Shopkick is a dream come true for location app junkies: A mobile app that will know your whereabouts and will automatically check you in once you’ve arrived at a given location.
It’s also a great boon for brands. This kind of auto-checkin eliminates cheating and allows companies and brands to target and reward the true faithful with points and real-world rewards.
The service uses Foursquare’s API, and today it announced a partnership with Best Buy and upcoming deals with Macy’s and other retailers. Shopkick’s Signal technology doesn’t require users to check in, and it verifies that the user is actually, physically present in a retail location before unlocking any promotional perks. Users can get access to gift cards, movies, music downloads, gadgets and more with their actions.
One of the rewards for actions, which include walk-ins and item-scans, is a virtual currency called “kickbucks.” These units can be redeemed for Facebook Credits, real-world cash credit at partner stores and more. In addition to kickbucks, users can collect sets of bonuses at different locations. Users can redeem any in-app goodies by giving their mobile number to a store clerk.
In essence, the app attempts to create an interactive, social experience within a shopping trip.
The app isn’t available yet but will be coming soon to the iPhone. Generally speaking, we try to avoid covering private beta apps or things our readers can’t immediately use, but we wanted to tell you about Shopkick for two important reasons. The first is that we find auto-checkin technology both fascinating and potentially compromising (particularly for the more forgetful among us who might not remember to turn the app off when we wish to be off the grid). If you’d like to test drive a similar technology from the creators of Shopkick’s retail-focused app, check out CauseWorld, which is available now in the App Store(
) and Android Market(
).
The second is that this startup has attracted an obscene amount of investor attention over the past few months. The company’s $5 million series A (split between two increments of $2.5 in July 2009 and January 2010) was swiftly followed up $15 million series B last month. Both rounds were led by Kleiner Perkins, and the latter was augmented by funding from Greylock (Series A individual investor Reid Hoffman joined Greylock in 2009). If investors feel an unlaunched mobile app is worth $20 million out of the gate, we feel that app deserves some scrutiny.
Go to Shopkick’s website to sign up for e-mail notifications when the app is released. The iPhone app should be out by the end of August, and an Android(
) application will come out later this fall.
Hat-Tip to Mashable.com
