RetailMeNot is an online shopping destination, app and browser extension that reaches 15 million+ monthly users, helping consumers find the best deals, verified coupon codes, cash back rewards, and expert editorial content for every purchase. As the flagship brand of RetailMeNot Group and part of the Ziff Davis Shopping portfolio, RetailMeNot connects high-intent shoppers with the retailers and products they're looking for. Our mission is simple: to be the most rewarding purchase companion for every want, every need, and every budget.
For RetailMeNot, secure CIAM was non-negotiable, protecting user’s digital wallets required an identity solution that balanced ironclad security with zero friction. RetailMeNot was previously utilizing a legacy identity solution, Okta Classic Engine, that had been selected years prior. As the business evolved, the system became a bottleneck for both users and developers.
Prior to adopting Ory, RetailMeNot’s identity infrastructure was a significant impediment to growth and user satisfaction. The inability to offer modern, low-friction authentication methods like passwordless login forced their 45 million users into a frustratingly outdated experience across web, mobile apps, and browser extensions. This lack of technical agility extended to the engineering team, where even minor identity features, tasks that should have been routine, took weeks of development time to implement.
Beyond day-to-day friction, the legacy system posed a legitimate risk to the brand's reliability. Strict rate limits, 200 requests per minute, created a constant fear of failure during high-exposure events known internally as the "Good Morning America effect," where viral media success could inadvertently crash the platform. Compounding these technical flaws was a deteriorating vendor relationship; the team felt isolated as an "unhappy customer," trapped by a provider that prioritized legalistic service agreements and slow response times over genuine, proactive problem-solving.
We outgrew the rigid constraints of a traditional 'corporate' identity provider. We needed a system that understood the importance of modern friction-free authentication and the scale peaks of a consumer platform like RetailMeNot.
RetailMeNot sought a partner that offered technical flexibility, a fair cost model, and a genuine sense of partnership. After evaluating the new Okta Identity Engine and Ping Identity, they chose Ory.
"When we started talking with Ory, it felt more like a start of a partnership than a sales pitch. We knew the technology was flexible enough to meet our immediate and future needs." - Tanner Sansbury, Distinguished Engineer @ RetailMeNot
RetailMeNot chose Ory because it offered a unique combination of technical flexibility and strategic partnership that legacy vendors could not match. Architecturally, Ory’s session-based solution provided the high degree of customization needed for a seamless migration, utilizing JWT transformations that allowed 20 disparate microservices to verify user claims without requiring any changes to the underlying systems. This flexibility was paired with immediate support for passwordless authentication and a clear integration path for Passkeys, addressing RetailMeNot's core goal of eliminating account takeover risks.
Beyond the technology, the decision was driven by a cost model and support structure designed for the specific demands of retail. This was backed by a collaborative partnership rather than a standard sales relationship; the RetailMeNot team gained immediate access to Ory engineers via Slack and benefited from weekly check-ins and proactive monitoring to ensure system stability during critical campaigns.
Ory’s predictable pricing accounted for the extreme seasonality of shopper activity, removing the ‘fear of viral success’ by ensuring the platform could scale during massive traffic spikes without punitive rate limits or performance failures.
The transition to Ory fundamentally redefined the company’s technical agility and reliability. Engineering timelines that once stretched into weeks were compressed into mere hours, allowing the team to iterate at the speed of the business. Furthermore, the platform's proven scalability allowed RetailMeNot to confidently launch aggressive re-engagement campaigns and handle high-traffic media events without the "crushing" timeouts or rate-limiting failures that had plagued their legacy system.
“Implementing Ory transformed RetailMeNot’s identity infrastructure from a business bottleneck into a powerful engine for growth and efficiency. By streamlining the sign-up and login journey, the company achieved a significant 20% increase in registrations for its mobile apps, directly converting a smoother user experience into measurable customer growth.” - Tanner Sansbury, Distinguished Engineer @ RetailMeNot
This success has paved the way for company-wide adoption, with other Ziff Davis brands like Voucher Codes and Humble Bundle now onboarding onto Ory to replicate these high-impact results.
Ory allowed us to consolidate identity across our diverse portfolio, saving over $200,000 in the first year.
RetailMeNot is moving toward a passwordless future with Ory, focusing on Passkeys to eliminate account takeover risks and further enhance user trust. They are also exploring FedCM (Federated Credential Management) to provide privacy-preserving, in-browser prompts that keep users engaged without intrusive redirects.
"Identity shouldn’t be a blocker. With Ory, we’ve regained our engineering velocity, allowing our teams to focus on building value for our users rather than managing complex authentication stacks." - Tanner Sansbury, Distinguished Engineer @ RetailMeNot
