Month: April 2018

How to shop your way to free gift cards

Posted on by Kick Writers

Shopping has brought so many new things into my life. (I mean, bringing new things into my life is literally the point of shopping.) I’ve made friends with gals who like to shop at the same stores I do, for instance, and it has taught me things like the thrills of value hunting and to appreciate the folks who work so hard to make shops and restaurants run smoothly.

shop your way to free gift cardsAnother thing I’ve learned that really stands out is that you can shop your way to free gift cards. That’s right, you can get free gift cards to your favorite stores just by doing the shopping you normally do!

Not to diminish the lessons I’ve learned or the bonds I’ve forged, but getting these free gift cards is about as good as it gets. That’s why today I want to share some of my top tips for how to shop your way to free gift cards. As much as I love the knowledge that my shopping hobby is earning me great rewards, I’d enjoy it even more if you were sharing in the love, too!

How to Shop Your Way to Free Gift Cards by Downloading a Shopping Rewards App

The most important piece of advice I have for those of you who want to shop your way to free gift cards is to download a shopping rewards app. Some of you may be familiar with these, but for those who aren’t, how they work is by giving you points for shopping. Maybe you’ve used an in-house app, like the Walmart Savings Catcher, and that’s great, but I’m talking about a third-party app that you can use at many, many stores, instead.

Shopping apps come in a couple of variations. A few—coupon apps—are basically the digital version of that paper coupon clipping system of old. With these, you can search for and use coupons from your phone. The other type—which is my favorite—is a true shopping rewards app, like Shopkick, and how these work is by giving you points for the things you do while you’re out at the store already. You can then trade those points in later for gift cards.

Shop Your Way to Free Gift Cards with a Shopping Rewards App

You have plenty of choices when it comes to choosing a third-party shopping app, but let me tell you about my personal favorite: It’s called Shopkick and, as far as I’m concerned, it’s the most versatile and the most fun to use of all the options.

I use Shopkick when I’m grocery shopping, clothes shopping—you name it. It’s great because it comes complete with its own shopping list function that helps me stay organized and shows me when a product gives extra points. And, I immediately start to collect points (they call them kicks) just for walking through the door of certain stores. As I browse the aisles, I can rack up even more kicks by scanning barcodes on featured items, all of which turns my trip into a super fun scavenger hunt for points. Finally, once I’ve made my purchases, I simply use the app to scan my receipt, and, voila! even more points. Oh, and as a bonus, you can even score kicks for shopping online!

I use Shopkick when I’m grocery shopping, clothes shopping—you name it.

Shopkick has really changed how I shop. Now, I look forward to busting out my phone before I even hit the store just so I can see which stores are offering points, and which items or brands will give me kicks for scanning. Another great thing about Shopkick is that it has the most fun social media channels. I don’t know how many times I’ve burst out laughing right in the aisle at a funny joke or meme some other Shopkicker has posted.

So, for those of you who want to shop your way to free gift cards (and have fun doing so), I strongly urge you to give Shopkick a try. Not only has it given me an excuse to go shopping with girlfriends, it has actually made even grocery shopping fun again. In fact, my favorite part of shopping these days is how easily I earn gift cards with Shopkick. I’d be willing to wager a gift card or two that you’ll love it as much as I do!

Ready to start shopping your way to more free gift cards than you can handle? Download Shopkick for free and join a community of loyal Shopkickers who’ve already discovered how rewarding—and fun—shopping with us can be!

And, if you love using your smartphone to stay up on social media, join us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for daily shopping inspiration.

Image courtesy weyo

Shop outdoor spring essentials

Posted on by Kick Writers

Find everything you need to transform your patio into the patio of your dreams. Open the Shopkick app to check out some of our favorite finds!

Let’s take this outside

It’s the perfect time to refresh your outdoor space + earn big kicks! From 4/28 through 5/1, get double the kicks at Walmart.com, eBay, Overstock, Jet and Etsy when you purchase through the Shopkick app.

Get double the kicks per $1 spent online!

Participating Partners:

Overstock
14 kicks per $1
was 7 kicks per $1

Jet
12 kicks per $1
was 6 kicks per $1

eBay
10 kicks per $1
was 5 kicks per $1

Walmart.com
6 kicks per $1
was 3 kicks per $1

Etsy
6 kicks per $1
was 3 kicks per $1
*Offer only available on purchases made through the Shopkick app from 4/28 – 5/1.

How to earn kicks for online purchases

Step1

Look for the cart icon to find stores with kicks for online purchases.

Step2

Tap “Shop Now” on an offer or in a store’s page to visit through Shopkick.

Step1

Add items to your cart and checkout with any payment method.

Posted in b2c

How to market a new product successfully using social and mobile

Posted on by Kick Writers

How to market a new product successfully using social and mobile

Get In Touch

Many of the tips on how to market a new product online are familiar. Study what your competition is doing, know your demographics and target the right audience, adjust your marketing message to them, and connect with consumers on social media are all common recommendations. While those may be useful tips, they only scratch the surface of Internet marketing. When looking at how to sell a new product in the digital age, brands must be prepared to create deeper connections via an online engagement campaign that builds trust.

One area where brands may struggle is digital consumer engagement. Most consumers don’t regularly interact with brands in the digital space, choosing instead to socialize with friends, family, and other community users. Consumer interaction is imperative if a brand wants to build buzz for a new product, but getting consumers to speak up in public can be a challenge. Often, a more impactful way to interact with these consumers is to do it on a personal level, via the use of a third-party mobile marketing app. Third-party apps connect brands directly with consumers in the digital space, enabling them to engage with these potential customers when a new product is released.

For brands attempting to market a new product, knowing some essential strategies and techniques—from what to assess in a competitive analysis to how to partner with influential third-party apps—can mean the difference between failure to gain traction and massive industry recognition.

How to Perform a Digital Competition Analysis

When evaluating marketing competition for a new product, brands need to do a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) of their largest competitors. This will give insight on what competing brands are doing in terms of social media marketing. It will also help a brand discover marketing opportunities their competition may have failed to capitalize on. A SWOT analysis of a social campaign analyzes:

[siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_Features_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget]

Strengths:

Strengths speak to what the brand is doing right. If it has a high performing Facebook page or a Twitter account with at least a six-figure following, those would be clear strengths for the brand—and practices worth imitating.

[siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_Features_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget]

Weaknesses:

Weaknesses are anything hurting the brand’s image and limiting its impact. Having, for example, a weak social media following or being embroiled in a controversy over something posted on one of the brand’s accounts would be considered a weakness.

[siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_Features_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget]

Opportunities:

Opportunities in digital marketing lie where your competition may have left holes in the market. Many brands advertise on major platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, but miss lesser known but still incredibly popular niche sites. Reddit is a prime example: The site boasts 330 million users and has a wide range of categories and subtopics but is rarely leveraged by marketers.

[siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_Features_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget]

Threats:

Threats in digital marketing can come in the form of new competitors on a platform, like the possibility that a competitive brand will bulk up its presence on a social media site and target your potential audience. They can also come in the form of a sudden decline in the popularity of a particular site, where a brand may be positioning a new product. If a brand gains a large following on Facebook, for example, only to have consumers abandon the social media site altogether, that could be a threat for the brand.

Doing a SWOT analysis of your competitors’ digital marketing efforts helps you identify their strength and weaknesses—which may be similar to yours—and leverage this knowledge against them. It will also help you find holes in the market where you can advertise your product. If, for example, Brand X has a new product nearly identical to yours, along with a massive following on Facebook, it might be wiser to place your marketing campaign somewhere they are not.

Create Buzz with Social Media

One issue marketers run into with social media campaigns is that advertisements are frequently ignored. While paid social campaigns can deliver some sales conversion, they rarely generate buzz. That’s because ads don’t create enthusiasm, people do. To get people to participate on a brand’s social media page—thereby creating buzz—brands must interact in ways consumers find meaningful. Within social media, there are a few tools brands can use:

[siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_Features_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget]

Purpose-driven marketing:

Purpose-driven marketing isn’t designed just to sell a product, it’s designed to bring attention to an issue or cause. Del Monte Foods is a prime example. Del Monte uses its Facebook page not just to share information about products, but also to share the brand’s passion for natural, organic, and healthy foods. This strategy has helped the brand align itself with individuals who are also passionate about healthy, organic eating—a built-in audience Del Monte can market to when launching new products.
Purpose-driven marketing campaigns reach consumers on an emotional level, and brands can capitalize on this in order to gain attention when new products launch.

[siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_Features_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget]

Solution-based messages:

One of the oldest rules of marketing is to know your audience’s pain points and address them with your message. Dannon utilizes this strategy with its #KnowYourYogurt Twitter campaign. Yogurt may fall into the healthy food category, but it’s often not as healthy as consumers think, thanks to high sugar content.

Dannon used a solution-based messaging tactic when it announced new, healthier ingredients and better labels that offered more transparency. Creating a solution for consumers concerned about high-sugar content in “healthy” foods built trust, and promoting that change helped show the brand had addressed consumer concerns. Encouraging transparency also helped align consumers with the cause and the brand.

[siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_Features_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget]

Appropriate hashtags:

Hashtags are an essential tool that every brand should use when posting on social media. Hashtags allow consumers to discover content. Brands should also encourage consumers to use their branded hashtag in order to improve product visibility.

Hashtags are something Hallmark manages well on its Instagram page. The brand regularly uses hashtags to draw attention to timely content, such as April stories featuring hashtags such as #AprilShowers, #April, and #umbrellas. The brand also encourages consumers to use its hashtag, #MyHallmark, for a chance to be featured on its page.
While hashtags such as #AprilShowers may be non-branded, they allow consumers to discover the brand when searching for the popular hashtags. Meanwhile, branded hashtags improve engagement.

These social media interaction methods pique consumers’ interest in the brand and make them more receptive to messages about new products. Followers of the brand can then become brand ambassadors for a new product by sharing it on their pages or within their feeds. This creates a snowball effect and can create buzz.

Brands, however, also need to be aware that many of their followers will never interact unless the brand reaches out to them directly.

Get The Likes: How to Market a New Product to Passive Social Media Consumers

Lurking, an Internet phenomenon where someone regularly reads content but never responds to it, is so common there’s a rule about it: the 90-9-1 rule. This states that 1% of social media users generate the majority of content; 9% interact irregularly; and 90% observe but rarely interact publicly.

Being able to connect with the 1% and 9% is imperative, but so is reaching that silent majority. While connecting with users who don’t comment or interact can be a challenge, there are a few ways brands can encourage silents to speak up when a new product is launching:

[siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_Features_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget]

Keep online channels conflict-free:

Often, lurkers are hesitant to post for fear of conflict. Brands should police their pages so consumers feel comfortable. Ensure there are moderators on staff who will guarantee that topics stay on subject and users remain civil to one another. When someone does post for the first time, they should be welcomed warmly and encouraged to continue participating.

[siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_Features_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget]

Make contributing easy:

Having to create content or post comments might be a bit overwhelming for lurkers, but activities such as submitting an opinion, engaging in polls, and clicking “like” or “share” can be simple. Encourage lower-key participation from users and you may find the lurkers come out of the shadows.

[siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_Features_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget]

Reward interaction:

When a brand rewards interaction—whether it’s with a free product or simple recognition—user engagement tends to increase. Ask consumers to share information about a new product on their own pages for a chance to earn a reward or free product and they will often participate.

Brands must remember that the vast majority of their online audience will never directly interact with the brand. The brand will likely still reach those consumers; however, creating the kind of emotional connection that gets that consumer interested in your new product can be a challenge.

An alternative to attempting to connect with consumers on social media is to reach this audience through third-party mobile apps, especially those that travel with the customer as they’re in the shopping aisle.

The Benefits of Using Mobile Apps to Market a New Product

A mobile shopping app can be a useful ally in the effort to spread awareness of a new product, including when that product is available at brick-and-mortar locations. Mobile apps allow brands to connect with consumers at the right moment, and can even funnel them to a department, aisle, or shelf location. They can help ensure consumers seek out, and can locate, new products on the very day of release.

Mobile interaction is a strategy that Shopkick leverages in its app, which provides users with rewards for finding and scanning products in the shopping aisle. A brand using the app when releasing a new product could offer points to consumers who seek the product out in the store. Once the consumer holds the product in their hands to scan it they may be tempted to purchase it, too.

Third-party mobile apps such as Shopkick also allow brands to identify the ideal consumer and then target the very best message to them. A brand marketing a new puppy chow, for example, only wants to market to dog owners. With a high performing mobile app, the brand would be able to pinpoint those who own dogs and may be interested in the product.

Another benefit of third-party mobile app marketing is that it allows a brand access to an audience it may never have reached before. That’s because the third-party shopping app will have its own set of existing users. Having this kind of built-in audience is a boon for marketers, and partnering eliminates the need for a brand to develop its own app, which can be a challenging and expensive.

Finally, many third-party apps feature rewards programs. Rewards programs allow brands to incentivize product engagement while limiting the expense of discounting. Brands know how expensive a product launch can be, so the ability to leverage a marketing medium that does not rely on discounting is imperative.

Any brand looking at how to market a new product in the digital age needs to study their competitors, find areas of opportunity for marketing, and leverage that knowledge. While interaction with consumers is critical, brands must also recognize that the majority of users on social media do not frequently interact in a public space. Thus, brands should make interaction comfortable for users and leverage mobile apps to connect with consumers. Mobile shopping apps regularly serve as a bridge to consumers for brands trying to market a new product.

Shopkick effectively helps partners gain awareness and trial for new offerings both online and offline.  For more information on how our app can benefit your brand, contact us.

Posted in b2b

How proximity marketing apps can drive traffic

Posted on by Kick Writers

How proximity marketing apps can drive traffic

With a proximity marketing app, brands, retailers or restaurants can increase store traffic and gain brand recognition when it matters most. That’s because the ability to travel with consumers and meet them in the moment of decision is a powerful tool for a company. Apps that incorporate proximity marketing allow brands to track consumer traffic patterns, develop innovative ways to drive traffic through the door, and can even drive sales. They can also be used to leverage consumer trust, get customers to interact with products, and improve marketing insights for brands.

A well-executed proximity marketing campaign is more than simple advertising, it’s a means of tracking and measuring consumers’ behavior as they travel. Mobile shopping apps, for example, allow brands to plan marketing campaigns in a way that incentivizes consumers through rewards-based programs and timely offers. Proximity marketing that uses context-based messaging, or connects consumers to a nearby location, can help ensure that a consumer remembers a brand. There are many reasons proximity marketing apps drive traffic, and each is centered around the improved connection a company can make with the consumers who use these apps.

Establishing Trust for Qualified Leads

The requirement for permissive use associated with proximity marketing also gives brands an advantage. If a customer has agreed to receive location-based messages through an app or from your brand, they’ve established a high baseline of trust, which a brand can build upon.

About 74% of consumers find it very important that they are able to control who has access to
their data. In the same vein, 76% of adults lack confidence in online advertisers’ ability to keep that data secure. Asking a consumer for permission not only to send them advertisements but also to also track their physical location is asking consumers to trust your brand. Those who opt-in to proximity marketing, then, are more qualified or likely to convert.

When a consumer gives your brand access to data via a proximity marketing app, they are signaling receptiveness to your brand’s communication. This sets the stage for you to deliver context-based messages that speak to their specific needs. And, context-based messaging is more likely engage a consumer, making your message more memorable.

Making a Bigger Impact with Context-Based Messaging

One of the major benefits of proximity marketing is that it allows a company to give more in-depth context to its marketing message. Consumers can see an advertisement for a product or a location at the very moment they’re considering a purchase. This kind of meaningful advertising results in more effective brand awareness and serves as an excellent means of moving a potential customer through the sales cycle.

Casual dining company Bloomin’ Brands—which owns such restaurants as Outback Steakhouse and Carrabba’s Italian Grill—is one company that has used proximity marketing to grow both brand recognition and sales, largely through context-based messages. The company uses geolocation tracking to promote their nearby restaurant choices—along with information like locations, hours, menus, and reviews—as the consumer is considering dining options in the area. The company targets these messages based on that consumer’s past dining behaviors, then reaches out to the potential diner with a message that offers rewards for dining at a Bloomin’ Brands restaurant. This creates a context-based message, as the consumers receive a message about dining options when they’re considering stopping at a restaurant. It also incentivizes purchase by offering a reward for stopping in.

Proximity marketing allows the company to reach consumers who are in the right mindset. Even if the consumer decides not to dine at the restaurant advertised in the mobile app marketing campaign, they’ll be more likely to remember that restaurant—and its location—than if they’d simply seen a commercial for the restaurant on television.

For location-based advertising, restaurants, and brick-and-mortar stores, context campaigns offer great traffic. CPG brands hoping to gain more traffic in the shopping aisle, however, need to take it a bit further and focus on getting consumers to interact with their products.

Engaging the User In-Store with a Proximity Marketing App

For CPG brands, driving traffic isn’t just about getting consumers into the store; it’s about getting them to go to a specific section of the store. This is the point at which there’s the greatest sales potential for a brand and the most competition since most CPG brands sit on the shelves alongside their competitors.

Getting consumers to view a certain segment of the aisle can be achieved with the help of a rewards-based proximity marketing program. It’s a strategy that Shopkick has built into its shopping rewards app. Consumers using Shopkick earn points—known as kicks—for typical shopping behaviors such as visiting certain stores, making purchases, and engaging with products. They later redeem these kicks for gift cards. This gamified strategy can turn average shopping into a fun scavenger hunt. Most importantly for brands, however, it can also drive traffic to the aisle—and to specific shelf locations.

This type of rewards system incentivizes consumers to seek out a brand’s product in the store and can have an impact on several fronts:

[siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_Features_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget]

Interaction drives sales:

One way consumers earn rewards is by scanning the barcodes of certain products via their phone. Encouraging physical interaction with a product increases the likelihood of a sale for a brand. The ability for consumers to earn additional rewards for purchasing the product—which is already in their hand—further incentivizes sales.

[siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_Features_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget]

Interaction improves brand recall:

Brand recall occurs when a consumer remembers a brand when it matters the most—as they’re about to purchase a product. In-store interaction with a product can foster an important psychological cue that can encourage future purchase behavior. In the consumer’s mind, the brand is now linked to the desired product and to that product’s location in the store.
For example, a consumer uses an app to earn for scanning the barcode on a bottle of nail polish, but doesn’t buy it. Later in the week, the consumer decides it’s time for a new shade. Since they already know the brand, know where it is located in the store, and know that they could potentially earn additional rewards for a purchase, they’ll be more likely to seek out that brand when they’re ready to buy.

[siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_Features_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget]

Interaction encourages cross-sales:

A consumer using an app in-store to earn rewards for one product may choose to buy another of the brand’s products, or convert from a competitor brand, because of that interaction. Say for example that a dairy brand offered kicks for scanning its butter. After the consumer has scanned the butter, they remember they need milk and choose that brand’s milk. Offering rewards for one product in a brand’s portfolio can help gain awareness for all of them.

Using an in-store rewards system like Shopkick funnels users to specific locations within a store, increases familiarity with a brand, and improves the likelihood that a consumer will purchase a product.

It’s strategies like these, which merge the physical and digital worlds, that provide such an incredible opportunity for brands to increase brand affinity—and potentially market share. On top of that, such app-based campaigns offer insight into consumer behaviors, which brands can use to improve future marketing strategies.

Using Proximity-Based Data to Gain Insight into Purchase Behaviors

One of the benefits of proximity marketing is that companies don’t have to choose between either mobile commerce or brick-and-mortar shopping. Mobile marketing can be used to improve both online sales and to increase in-store traffic. The consumer’s mobile phone becomes their roadmap during the shopping trip, allowing brands to direct consumers to their products. At the same time, this type of marketing can give valuable insight into consumer behaviors, allowing companies to locate and capitalize on signals of purchase intent and inform future marketing plans.

[siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_Features_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget]

Motivating consumers to seek out products:

When a brand doesn’t want to invest heavily in product placement, the ability to motivate consumers to actively seek out products is key. Consider the case of a wine brand that is experiencing low sales and that has poor shelf position. Rather than pay to improve that shelf position, the brand chooses instead to offer free rewards points just for scanning the wine’s barcode, no purchase required. This strategy can drive traffic to their shelf as well as promote consumer engagement with the brand. And, because the request—seek out wine, scan bottle—requires little time investment by the consumer it encourages a large number of scans. Brands can even experiment with the numbers to see exactly how many points it takes to get consumers to actively seek out a product in-store, all while avoiding product placement expenses.

[siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_Features_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget]

Improved ROI:

Proximity marketing data can be used to determine whether offering rewards or discounts are more effective, and what kind of consumers are attracted to a campaign. Offering a discount often gains only a one-time sale from a new customer, who may be mainly focused on price. Providing rewards, on the other hand, may turn customers into repeat buyers. Data from proximity marketing apps that incorporate rewards can be used to justify increasing rewards marketing and reducing costly discount-based deals.

[siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_Features_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget]

Testing demand for new product launches:

When rolling out a new product, a brand may choose to do so on a smaller scale, through pilot launches. A shopping app can provide a test market community, allowing the brand to determine whether the product and its marketing campaign is ready for a full launch, or if either needs tweaking first.

[siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_Features_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget]

Ability to scale for expected demand:

The real-time nature of data gathered through proximity marketing gives a brand early indication of a product’s popularity within a region, and even as narrowly as by neighborhood. This allows brands to scale supply based on specific, localized demand.

Proximity marketing allows brands to travel with consumers, and the data provided during their journey helps inform the best way to communicate with them. It offers true insight that can be used to adjust a marketing message mid-campaign or increase supply based on location-specific demand. It can even be used to inform on things like supply chain decisions for CPG brands and staffing requirements for restaurants and retailers.

Proximity marketing apps allow your brand to gain greater insight into consumer behavior. By using an app that consumers trust, you extend that trust to your brand, locations, or company. You can encourage visits to a location and increase interaction with a product by offering timely, context-based messages. Not only do proximity marketing apps drive traffic to a location, they can also improve sales and, by extension, help a company grow their market share.

Shopkick leverages proximity marketing through an innovative app that helps our partners reach consumers at the right time. For more information, contact us.

Posted in b2c

The best cash back apps for shoppers

Posted on by Kick Writers

There’s a learning curve to many things in life. Take my spin class, for example. As a jogger, before I started I was a bit skeptical. How much exercise could you really get while sitting on a bike? Still, I went to my first class determined to sweat, and sweat I did. I pedaled, and pedaled, and pedaled so furiously—even when the instructor told us to slow down—that I just about fainted right out of my seat. Turns out spin class was hard, just as hard as jogging if not harder, and there was a learning curve I had to conquer.

choosing the best cash back appsThat’s true of many things in life (ahem, dating), even simple things like finding the best cash back apps. That’s what I want to help straighten out today, though: how shoppers can choose the best cash back apps. On the surface, you might assume one is as good as the next, but the more complex truth is that each functions a little differently. Some are like digital versions of old paper coupons, others give you rewards for the shopping you do, anyway. Regardless, it’s essential that you first know what features all of the best cash back apps must have. After all, it literally pays to find the best!

Must-Have Qualities for All the Best Cash Back Apps for Shoppers

While the exact details of how each works varies from app to app, there’s some functionality all the best cash back apps should have. Here are a few features and qualities I consider vital:

  • Free to use: This is probably the simplest but most essential quality. You shouldn’t have to pay a monthly fee to use an app to get cash back. You also shouldn’t have to pay if you don’t hit a certain level, and you definitely shouldn’t have to pay just to download the app. After all, the goal here is to save you money on the shopping you do every day!
  • Available for iPhones and Androids: In my personal opinion, all of the best cash back apps for shoppers work with both platforms. That’s important not only because you might switch phones someday and you want to take all your rewards with you, but also because usually the more people using the app, the greater the savings.
  • Saves you money both online and off: Let’s face it, we’re doing as much shopping these days on our phones and computers as at brick-and-mortar stores. No matter which one you choose, your shopping app should score you points wherever you shop.
  • Fun to use: In order to maximize your savings, you have to use a cash back app every time you step into the store. In order to make sure you’re doing that, using that app has to be fun.

The All-Time Best Cash Back App for Shoppers

My personal all-time favorite cash back app for shopping hits all these marks and is ridiculously fun to use. It’s called Shopkick, and how it works is that it turns your shopping trips into a fun scavenger hunt for points. Shopkick gives you points for all the things you do anyway while shopping, like scanning products for more information, scanning your receipt, and even just for walking into certain stores. The best part is, once you’ve earned those points you can trade them in for gift cards to your favorite stores, which can seriously boost your budget!

Take it from me: Shopkick really is as good as it gets.

So, while learning curves may be part of life, the road to finding the best cash back apps for shoppers should have very few twists and turns. Take it from me: Shopkick really is as good as it gets. It’s a ton of fun and has made my trips down the aisles way more engaging. With Shopkick, every last trip to the store is less like a chore. You’ll be having so much fun you won’t even be thinking about all the money you’re saving. Won’t that add up to a happy surprise?

Conquer the learning curve and see for yourself why Shopkick is the best cash back app for shoppers. Download Shopkick’s free app and get ready to be wowed. Welcome to the fun, Shopkicker!

If you’re as social media savvy as you are shopping savvy, join us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for daily shopping fun.

Image courtesy cookiestudio

It’s time for a kick-me-up!

Posted on by Kick Writers

Calling all Shopkickers! Case of the Mondays following you through the week? In a bit of a mid-week slump? Perk up and get ready for your weekly KICK-me-up! Let us bring you a little moment of joy with some extra kicks. You deserve it!

Big kicks + chance to win even more kicks = 

Get a boost with BIG kicks from a surprise online retailer each week in the Shopkick app. Follow us on Facebook for weekly clues on the identity of the retailer. Plus, tell us your guess and get the chance to win 100 kicks!  Then, come back to Shopkick the next day and shop for the mystery retailer you guessed.

Happy shopkicking!

Don’t have the app yet? Download it now to start earning kicks and join the fun!

Posted in b2c

The best grocery apps to earn rewards for shopping

Posted on by Kick Writers

Just like some big city grocery store, the app marketplace is really crowded these days—so crowded that it can sometimes be hard to pick which app is best for a specific task. I swear I spent a year searching for the best grocery app to earn rewards for shopping. Why the dedication? Because I shop a ton—I have three hungry boys at home after all—and quite frankly I like saving money. A lot.

best grocery appI’ve given many of the contenders for best grocery app a whirl over the past year or two and now, to save you some time and effort, I’d like to share my favorites. These are all apps that let you earn rewards for the shopping you do anyway. They’re all sure to help you save some serious cash, too!

My First Grocery App: Ebates

Ebates was the very first grocery app I tried when my boys were young, and it was another mom who tipped me off to the idea of shopping apps. Ebates is a centralized platform where shoppers can search for deals and coupons from more than 1,800 retailers, saving you money when you shop online. I used Ebates for a few months, and it really did help me start to stretch my budget.

Eventually, though, I started to wish there were cash back apps like Ebates that could do a bit more to bolster my budget. So, I ended up seeking out newer apps, many of which are way more fun to use! Finding a grocery app to earn rewards for shopping that is also fun to use is key because then it’s much easier to remember to use it. At least for me anyway!

Best Grocery App for Couponing: SavingStar   

What I liked when I started using SavingStar was how it reminded me of the days when I used to clip coupons. While that’s fun and nostalgic, it’s nice not to be bothered with all that paper anymore! Which is where SavingStar comes in. SavingStar is a digital coupon app that pays users to shop at grocery and drugstores.

More than 60,000 stores are part of SavingStar. For a long time, it was my companion app to another shopping rewards app, Ebates, since I’d use Ebates online and SavingStar in the real store. Some words of warning, though: SavingStar is generally free to use, but if an account is inactive for 180 straight days, they will charge a fee of $3.99.

To take advantage of SavingStar, users either link their existing store loyalty cards to the app or submit receipts after they make purchases. Rewards add up until they can eventually be cashed out through PayPal, Upromise, or in the form of Starbucks, iTunes, or AMC Theater gift codes.

Best Grocery App to Earn Rewards for Shopping: Shopkick

In the end, I discovered the best grocery app to earn rewards for shopping, one that is also a ton of fun to use—Shopkick. What Shopkick does is give you points—called kicks—for things you’re already doing when you shop, like buying products, scanning the barcodes on featured items for more info, and even just walking into some stores. Then, you can turn those points into gift cards to your favorite stores.

Shopkick essentially turns all of your trips out to the store into a scavenger hunt for points.

Shopkick essentially turns all of your trips out to the store into a scavenger hunt for points. I’ve had a blast challenging myself to maximize points, which has added up to huge savings. I’ve also started to use Shopkick’s social media channels, which is a fun way to meet other Shopkickers. I’ve spent hours upon hours on Shopkick’s Facebook page sharing shopping tips with other moms and funny memes, and just talking about life in general.

Feel free to try out some of the other shopping apps out there, but if you want to avoid endlessly searching the crowded app marketplace, take my word for it and download Shopkick, ASAP. It’s the only shopping rewards app I actually look forward to using when I head to the store!

Get to know one of the best grocery apps to earn rewards for shopping. Download Shopkick today and join a community of loyal Shopkickers who’ve already discovered how much you can earn with the help of a free shopping sidekick.

And, if you’re on social media catching up with friends, be sure to also join Shopkick on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for a little daily fun and inspiration.

Image courtesy Wavebreak Media Ltd