provide a convenient way for homeowners to purchase products that help reduce their energy use.
Products qualifying for the instant rebates include refrigerators, clothes washers, dishwashers, room air conditioners and water heaters. Participating utilities include: Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), Southern California Edison (SCE) and Southern California Gas (SoCalGas). Qualified sears.com shoppers can receive an average of $50 in instant rebate savings from their utility as part of their purchase of qualified high efficiency and ENERGY STAR® rated products.
Sears is the first major full-line retailer to integrate this innovative paperless rebate fulfillment into its ecommerce platform, setting a new standard for energy efficiency programs. By leveraging EcoRebates' location-aware and SKU-specific Instant Rebate Platform, Sears enables millions of consumers to automatically receive a utility-sponsored rebate as part of their purchase transaction. Customers in qualifying locations will automatically see instant rebate offers on appliance products as they browse product information on the Sears.com websites. These customers will simply place the product in the shopping cart and proceed with the transaction – no claim forms to mail, no coupons and no hassles.
In a recent survey by the Association of Energy Service Professionals, 55% of homeowners are actively pursuing energy efficiency in their homes, yet a much smaller percentage are taking advantage of the programs and offers presented by utilities.
"Enabling online instant rebates for energy efficient appliances is just another way Sears is committed to providing customers a highly personalized shopping experience," said Imran Jooma, executive vice president and president, Online, Marketing, Pricing & Financial Services, Sears Holdings. "Customers care about reducing their energy consumption, but are also looking to take advantage of all savings opportunities. Now, thanks to our collaboration with progressive utilities, and our technology service provider EcoRebates, Members and customers can purchase from among our many high-efficiency appliance models and receive immediate savings made available from their local utility program."
"Our joint collaboration with the Green Leadership team at Sears Holdings and EcoRebates ushers in a new era of retailer-supported energy efficiency programs, said Mark Wallenrod, Director of Programs and Operations, Customer Energy Efficiency and Solar, Southern California Edison. "That means more instant rebate participation and e-commerce innovation for customers."
"We're especially gratified to continue our work with industry leaders like Sears and the forward-looking utilities that we serve," added Brett Battles, CEO of EcoRebates. "Instant rebates 'close the loop' from offer creation to redemption, providing customers with a deeper level of engagement and a way to participate in a wide variety of highly-targeted, personalized and third-party sponsored product offers as they shop online or in-store. Eliminating claim forms and coupons will deliver a superb customer shopping experience."
Utility-sponsored energy efficiency programs have grown rapidly over the last decade with current investment at $7 billion and projections to reach $10 billion by 2025 according to research conducted by Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. A key factor in California's success in energy efficiency is a regulatory structure known as decoupling that creates and aligns incentives for utilities to drive energy efficiency. Rather than focusing on how much energy utilities can sell, they can focus on helping customers save energy, money and the environment.
About Sears Holdings Corporation
Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD) is a leading integrated retailer with more than 2,500 full-line and specialty retail stores in the United States and Canada and the home of SHOP YOUR WAY, a social shopping experience where members have the ability to earn points and receive benefits across a wide variety of physical and digital formats through ShopYourWay.com. Sears Holdings is the leading home appliance retailer as well as a leader in tools, lawn and garden, fitness equipment and automotive repair and maintenance. Key proprietary brands include Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard, with a broad apparel offering, including such well-known labels as Lands' End, the Kardashian Kollection, Jaclyn Smith and Joe Boxer, as well as Sofia by Sofia Vergara and The Country Living Home Collection. We are the nation's largest provider of home services, with more than 14 million service and installation calls made annually, and have a long-established commitment to those who serve in the military through initiatives like the Heroes at Home program. We have been named the 2011 Mobile Retailer of the Year, Recipient of the 2013 ENERGY STAR® " Partner of the Year - Sustained Excellence Award" for Product Retailing and Energy Management and one of the Top 20 Best Places to Work for Recent Grads. Sears Holdings Corporation operates through its subsidiaries, including Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Kmart Corporation. For more information, visit Sears Holdings' website at www.searsholdings.com. Twitter: @searsholdings || Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SHCCareers
About EcoRebates- EcoRebates is the leading provider of location-aware and SKU-based incentive and offer tools serving top retailers, manufacturers and utilities. Our cloud-hosted, enterprise class technology platform drives 7-15% incremental sales conversion and delivers billions in savings to consumers. The client-branded web + mobile tools empower consumers to save millions of dollars by offering up personalized SKU- based incentives, deals, rebates, local offers and promotions. Based in Menlo Park, CA, EcoRebates was founded by internet software industry veterans Brett Battles and Nikita Tovstoles. Visit http://ecorebates.com.