Objective
For households on SNAP, every dollar matters. Forage saw an opportunity to help those dollars go further by rewarding cost-conscious shoppers two ways: for making purchases at participating retailers, and for buying specific items through targeted product offers.
Traditional rewards programs rely on customers to capture proof of their purchases. Physical receipts often get lost, forgotten, or come out illegible when photographed. And as more purchases move online, the burden shifts to digging up an email confirmation or screenshotting an in-app order. In either case, the work falls on the user. But Forage believes that low-income families deserve a better experience. Their goal was to verify what shoppers bought without putting any burden on the user.
“Every family deserves access to healthy, affordable food, no matter how they choose to pay. By partnering with Knot, we can help them make their grocery budget go further.”
Approach
Forage evaluated 3 options. The team chose Knot’s TransactionLink because of its:
- SKU-level transaction data, which makes rewards possible
- Broad merchant coverage, including the major retailers where Forage’s shoppers actually buy groceries
- A straightforward path to launch, so Forage could automate their rewards program quickly
“Knot stood out because they integrate with the retailers where our customers actually shop. Implementation was swift, and their team was responsive.”
With TransactionLink, a Forage app user needs to connect their grocery-store account only once. From then on, every qualifying purchase is automatically retrieved and matched against Forage’s rewards program. Rewards are automatically calculated and applied; all shoppers have to do is watch the savings pile up.
Without Knot
With Knot
That connection powers rewards two ways. The first is general grocery spend: shoppers earn rewards when they make purchases at participating retailers. The second is at the item level: shoppers earn rewards on specific products (e.g., $1 back on Power Up Trail Mix at Walmart), funded by CPG brands and retail media networks.
Because TransactionLink delivers SKU-level data, Forage can offer these rewards on specific products easily. That precision matters on both sides of the offer. Shoppers automatically earn rewards on the exact products they already buy, without uploading a receipt. Product-specific rewards are more likely to be claimed than broad discounts. If the offer matches what a shopper already buys, they earn it without changing their behavior. And for the brands funding those offers, SKU-level transaction data provides consistent, reliable proof that the specific product was purchased, something traditional receipt-based verification struggles to deliver.
Results since integrating Knot
- 21% of shoppers have connected at least one merchant account (such as Walmart or Amazon)
- Knot has surfaced SKU-level data from 1.1M+ transactions for Forage
- Forage has credited shoppers with over $35K in rewards
- Forage has powered the sale of 1.4K consumer packaged goods items advertised on the platform
- Knot eliminated 2 manual steps from the Forage rewards flow: receipt upload and the manual review of receipts that are difficult to parse
“Rewards used to be a problem for us. Initially, our customers would photograph their receipts for rewards, and we’d run into problems with long, blurry, and unreadable receipts. That’s not a great experience. But, with Knot, it’s all automated. Data is clean, and users don’t need to wait for manual receipt review. It enables us to seamlessly scale the program.”
Benefits for Forage shoppers
- No manual receipt uploads
- Seamless retailer account linking
- Rewards calculated and credited automatically
- More value from every dollar
What’s next
Because verification runs in the background, Forage can grow the program across more retailers and more shoppers without needing to staff up. To make sure their shoppers get the best experience and the most rewards, Forage will also nudge users to connect their accounts with Knot whenever a receipt upload fails.
About Forage
Forage expands financial access for low-income families. A mission-driven financial infrastructure platform, Forage makes it easy for retailers to accept benefits like SNAP, WIC, and HSA/FSA. Forage is the only USDA-approved, third-party payment processor (TPP) that combines modern software with dedicated service to guide retailers through authorization and launch. For more information, visit joinforage.com.
About Knot
Knot is the leading merchant connectivity platform, simplifying how consumers, merchants, and financial institutions interact. Knot’s TransactionLink delivers SKU-level transaction data from the merchants consumers buy from most, enabling rewards, reconciliation, and personalization without manual user effort. Knot works with companies across payments, fintech, and consumer rewards. Visit knotapi.com to learn more.
