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Shopkick, a mobile check-in and rewards app, and Visa are hoping consumers are in a holiday-shopping mood.
Shopkick
The two companies announced a partnership today to offer a faster way for consumers to earn “kicks”–Shopkick’s version of rewards–which can be redeemed for gift cards, gadgets, and other goodies. Shopkick works when a user walks into a retail partner: enter the store and get your kicks. With the new offer, users get additional kicks when they purchase their goods using a linked Visa credit or debit card.
Shopkick gets a major partner in Visa and offers its customers an additional incentive not only to visit a store, but to make a purchase, which in turn proves its value to its retail partner. Visa, meanwhile, generates additional revenue through the fees it charges on the transaction and moves even deeper into the mobile world. It’s part of its broader initiative to create a foothold on consumers’ smartphones; last week it unveiled the name of its digital wallet, V.me.
Shopkick users will have to join a new “Buy & Collect” program that will ask to link a Visa card. Customers who don’t have a Visa card can still use the app’s regular services.
The ones who do participate in the program, however, get the initial kicks when they visit the store, but also a green payment icon that takes them to nearby offers that yield additional rewards.
The first retailers to offer the service are American Eagle Outfitters, Arden B., Old Navy, Toys “R” Us, and Wet Seal. The service is available immediately at these stores.
