Wikipedia
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, . 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.
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. On July 23, 2013, shopkick launched in-app purchasing so that users can browse and buy products while using the app.
Shopkick reached its first profitable quarter in Q4 2012, and produced $200M in revenue for its partners in 2012, and $500M in 2013 and was ranked the most widely used and most engaging shopping app in the real world by Nielsen in 2012.
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.
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.
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.