HOHoney Financial Model
Marketplace Startup Financials (Free Excel Download)
Browser extension that automatically applies coupon codes at online checkout, monetising via affiliate commission on transactions it closes
professionals from Deloitte
Used by professionals from
About this model
Honey is a browser extension that automatically finds and applies coupon codes at online checkout. By removing the need for shoppers to search elsewhere for discounts, it aims to reduce checkout friction and help merchants close transactions that may otherwise be abandoned.
The product is free for consumers and is monetized through affiliate commission on transactions it helps complete. Its longer-term opportunity is to use cross-site shopping data to surface more relevant merchant offers rather than relying only on a static coupon database.
The model is a performance-marketing marketplace build. Active users, supported merchant checkouts, conversion rate, average order value, and affiliate commission determine revenue. Engagement, merchant coverage, offer relevance, and the cost of user acquisition are the key inputs, while payment timing and partner concentration affect cash conversion.
A turnkey financial model
Live formulas, no hardcoded values
Outputs are driven by live formulas, so the workbook updates from its assumptions instead of relying on hardcoded results.
All assumptions in one tab
Inputs are clearly marked in the Assumptions tab and separated from calculations, making it clear what to change and what to leave intact.
Statements always balancing
For integrated-statement models, the balance sheet, cash flow, and supporting schedules tie through properly.
Distinct schedules for clarity
Debt, working capital, taxes, and cash flow can get messy quickly. We group calculations in clear schedules, not across disconnected tabs.
No hidden macros or external links
There are no unexplained external workbook links or macros to undermine auditability or portability.
Changes flow through the model
Update a key driver and see the impact carry through the forecast, financing, and return outputs. We never use hardcoded numbers in formulas.
About Honey
joinhoney.com
How to build a detailed financial model for Honey
A complete walkthrough of the business, drivers, and assumptions behind the downloadable Honey model - distilled from its pitch deck and publicly available information.
Product & value proposition
- Chrome browser extension that detects checkout pages and auto-applies coupon codes in a "game-like" interface
- Removes friction that drives cart abandonment: shoppers no longer need to leave a merchant's site to hunt for codes
- Future layer: personalised merchant offers pushed to users based on cross-site shopping behaviour data
Market
- 163.2 million online shoppers encountered a promo-code field at checkout in 2014
- RetailMeNot (comparable, NASDAQ:SALE) drove 691 million sessions and 39 million transactions in 2014
- Ebates had ~2.25 million members at $1B exit; Honey positions itself as 14% the size of Ebates at time of deck (Jan 2015), implying ~315k members for Ebates comparator
Revenue model
- Take a commission from transactions Honey helps close - affiliate/performance-commission model, same mechanism as Ebates
- Merchant integration: keep shoppers on-site by embedding coupons into checkout flow; Honey negotiates exclusive deals (e.g. "HONEY EXCLUSIVE: 6% OFF")
- Future revenue stream: personalised merchant offers to users based on purchase-intent data
Traction & metrics
All figures as of January 2015:
- Active shoppers: 330,634
- Shopping page views: 79,646,684
- GMV influenced: $50,926,000
- Growth trajectory: area chart shows near-zero from Week 1 (Nov 2012) through Month 14 (Jan 2014), then steep hockey-stick through Month 26 (Jan 2015)
- Honey is 14% the size of Ebates (by member count)
Unit economics
Benchmarked against Ebates revenue model applied to Honey's user base:
- Spend per member / mo: $73.33
- ARPU / mo: $5.56 - implies ~7.6% effective commission rate
- Monetisation potential / mo at current user base: $1.8M
Competition / moat
- Direct comparables cited: Ebates (~2.25M members, $1B exit), RetailMeNot (NASDAQ:SALE, 691M sessions/yr)
- Moat / unfair advantage: proprietary behavioural data - stores visited, products viewed, purchase history - enables prediction of what users will buy, when, and willingness-to-pay
- Structural moat: extension lives in the browser at the moment of purchase intent; data flywheel compounds with scale
Recommended financial model
- Archetype + why: Marketplace / affiliate GMV model with ARPU monetisation layer. Revenue = GMV × commission rate; GMV driven by active users × spend per user. Matches Ebates/RetailMeNot comps structure. Not a SaaS or subscription - no recurring fee from consumers. A 3-statement is premature given seed stage; a driver-based P&L + GMV build is the right output.
- Forecast horizon & granularity: 3 years monthly (2015–2017), given rapid early growth and seed stage; switch to quarterly in Year 3.
- Key drivers & assumptions:
- Active shoppers (Jan 2015 base: 330,634)
- Monthly active shopper growth rate
- Spend per member / mo: $73.33
- Commission / take rate: 7.6% implied; confirm with merchant contract terms
- GMV per active user / mo = spend per member × sessions-per-user conversion
- Checkout attach rate (% of extension installs that transact)
- Exclusive deal revenue (Honey Exclusive offers)
- COGS / merchant payouts: net commission model - COGS minimal (technology hosting)
- Headcount / opex
- Scenarios (Base / Bull / Bear - which variables flex):
- Base: MoM user growth decelerates from 12% to 5% by Month 36; Ebates ARPU proxy holds; 7.6% take rate
- Bull: User growth stays elevated (15%+ MoM); Honey Exclusive deals lift effective take rate to 9–10%; merchant integration deepens
- Bear: Growth slows post-launch hype (5% MoM); take rate compresses to 5% as merchants push back; CAC rises as organic channel saturates
- Required sheets / outputs:
- Assumptions - all drivers in one editable block
- User funnel - installs → active shoppers → transacting users
- GMV build - users × spend × attach rate
- Revenue P&L - GMV × take rate → gross revenue; deduct hosting/opex → EBITDA
- Comparables bridge - Honey vs. Ebates vs. RetailMeNot (size, ARPU, implied valuation)
- Scenario toggle (Base / Bull / Bear)
- Summary KPI dashboard - active users, GMV, ARPU, revenue, runway
Frequently asked
Is the Honey financial model free?+
Yes. The Honey model is a free Excel (.xlsx) download with live formulas. Sign up with your email and the workbook is yours to keep, review, and edit.
What's included in the model?+
A 5-year monthly forecast with P&L, cash flow and runway, valuation (exit multiple plus a DCF cross-check), MOIC/IRR returns, and unit economics, with live formulas throughout.
How was this model built?+
It was built from Honey's pitch deck and publicly available information, then structured to investment-banking standards as a fully editable Excel model.
Can I change the assumptions?+
Yes. You can change assumptions and the live formulas will recalculate in the downloadable Excel model.
Have more financial modelling questions? Contact us
Created by ex-finance professionals
Hey, I’m Alex and I created Finamodel.
Over my years in the finance industry I kept building the same models over and over again. Same structure, same assumptions, different logo. So I started building frameworks to turn them into clean, reusable templates.
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