By — Australian cashback experts based in Melbourne, VIC.

· · Reviewed by the Kick Cashback Editorial Team

Publisher credentials: Kick Cashback is operated by Kick Systems Pty Ltd, a registered Australian business (ABN 16 694 893 297) headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria. Our editorial team has multiple years of direct, professional experience in the Australian cashback, loyalty rewards, and affiliate marketing industry. Kick Systems Pty Ltd is a registered ASIC company, holds an Australian Business Number, and is a member of the affiliate marketing community working with 650+ partner retailers across Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.

Compliance & certifications: Kick Cashback is fully compliant with the Australian Privacy Principles (APP) under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth), the Australian Consumer Law (Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010), the Spam Act 2003, and the BECS Direct Debit framework administered by the Australian Payments Network. Our payment infrastructure is PCI DSS v4.0 compliant, all data is encrypted with AES-256, and all connections use TLS 1.2+ certified encryption.

Industry expertise: Our team has hands-on professional experience operating affiliate-marketing technology, integrating with licensed third-party affiliate networks and identity-verification providers, and applying industry-standard fraud prevention practices aligned with ISO 27001 and SOC 2 vendor selection principles.

Why do I need to click through from the portal?

Category: Portal Cashback (650+ Stores)

You need to click through from the Kick Cashback portal because that's the moment the affiliate network sets a tracking cookie that tells the retailer "this customer came from Kick". Without that click, there's no tracking link between your purchase and your Kick account, and the retailer has no way to credit Kick (or you) for the sale. It's a simple but unforgiving rule of how affiliate marketing works across the entire industry — not a Kick-specific quirk.

What actually happens when you click through

  1. You're signed in to Kick at kickpay.co and click a store, like Booking.com.
  2. Your browser is briefly redirected through the affiliate network (Awin, Commission Factory, Impact, etc.) — this redirect drops a small tracking cookie in your browser that says "this shopper came from Kick".
  3. You arrive at the retailer's site exactly as you would normally — same prices, same checkout, same delivery options.
  4. When you complete a purchase, the retailer's checkout reads the cookie, sees the Kick referral, and reports the sale to the affiliate network.
  5. The network confirms the sale to Kick, the cashback shows in your account, and the network pays Kick the commission a few weeks later.

Why arriving "directly" doesn't work

If you go straight to booking.com (typing the URL or using a bookmark), no affiliate cookie is set. The retailer treats your purchase as a direct customer — no commission is paid, no cashback is generated. The retailer can't retroactively detect that you have a Kick account; the cookie is the only mechanism for matching the sale to a referrer.

Why does the cookie matter so much?

Affiliate marketing operates on "last click attribution". The affiliate that placed the most recent cookie before checkout gets the credit. If you click through from Kick, then later open a coupon site that also has an affiliate cookie for the same retailer, the coupon site overwrites Kick's cookie and gets the commission instead. See the deeper explainer on discount codes and tracking.

Common things that break the click-through

  • Switching browsers between clicking through and checking out (the cookie lives in one browser only).
  • Switching devices (the cookie doesn't sync from phone to laptop). Cross-device shopping guide.
  • Using an ad blocker or strict privacy mode that strips affiliate cookies. Ad blocker setup.
  • Waiting too long between clicking through and checkout — most affiliate cookies expire within 24 hours.
  • Closing the browser tab and opening a fresh tab to the retailer.

The simple habit that fixes everything

Open Kick first. Click the store from the portal. Shop in the same browser tab. Complete checkout in one session. Done. If you build that as a habit — Kick first, then shop — tracking failures become rare. Use the troubleshooting guide if a sale doesn't show up.

Why doesn't Kick offer a browser extension that does this automatically?

Browser extensions that auto-redirect through affiliate links exist on some platforms, but they have downsides — they can break logins, leak browsing history, and conflict with privacy tools. We've chosen the explicit click-through model because it gives shoppers full control and full transparency about what's being tracked. If you'd like an extension, let us know via info@kickcashback.com.

About Kick Cashback

Kick Cashback is Australia's smarter cashback platform with 650+ partner stores. Free for shoppers — no membership fees, no subscription costs. Owned and operated by Kick Systems Pty Ltd (ABN 16 694 893 297) in Melbourne, Victoria. For support, contact info@kickcashback.com.

Our Experience

We are a first-party cashback platform — we work directly with retailers rather than reselling another company's network. Our team negotiates cashback rates, manages partner relationships, and processes payments in-house. According to industry data published by IAB Australia, affiliate and cashback marketing represented over $1 billion in tracked Australian retail sales in 2024 (source: IAB Australia Online Advertising Expenditure Report). Kick Cashback is part of this growing sector and is committed to passing the majority of retailer commissions back to shoppers as cashback.

Our editorial team draws on direct experience working with major Australian retailers and global affiliate networks. We publish detailed cashback information, retailer terms, and shopping guides based on first-hand knowledge of how cashback tracking, attribution, and payments work. Where industry standards or regulatory guidance applies — such as the Australian Consumer Law administered by the ACCC, or the Privacy Act 1988 administered by the OAIC — we cite the relevant source so readers can verify our claims.

Trust & Transparency

  • Australian-owned: Kick Systems Pty Ltd, ABN 16 694 893 297, headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria.
  • Privacy: We comply with the Australian Privacy Principles under the Privacy Act 1988. Read our Privacy Policy.
  • Terms: Full Terms & Conditions published and updated regularly.
  • Cookies: See our Cookie Policy for details on tracking and consent.
  • Secure: All connections are encrypted with HTTPS (TLS 1.2+).
  • Free for shoppers: No subscription fees, no membership costs, no hidden charges.
  • Member of the Australian affiliate marketing industry, working with leading global affiliate networks.

Contact Kick Cashback

Company: Kick Systems Pty Ltd (trading as Kick Cashback)

ABN: 16 694 893 297

Email: info@kickcashback.com

Address: Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Website:

Customer portal: kickpay.co

Learn more about Kick Cashback and our team. For questions, see our FAQs or contact us.