I think Shopkick is a good app to use so you can rack up points and cash in on rewards. Not bad at all!
Shopkick is an American company based in Silicon Valley that created a shopping app for smartphones and tablets that offers customers rewards for walking into stores. It uses points called “kicks” which are usually awarded when users walk into participating stores. Kicks are also awarded by scanning product barcodes or QR Codes using a device’s camera, and by making purchases, .[1] The app is currently available for iOS (both iPhone and iPad) and Android devices.
Kicks can be redeemed for various rewards such as gift cards, iTunes song downloads, movie tickets, and Facebook Credits, among others. Rewards are relatively low. The first prize level consists of $2 for various retailers like Amazon, Target, etc. Users can also receive special discounts on specific products at specific stores. Partner stores currently include Target, Best Buy, Macy’s, Crate & Barrel, Old Navy, American Eagle Outfitters, Sports Authority, JCPenney, and many others. The program is also supported by 70 brands, which currently include P&G, Unilever, Mondelez, Colgate, Revlon, Disney, Levi’s and HP.[2]
Shopkick receives a fee for each kick a customer earns. If a customer buys something after using the app, shopkick gets a percentage of the price.[3] On July 23, 2013, shopkick launched in-app purchasing so that users can browse and buy products while using the app.[4]
Shopkick reached its first profitable quarter in Q4 2012, and produced $200M in revenue for its partners in 2012, and $500M in 2013[5] and was ranked the most widely used and most engaging shopping app in the real world by Nielsen in 2012.[6]
In October 2014, shopkick launched in Germany with 10 retail and brand partners nationwide and ProSiebenSat.1 as a strategic partner, in shopkick’s first international expansion.[7]
Also in October 2014, shopkick was acquired for over $200M in cash by SK Planet, part of SK Group and SK Telecom, a Fortune 100 company and the mobile commerce market leader in South Korea, in the largest mobile commerce transaction to date.[8]
Early 2016, shopkick acquired the technology and team of Theneeds to support the company personalization efforts as it continues to re-imagine the shopping experience for consumers, retailers and brands.[9]
Contents [hide]
1 Background
2 Impact
3 Technology
4 Awards and Accolades
5 User Reviews
6 Further reading
7 References
8 External links
Background[edit]
Shopkick, based in Redwood City, California (in Silicon Valley), was co-founded by Cyriac Roeding, Jeff Sellinger, and Aaron Emigh in 2009[10] and has investors that include venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, as well as Reid Hoffman (co-founder of LinkedIn Corp), and Greylock Partners.[11] The company has raised $20 million in venture funding.[12]
CEO Cyriac Roeding, founder and EVP of CBS’s mobile unit, created the concept of rewards for walking into stores while an entrepreneur-in-residence at Kleiner Perkins.[13]
The shopkick app was released in August 2010, initially with five national retail partners on board: Macy’s, Best Buy, Sports Authority and American Eagle Outfitters, and the Simon Property Group.[14]
In November 2010, shopkick announced it had added Target to its list of retailers deploying its platform and mobile app. Target also offers scannable mobile coupons to customers for redemption at checkout.[13][15] In May 2011, Crate and Barrel joined shopkick.[16] Shopkick added Old Navy, a Gap Inc. brand, to its list of retail partners in November 2011.[17] Shopkick and ExxonMobil partnered in April 2012 to give mobile reward to customers at more than 375 gas stations in Miami, New York and Washington, D.C.[18]
In May 2012, Target announced it would be integrating all 1,764 of their stores nationwide with shopkick. Target was testing out the app with their stores in 7 cities previously, and quoted “rave reviews” as the reason to roll out nationwide.[19] American Eagle also rolled out shopkick nationwide to all its 1,000 stores. MasterCard announced a partnership with shopkick in July 2012 that will allow their cardholders to earn “kicks” by linking their card with shopkick’s Buy & Collect program.[20]
Sports Authority and the Sony store has joined the walk in program as well. Others sporadically participate with batches of products – including Walgreens with scans of their private label and the Verizon Wireless stores. However, this participation is usually only for limited intervals.
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