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Shopkick Wants to Reward You For, and Track, Your Shopping Habits

by Terrence O'Brien on August 18, 2010 at 08:10 AM

Shopkick
Advertisers and retailers have been looking for new and unique ways to leverage the recent influx of GPS-enabled smartphones in attracting customers and gathering important information about their shopping behaviors. Foursquare introduced some new ideas, but retailers wanted to take it a step further. Enter Shopkick. The new app turns shopping (and violating your privacy) into a game that, retailers hope, will encourage customers to wander into stores, and explore their shelves. Unlike Foursquare, Shopkick doesn't just tell your friends when you check it, but it also lets the retailers know when you enter a store. This allows businesses to build a powerful and rich database of customer behavior, and also to see how their offers and rewards influence movement.

If you're okay with a slight violation of privacy and being tracked like you're on a watch list, joining Shopkick is easy. Simply download the app (iPhone only at the moment, but an Android version is in the works), and grant it permission to access your location. In no time at all, Shopkick will alert you when you're near a store and reward you "Kickbucks" for visiting retailers or for scanning items on the shelves. There are also a series of achievements and bonuses to earn that are designed to keep users engaged; although, in our brief hands-on, they were just annoying. The bulk of the rewards are handed out for visiting shops, but some points can be accrued without ever leaving your couch. Simply looking at the entries for businesses in your neighborhood can earn you Kickbucks, which can be redeemed for gift cards or Facebook credits. (However, the number of "Kickbucks" needed to earn even a $2 gift certificate ensures that only the most extreme shopaholics will benefit from the system.)

Outside of its horrendous user interface and slightly creepy nature, there are some interesting and useful ideas at work here. Some retailers, including giants like Best Buy and Macy's, offer Shopkick exclusive deals and coupons. And Best Buy is working on integrating its existing rewards card program into Shopkick. Yet, the major backers at the moment -- Macy's, Sports Authority, Best Buy, American Eagle Outfitters and shopping mall group Simon Property -- will have to attract still more participants if Shopkick expects consumers to sacrifice privacy for a rather obnoxious app. We might actually be willing to accept retailers tracking our shopping habits if the rewards were attractive, but what we can't accept is a cutesy, green Nick Jr.-esque alien popping up every few minutes to tell us we've earned Kickbucks or a badge. [From: Shopkick, via: New York Times and Business Insider]


Tags: apps, best buy, BestBuy, foursquare, GpsTracking, location, location based services, LocationBasedServices, macys, marketing, mobile, mobile apps, MobileApps, mososo, privacy, rewards, shopkick, shopping, top

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