Year: 2018

3 ways to make money from home on your phone

Posted on by Kick Writers

Confession: I’m a homebody. Give me cozy pajamas, a full fridge, and my couch, and I’m perfectly content. Sure, I love the occasional brunch or happy hour, but nothing beats being home. That’s why I’m always on the lookout for easy ways to earn a little extra cash without leaving the house — and yes, it’s totally possible. 

 

Here are three simple ways to make money from home, straight from your phone. 

 

1. Take Surveys for Cash

It’s not the most exciting option, but survey apps do work. Just download one, fill in your profile, and start answering questions. The payout per survey isn’t huge, but it adds up — and you can do it all while binge-watching your favorite show.

 

Popular survey apps include InboxDollars, Swagbucks, and Toluna. 

 

2. Watch Videos and Earn Rewards

Yes, really. Apps like Fronto or Swagbucks let you earn points just for watching videos, reading articles, or checking out product deals. You trade those points for PayPal cash, gift cards, or coupons. It’s super low-effort and easy to do from the couch. 

 

3. Use Shopkick (My Favorite Way!)

If you’re looking for the most fun and flexible way to earn, Shopkick is where it’s at. You can earn “kicks” (Shopkick points) in-store and from home. 

 

From home, you can: 

  • Watch short videos 
  • Discover new products 
  • Shop online at top stores like Amazon, Walmart, and eBay 
  • Join app-based scavenger hunts for surprise kicks 

 

All those kicks can be redeemed for gift cards to your favorite stores — Target, Starbucks, Ulta, you name it. 

 

Plus, Shopkick has an awesome online community. I’ve picked up shopping tips, shared laughs in the Facebook group, and felt right at home with other savvy users. 

 

Ready to earn from the couch?

Download the free Shopkick app and start earning rewards today — no leaving the house required. 

Shopper Marketing Best Practices: Lessons from Walmart, Target, and Whole Foods

Posted on by Kick Writers

Shopper Marketing Best Practices: Lessons from Walmart, Target, and Whole Foods

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When seeking out shopper marketing best practices, the ideal option for both retailers and brands is to look at the successes of those who’ve come before them. While Walmart, Target, and Whole Foods are very diverse brands with unique demographics, many of the successful strategies that they’ve provided us with are applicable on a smaller scale, especially for CPG brands seeking new ideas. Brands wanting to update their shopper marketing mix should look to these three retail powerhouses for strategies proven to boost sales and gain market share.

Brands must always be willing to adapt as the market changes. This need for adaptability is why retailers like Walmart, Target, and Whole Foods provide so many insightful examples of shopper marketing best practices. These brands have successfully shifted focus and rethought campaigns to stay competitive as consumer needs constantly change. By staying ahead of retail advertising trends, brands can also increase their competitive edge. These practical takeaways from Walmart, Target, and Whole Foods show us how successful a brand can be when they focus on being adaptable and meeting customer needs.

Studying Walmart’s Segmentation Strategy

Walmart’s main selling point has always been its low prices. However, this has presented some challenges for the retailer as low prices typically pull in less loyal consumers. Once the brand is unable to beat the steep discounts of a competitor, they lose that customer. To combat this, Walmart makes a point of segmenting their audience to ensure that price isn’t their only competitive edge and defining factor.

To strengthen customer retention, Walmart takes a psychographic approach to audience segmentation. This type of segmentation goes deeper than simple behavioral analysis, focusing on information which is a bit harder to obtain from customer service interactions, including the following.

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Consumer Personality Types

Knowing someone’s basic personality type—like whether they’re introverted, extroverted, aggressive or passive—can help companies gain insight into how to plan events, and to ensure they’re able to satisfy all customers. A choice that’s as significant as determining whether to hold a Cyber Monday event or a Black Friday event is much easier to decide when a retailer knows how receptive their customer base is to each.

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Opinions

Political opinions can be a major factor in what drives a consumer to make purchases. It’s significant to note that Walmart has always taken a very patriotic stance by emphasizing items which are made in America, supporting charities and events for soldiers, and so on. This patriotism aligns with the opinions of the retailer’s core audience, and helps to build loyalty and trust.

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Interests

Understanding the interests of the consumer can help a retailer determine what areas to focus their attention on when planning events or selecting advertising partners. For example, Walmart is a major NASCAR supporter—evidenced in their very recent agreement to sponsor the Quaker State 400—which is again, an interest which aligns with its target audience.

Notably, on a smaller scale, Walmart offers NASCAR merchandise and holds events around the popular sport. Through this strategy, the retailer humanizes its brand by sharing its customers’ interests.

Walmart not only focuses on price, but also works diligently to build brand affinity and understand customers needs. The retailer does so by using publicly available social media information to obtain various customer profiles within its target market. This strategy is one in which brands can take advantage of as well to create a deeper connection with consumers. A brand can apply this strategy by using the following techniques.

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Following Hashtags

When a consumer follows a brand on Facebook, Twitter, or other social media site, the individual gives an indication that they are loyal to this brand. This social action sends a signal to the brand that this promising consumer should be evaluated for data potential.

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Reviewing What Followers Have in Common

Following consumers back can give brands valuable access to customer insights, for example, to the things they like and share, as well as the comments they make. This information can be aggregated to help brands find common ties among their customers, which can then be leveraged into a marketing strategy.

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Finding Brand Differentiating Factors

When a large part of a core audience has a common interest—like in the case of NASCAR and Walmart—brands should find a way to weave that common thread into their marketing strategy. This involvement doesn’t have to be expensive or extreme. It can be as simple as sharing interest-specific information on social media.

Going High-tech at Target

One way for brands to stand out and remain relevant in this fast-paced digital environment is to take advantage of emerging trends in retail shopping—which include high-tech options like mobile wallets and rewards, online ordering, and apps that blur the line between digital and physical spaces. Innovation is a value that Target focuses on to stand out in the retail landscape, and has successfully done so by implementing several new features such as the following.

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Curbside Pickup

Target continues to expand its Drive Up curbside service, which allows users to order via mobile app for pick-up in the parking lot. Many Target customers enjoy this convenient feature, and the retailer intends on implementing the strategy to up to 1,000 stores by early 2019.

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Piggybacking on Prime Day

When Amazon held its annual Prime Day, Target decided to jump on the bandwagon and offered flash sales during the event via its website. As a result, the retailer reported its biggest one-day sales event so far this year.

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Augmented Reality Features

In late 2017, Target rolled out an augmented reality function on their mobile site which allows users to view furniture in their living space via an AR overlay. This unique feature makes it easier for consumers to gauge the size and style of furniture they’re considering, creating a more seamless and helpful shopping experience.

Target’s AR option was so popular the retailer rolled out a beauty-based AR program in early 2018 which is performing equally well.

These are just a few of many strategies that Target has used to embrace technology and improve overall customer experience. Through these efforts, the company manages to stay competitive in its brick-and-mortar locations, even when competing with major online retailers. This is also a strategy that brands can capitalize on, but on a smaller scale. Brands that wish to follow Target’s lead should try the following.

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Stay on Top of Trends

By understanding that Prime Day wasn’t a competition, but an opportunity, Target was able to take advantage of the high volume of shoppers looking for e-commerce sales, and in turn, increased online purchases during that day. The retailer did not view this online event as a threat, but instead as an established digital trend.

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Tech as an Incentive

Consider technology an incentive—not an advertisement. Target does not use its apps or websites as strict advertising. Instead, these apps and technology improve the customer experience by offering an additional service.

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Partner With Third Parties

Not all brands have unlimited budgets to invest in new retail mobile apps and high-tech website features. Partnering with third-parties helps to allay some of these expenses. Shopkick, for example, offers a shopping app which brands can use to direct consumers to their products in the store, providing a seamless shopping experience.

 

Whole Foods Updates Shopper Marketing Best Practices in a New Market

Whole Foods faced challenging times during the sudden explosion of demand for organic food. For years and years, the brand controlled the health food niche simply due to supply and demand. The desire for these foods had not gone mainstream, allowing the brand to focus on this opportunity to differentiate itself from competitors. As organic offerings became more popular, many other chains released lower-cost natural alternatives to Whole Foods products, eliminating the retailer’s competitive edge.

However, in the midst of this challenge, Whole Foods saw an opportunity. With so many new consumers entering the organic food market, the retailer realized this new audience would need some guidance. Whole Foods shifted its entire marketing message from serving a niche of knowledgeable customers to servicing a mainstream market. These changes involved the following.

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Humanizing the Brand

In its new digital, online, and television advertisements, Whole Foods has pulled away from the commercials of old and instead has introduced their audience to more human moments and relatable characters. A few examples include a man on a Paleo-diet convincing his father to participate in the diet as well, or another that shows a customer overwhelmed by cheese choices in the store.

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Employing Experts

Whole Foods employees aren’t just working cash registers or stocking shelves. They are knowledgeable brand ambassadors that are prepared to provide information—especially to those new to buying organic—which helps to guide customer purchases.

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Reducing Prices

Whole Foods had to reevaluate its pricing structure to win over consumers who were seeking out lower cost organic options elsewhere. One way the brand did this was by partnering with Amazon—who purchased the retailer in 2017—to include more Whole Foods products through its Prime program.

Whole Foods was able to adapt to a challenging climate and reinvigorate its brand. By reviewing its audience, the retailer created a new campaign which resonated as organic foods went mainstream. This strategy is one that many brands can emulate by trying the following measures.

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Becoming Subject Matter Experts

While many retailers sell organic foods, Whole Foods differentiates by presenting itself as an expert on organic foods. This can be a particularly useful strategy for challenger brands, as this helps even smaller, lesser known brands increase visibility not only for their products, but for their knowledge. This method is excellent for building consumer trust which can, in turn, build brand affinity.

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Rewarding Customers

Not every brand can afford to cut prices, and many don’t want to, as their focus is not on price-based competition. Rewards act as an alternative to discounts as they still offer a financial return to consumers without diminishing brand value.

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Staying True to Branding During a Pivot:

While Whole Foods shifted its strategy, the retailer didn’t compromise their core values by offering discount organic foods to compete with other mainstream retailers. Instead, the brand stayed true to its focus on locally sourced, quality foods even as they introduced those foods to new consumers. Through this strategy, the brand was able to connect with new consumers without alienating their existing loyal customers.

The three strategies of these retail giants can be easily adaptable to shopper marketing best practices for CPG brands of any size, from small startup brands to major multinational companies. By examining the segments of their audiences, offering new features through technology, and pivoting a brand without changing its message, companies can retain loyal customers while opening new markets. These brands can differentiate themselves even in a very crowded climate and as a result, grow their market share.

Shopkick helps our partners improve the customer experience by offering an engaging, gamified app which encourages brand interaction. For more information on how our app can benefit your brand, contact us.

Posted in b2b

Get your Starbucks fix at home (and earn kicks!)

Posted on by Kick Writers

Did you get your morning fix? If you did, it was only one (or two) of the 400 million cups of coffee Americans drink every day. Many of us can thank Starbucks for providing our morning cup of joe. Whether you’re a Starbucks fanatic or just like their vibe, you can now get kicks for Starbucks!

Earn kicks for Starbucks in stores

Scan and submit receipts to earn kicks for select Starbucks ground coffee and K-Cups in stores like Walmart, Target, and many more. Open the app to find scans near you!

 

Earn kicks for Starbucks online

You can also find your favorite Starbucks products online through Shopkick and earn kicks with every $1 spent on stores like Walmart.com, Boxed, Jet, and more.

Waking up is easy when you can enjoy your favorite cup of Starbucks coffee in the comfort of your home. With coffee this convenient, you’ll be ready for the day in no time.

Bring your Starbucks fix home with you, and go ahead and treat yourself to that second cup — you’ve earned it!

Don’t have Shopkick yet?

Download it now to start earning a free gift card for the shopping you already do!

Where the best deals on electronics are hiding on your smartphone

Posted on by Kick Writers

I have a confession to make: even though I’m a fully-grown, adult man, I have become just a little bit obsessed with playing Pokemon Go on my phone. Hey, what can I say? I don’t even have any excuses besides that you gotta catch ‘em all. Real Pokemon players will know exactly what I’m talking about with that one. Anyway, the thing I love about this game is that it pushes you to go out and use the Pokemon Go app to hunt for new Pokemon in all kinds of different places, from a park to inside the aisles at a grocery store. 

I’ve played it so much, in fact, that the other day I started thinking about how great it would be if there was an app out there that paid me to do this kind of scavenger hunting in other ways. When I thought about it for a minute, I realized that there actually is an app that does that.

Today I’m going to go over the type of app I’m talking about, how you can use it to get paid for playing a fun scavenger hunt that’s pretty similar to that Pokemon game, and then how you can use your points from that game to find the best deals on electronics, that are hiding on your smartphone like a rare pokemon! Oh, and I’ll close by suggesting a specific shopping app that I think all electronics aficionados like myself must have on their smartphones.

Use Third-Party Shopping Apps to Earn the Best Deals on Electronics

The first step to finding out where the best deals on electronics are hiding on your smartphone is to learn what a third-party shopping app is and how it works. It’s actually a pretty simple concept. Third-party shopping apps give you rewards for shopping, or they help you save money on your purchases. There are actually two main types of third-party shopping apps that you should know about, which if you’re a Pokemon player like me isn’t that many at all, not compared to all the different Pokemon that are out there.

Anyway, the first type of third-party shopping app is called a coupon app, and how it works is actually super similar to old-school coupon clipping. Depending on the app, you can either sign up and select from a list of coupons that you apply to your purchases retroactively, or you can even use it to scan paper coupons and then show them to the cashier at the store in a much cleaner and more organized way. The other type of third-party shopping app (which I prefer) is a rewards app that gives you points for the things you do while you’re out shopping already, but we’ll go into more detail about that below. First, I want to talk about how these apps can turn shopping into a game where your prize is the best deals on electronics.

Use Third-Party Shopping Apps to Turn Your Hunt for Electronics Into a Game

get the best deals on electronicsWith the Pokemon Go app, even just taking a simple walk in the park feels like a fun scavenger hunt. Well, that’s how the best shopping apps work, too. You go out to the store, and you find yourself hunting for points, points you can later trade in to make sure that you get the absolute best deals on electronics.

It’s really cool. I may have mentioned this before, but I’ve always been kind of shopping adverse. Not with these new shopping apps, though. Now, I actually look forward to my trips out to the store, even if I’m just going shopping for groceries. It’s all because of the cool incentive system. Hey, I’m a gamer. Give me a chance to earn points and I’ll jump at it every single time!

The Best Third-Party Shopping App to Find the Best Deals on Electronics

The last thing I want to do here today is give you a recommendation for a specific third-party shopping app that you can use both to turn your shopping trips into a fun game and to find points that you can trade for gift cards, which you can then use to find the best deals on electronics that are hiding on your smartphone. My favorite is this app called Shopkick, which basically works just like the scenario I described above. The app gives you points for a few different things that you do when you go shopping, things like walking into stores, going down aisles browsing products, and making purchases.

Unlike Pokemon Go, to play this game you don’t always have to get up and go somewhere. There are tons of ways that Shopkickers can earn rewards right from the app—no need to go anywhere at all. These ways include kicks for watching videos as well as instant surprise kicks for going on Easter egg hunts right on your smartphone inside of the app. Users can also get amazing deals where you can earn big points and rewards by shopping on your phone at stores like Amazon, Walmart, and more!

The first step to finding out where the best deals on electronics are hiding on your smartphone is to learn what a third-party shopping app is and how it works.

I suspect that one day I’ll get a little bit tired of hunting Pokemon. I mean, my entire life there’s always been a really cool new video game that comes along and makes the older games feel obsolete. That’s just how it goes, and I’m okay with it. I’m having fun playing Pokemon now while I still can.

However, I don’t think I’ll ever stop using Shopkick. I mean, it’s an app that both feels like a game and helps me get gift cards that I can use on electronics! It’s so good that I can no longer envision shopping without it, and that’s a very good thing.

Ready to start having fun with your shopping while at the same time finding the absolute best deals on electronics? Download Shopkick for free today and get yourself hooked up with a community of loyal Shopkickers who’ve already discovered how rewarding—and fun—shopping 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 Mbruxelle

Posted in b2c

Creative shopper marketing plans: How to grab the attention of your target audience

Posted on by Kick Writers

Creating a shopper marketing plan for a target audience requires a lot of insight. Brands must be prepared to do a deep dive into their ideal customer data to ensure delivery of messages at the right time, to the right group of consumers. A critical part of this is understanding and working with data.

With the right data, brands can connect with consumers based on their specific needs, as well as reach out to new consumers, or market new products. Data is available on just about every online platform. However, data which travels with consumers—like in the case of mobile shopping apps—can be particularly valuable. Using data helps in guiding brand marketing campaigns, which can, in turn, increase market share.

Deciphering Data for a Shopper Marketing Plan

Brands need to gain insight into their target audiences to create a marketing strategy around shopper behavior, That means finding the most useful, relevant data—the types of which can be broken down into four broad categories.

Identity Descriptive Quantitative Qualitative
This category covers the basics like name, address, email, phone number, and other fundamental identifying factors. This data goes a bit deeper into identity, breaking down an individual’s socioeconomic class, marital, and family status.   Quantitative data is numbers-based. It’s used to determine how often a consumer makes purchases, how much they spend, and more. This data is a way of measuring why a customer behaves in a certain way. The qualitative category is mostly subjective and centers on what drives customer purchase decisions.

Marketers can use first-party data, or data given directly from the consumer to the company, when building a shopper marketing plan. For example, popular e-commerce retailer, Amazon, uses a consumer’s prior history on the shopping platform to provide them with future purchase recommendations. Alternatively, marketers can use third-party data, where available data is used or purchased from outside sources. Shopkick, for example, acts as an intermediary for third-party data because the app provides partnering companies with information regarding its users’ shopping behaviors.

Using Data to Target Shoppers

A good shopper marketing plan focuses on using prior behaviors to predict a shopper’s future purchases. More than a few brands have leveraged this tactic, including:

  • Dannon: When Dannon wanted to promote a new line of natural yogurts, the brand had to consider their existing audience, which was made up primarily of older individuals who spent more time watching television than they did on digital media. As a means of creating a digital bridge for younger customers, Dannon offered a promo code during its TV commercials, which when sent via text, delivered mobile coupons for the new product.
  • Pringles: When the brand wanted to create a new marketing campaign, they turned to social media data to help them locate trends surrounding their products. When doing so, they discovered many consumers were “stacking” flavors together to create new ones. This data led to the highly popular Flavor Stacking campaign, which leveraged an existing trend to create a unique experience for customers.  
  • Covergirl: Covergirl, along with many experts within the cosmetics industry, have noticed an increased trend of men using beauty products like bronzer, eyeliner, and brow gel, among others. The brand began hiring male models and cosmetics spokespeople in 2016, and since has continued with an inclusive focus on male cosmetics users to reach this emerging demographic.

effective shopper marketing planIn all of these scenarios, brands recognized emerging trends by looking at both their existing data, as well as industry data. These strategies help brands reach new demographics as they’re taking shape, allowing them to cement themselves in before these trends go mainstream. A significant part of capitalizing on emerging trends is partnering with the right companies in order to gain access to third-party data.

Accessing Third-Party Data to Build a Shopper Marketing Plan

While there are a plethora of opportunities in third-party data available to marketers, not all are equal. Some data may be able to provide necessary identity information. However,  third-party shopping apps that connect with consumers in the shopping aisle can provide a greater array of information across the four data categories.

In many cases, brands can gain access to this data by partnering with outside companies, rather than merely purchasing this data. Partnering is often a better option, as it allows brands to continuously gather new information over time, which they can then use in conjunction with future marketing strategies. Other options include reviewing publicly available information on social media and other online platforms. Though, brands would do best to partner with a company experienced in gathering this data to ensure the process doesn’t become unwieldy.

Data is an essential part of a shopper marketing plan as it allows brands to get to know their audiences, capitalize on current trends, and increase the ROI of their marketing campaigns.

Data is an essential part of a shopper marketing plan as it allows brands to get to know their audiences, capitalize on current trends, and increase the ROI of their marketing campaigns. By partnering with third-party apps, these brands can open the lines of communication with consumers and ensure they’re delivering an excellent customer experience. This data doesn’t just help brands target current demographics, but also discover new ones and, with the right campaigns, grow their market share.

With Shopkick, our partners gain greater insight into their target audiences, enabling them to convert browsers to buyers. For more information, contact us.

Image courtesy of VectorKnight

Posted in b2b

How to use mobile apps to save money on groceries

Posted on by Kick Writers

I’m the type of person who is fully committed once I decide to do something. I’ve always liked to push myself. If I join a spin class, you better believe I’m going to try to ride harder every time I get on the bike. When I practice yoga, I’m forever trying to perfect my form on a new pose. Before my husband and I spent our summer vacation in Wine Country, I did weeks of research, essentially turning myself into a self-taught sommelier. I also apply this same approach to my shopping and the various ways there are for saving money.

At first, this meant staying vigilant in searching for unadvertised sales and discounts at department stores and fancy boutiques. Then, it evolved into using third-party shopping apps that gave me points for my purchases, points I could later trade in for gift cards. Now, my natural inclination to get more involved in everything I do has led me to use these same third-party shopping apps to save money when shopping for groceries. I’ve learned a lot about this and so today I’d like to share with you the top lessons I’ve learned when it comes to using mobile apps to save money on groceries.

Simply put, there is a lot to be learned and even more to save by diving into the world of apps to save money on groceries. However, there are a lot of ways to go about this and it can be a bit overwhelming at the start. Don’t worry, though, these three lessons should help you push yourself, too!

How to Use Mobile Apps to Save Money on Groceries Lesson No. 1: Do Your Homework

The first thing you need to do is learn all that you can about shopping apps, which come in a few different varieties. Here’s a quick primer to help you keep the three most common straight:

  • Branded Shopping Apps: These apps that specific stores offer to give you savings and other benefits as an incentive to shop at their stores. One example is the Walmart Savings Catcher app, which automatically checks other nearby stores for lower prices and if it finds any, it deposits the difference between what you paid into an account for you to use on your next trip to the store.
  • Coupon Shopping Apps: Basically, coupon apps work like paper coupons used to, in that they give you discounted prices on things you buy. There are many different types to choose from, some of which give you a percent off before you purchase things and others that involve scanning actual paper coupons to present to the cashier before you check out.
  • Points-Based Shopping Apps: This is my favorite type of shopping app. In general, you can use these at many different types of stores, including grocery stores, and what they do is give you points for doing certain things while you’re there. Once you’ve earned enough points, you can later redeem them for cash back or gift cards (more on these later).

How to Use Mobile Apps to Save Money on Groceries Lesson No. 2: Be Consistent

how to use apps to save money on groceries

Whichever type of app you choose, the key is to be consistent. Simply put, if you don’t use an app regularly, you won’t be able to reap any benefits. It sounds like common sense, but it’s true. To maximize your savings, you need to maximize the time you spend using the app.

One great thing about shopping apps, however, is that they make this relatively easy. The best of these types of apps are so simple that you can seamlessly integrate them into your shopping routine already. Most of the time, you can earn points and savings without going out of your way even a little bit. It’s a beautiful thing…trust me.

How to Use Mobile Apps to Save Money on Groceries Lesson No. 3: Find the Perfect App

Of our three lessons here today, though, I think the most important of them is to find the perfect app. In my opinion, the answer is this app called Shopkick, and how it works is that Shopkick gives you points for the things you do when you go grocery shopping already, things like walking into stores, going down aisles browsing products, and making purchases. As I described earlier, you can then trade these points in for rewards, which come in the form of gift cards that you can use at all your favorite stores.

For me, it’s easy to remember to use Shopkick every time I go out because Shopkick turns each trip down the shopping aisle into a game, and with my personality, I end up pushing myself to see if I can top my previous point totals. It’s actually a whole lot of fun! I use Shopkick whenever I go shopping for groceries, but one last thing I want to point out about it is that there are tons of ways that Shopkickers can earn rewards right from the app—no need to even go anywhere. These include kicks for watching videos, as well as instant surprise kicks from going on Easter egg hunts within the app. Users can also get amazing deals where you can earn big points and rewards by shopping on your phone at stores like Amazon, Walmart, and more! It’s all great, and super easy to use, too.

I think one parting bit of wisdom would be to just dive right in and start having fun with this!

I hope these lessons prove as useful to you as they have for me. I think one parting bit of wisdom would be to just dive right in and start having fun with this! That’s really what keeps me focused on most of my interests, to be honest. I have to love things like spin class, wine tasting, or grabbing points with Shopkick to really get into them in the first place.

One thing that always helps me get the most out of Shopkick is interacting with other Shopkickers on the app’s social media channels like Facebook and Instagram. It’s absolutely a ton of fun. You meet all kinds of other users who are always down to share tips about the app or tell jokes. Like everything else I do, I’ve also gotten really into that!

Learn more about one of the best apps to save money on groceries by diving into Shopkick. Download Shopkick now 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 fun and inspiration.

Image courtesy dolgachov

Back to School Savings

Posted on by Kick Writers

Although we all may want the long days of summer to last all year, there is one major perk to going back to school: shopping! When I was a student, back to school shopping was such a highlight that I always chose a day during the week, wrote it down in my planner and circled it, and then started my very own countdown.

Before my back to school shopping day, I would review all of the supplies I needed (and every last thing I was convinced I should add), tally up my budget, and plan my day based on which store I wanted to visit first and which store I wanted to save until last. Whether I was prepping to go back to high school or mentally preparing for another year of college, back to school shopping always felt like its very own end of summer holiday.

Though I may not be heading back to class, I still look forward to the season every year because it’s a chance to offer my tried and true back to school shopping tips and tricks! And, they’re even better now thanks to Shopkick! Let’s review a few of my favorite retailers for back to school shopping and what I recommend purchasing below.

eBags

I cannot be the only one who opts to analyze every last feature a backpack has to offer. In high school, that meant determining if the backpack offered enough support for my back and shoulders as I carried books and binders for four classes everyday across two campuses (we didn’t have lockers). In college, I was still concerned about support, but I needed the added feature of a safe, padded spot for my laptop. eBags.com has so many fantastic options for backpacks perfect for high school (JanSport was my go-to!) and those suited for college (North Face was a favorite, but I’ve heard fantastic reviews about Tumi!).

Also, make sure to take a peek at all of the suitcases and duffels available through eBags. They’re wonderful to use when moving onto campus, and a great suitcase will serve you well as you travel home, go on vacation, and even study abroad throughout college.

HSN

If you have yet to peruse HSN for back to school shopping, be warned: you’re going to add so many great pieces to your list! Outside of scheduling classes and making sure I had the correct edition of all of my required books, my computer was always my top concern in college. You can purchase a new laptop or desktop computer through HSN because they carry all of the top brands, like Apple, HP, and Dell. Plus, if you’re in charge of bringing the TV, you can add a new flat screen to your cart too. Outside of electronics, you can also stock up on kitchen supplies for your dorm or apartment (HSN has small appliances, kitchen tools, and even plates, silverware, and glasses at the ready). And, they carry such fun lines of clothing, and they have makeup. It’s like one stop shopping for back to school!

Jet

Can we all agree there is nothing quite like new school supplies? Jet has an amazing selection of every last thing you will need for class – binders, pencils, pens, notebooks, highlighters, and even backpacks. Plus, their team has curated a special section for high school! Even though wandering through the aisles is fun, shopping online with Jet is so much more efficient! Plus, when you use Shopkick, you’re saving money on your supplies. Shopkick and school supplies – it’s a dream combination!

Amazon

I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t shop on Amazon! The deals are incredible (and even better when you shop with Shopkick to earn kicks!), and you cannot beat the variety. Rather than simply adding all of your usual purchases to your cart, I highly suggest pausing to shop their collections from Ella Moon and Mae. The pieces are quality basics, trendy while still feeling classic, and many can be dressed up for a presentation or dressed down for a typical day in class. Anything that can serve double duty is a must in my book!

Also, let’s talk about study breaks. You will 100% need them, and breaks will help increase your productivity and prevent you from burning out. Reading for fun is one of the most underrated hobbies, and I cannot recommend reading a few pages every day from a great author you enjoy on your Kindle. Another option? Audible! Whether you’re riding the bus, train, or subway, driving your car, or walking in between classes, listening to an audio book is a great way to disconnect from schoolwork even if it’s just for a few minutes at a time. Stay refreshed so you can be your best!

Boxed

Let’s talk about food! The best thing I ever did when I was in high school and college was purchase in bulk. My parents and I would review what I planned to bring for lunch and what I wanted to enjoy as a snack once I got home, and then we would shop together to purchase things in bulk (my choices rarely wavered!). That ritual carried over into college, and I would have definitely shopped through Boxed! Rather than visiting stores in person, you can simply shop online and have all of your favorite foods shipped directly to you. Pro tip: get your roommates in on the game so you can all shop together and save by earning kicks through Shopkick!

Where are you shopping for back to school? What’s at the top of your list?

3 apps to make grocery shopping easier so you can have more time to hang with the girls

Posted on by Kick Writers

People love to talk about signs that you’re getting older and adulting, as some like to say. Things like knowing how insurance deductibles work, keeping a clean house, or not staying out super late on the weekends usually make the list of signs you’re getting older for most. For me, however, it’s sadly been that I just don’t have as much time to hang out with my girls as I used to. We used to do happy hour and brunch all the time, practically every week! But now we have partners, kids, and, of course, grocery shopping to worry about.

However, I’ve found ways to get around all that responsibility, especially the last one. What I’m talking about are apps to make grocery shopping easier so you can have more time to hang with the girls. I’ve picked out my three favorites to share with you. The details are different for each, but the end result is that you’ll feel like you’re getting as close to your girls as you were in the old days.

Basically, what I’m here to tell you today is that you can have your girl time and still get your grocery shopping done. All you have to do is download and familiarize yourself with these three great apps!

Apps to Make Grocery Shopping Easier No. 1: Bestie Shopping

The first app on our list is a special one, because of all the apps that make grocery shopping easier, Bestie Shopping combines shopping and hanging out. What a novel concept! It’s basically a social media app for shoppers. You can use it to follow stores you love, view products posted online, and—this is my favorite part—share your favorite items and deals with your friends.

The best thing about Bestie Shopping is that it’s easy to fit into your schedule because it’s online. You don’t have to make extra time to go anywhere different. I’ve been using Bestie Shopping for a while to create that old experience of going to a physical mall with my girls. Plus, I don’t know how many times one of my friends has pointed me in the direction of a great deal that helps me save money, too. Any time an app can help you save money, that’s a win-win!

Apps to Make Grocery Shopping Easier No. 2: Fooducate

3 apps to make grocery shopping easierAnother key part of being an adult is eating as healthy as you can. For me, that means taking the time to read the labels on certain products when I’m out grocery shopping. The more time I spend carefully going over the ingredients, the better I’m able to determine which foods I should eat. The problem is that all that time adds up!

With Fooducate, finding the health information you need while you’re grocery shopping becomes so much easier. The way Fooducate works is simple. Scan the barcodes on certain products in the grocery store and it gives you the highlights of the nutritional values, both good and bad. The app even lets you compare products by giving them both easy-to-understand letter grades. You can even use it find healthier alternatives and it’s quick!

Apps to Make Grocery Shopping Easier No. 3: Shopkick

The first two apps on this list are great, of course, but I think it’s pretty safe to say that this third one is my favorite app to make grocery shopping easier. It’s called Shopkick and how it works is pretty awesome. First, it has this really cool grocery shopping list functionality that makes it so much easier to plan all of your trips to the store. It helps you save money by giving you points for activities you do every time you go shopping anyway, activities like walking into the store, going down aisles browsing products, and making purchases.

You can then trade those points in for gift cards that are as good as cash. That’s right, you get paid to grocery shop. That’s not all, though. There are tons of ways that Shopkickers can earn rewards right from the app—no need to go anywhere. These include kicks for watching videos and instant surprise kicks from going on Easter egg hunts in the app. Users can also get amazing deals where you can earn big points and rewards by shopping on your phone at stores like Amazon, Walmart, and more!

Of all the apps on the list, Shopkick is definitely my favorite, mostly because not only does it make shopping quicker and easier with its list functionality, but because it also manages to save me money, too!

So there you have it, three of my favorite apps to make grocery shopping easier so I can have extra time with my girls. Of all the apps on the list, Shopkick is definitely my favorite, mostly because not only does it make shopping quicker and easier with its list functionality, but because it also manages to save me money, too! That’s a one-two combo of convenience that can’t be beat.

I highly recommend that you give it a try if you haven’t already. One underrated thing about Shopkick is that it’s also a lot of fun. The point system makes every trip to the store feel like a scavenger hunt for savings, and when you’re having fun—like I do each and every time I get to see my girls—the time really flies!  

Ready to start taking advantage of the best app to make grocery shopping easier? Well simply download Shopkick and join a community of loyal Shopkickers who’ve already discovered the rewards of shopping with us!

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 Rido81

Save money and earn kicks with Seattle’s Best Coffee

Posted on by Kick Writers

If you were to ask someone whose presence is valuable to you why they enjoy their mornings, they will likely relate it to their routine. The quiet found when the world has yet to wake; time spent with their kids relishing in their morning routine; a workout that makes them feel alive; the first sip of their morning coffee. The takeaway: a morning routine can be something you crave. One of the easiest ways to kick start a new routine is by taking one single step. For us, the simplest step to take is to brew a cup of coffee we can’t wait to sip.

One brand of coffee we return to again and again is Seattle’s Best. After all, they truly did win an award in which they were dubbed Seattle’s Best Coffee. The honor stuck with them, and we can taste why.

From medium roasts, like Toasted Hazelnut or Breakfast Blend, to dark roasts, like 6th Avenue Bistro (you had us at “hint of chocolate”!), Henry’s Blend, or Port Alley Blend, Seattle’s Best Coffee procures only the best beans from Latin America in order for us to all experience the most delicious brews. Whether we’re opening a new K-Cup Pod of Seattle’s Best Coffee or we’re adding the last of our ground coffee into our pot to brew our final cup, the flavor never wavers.

So, what easy steps can you take to create a delicious cup every time?

Step 1: Freshness.

This has a surprisingly large impact on flavor. Begin with cold, filtered water and freshly roasted, properly stored coffeeStep 2: Grind. A medium grind (a texture similar to sand) will ensure the most even brewing for drip coffee pots. Most of Seattle’s Best Coffee comes pre-ground or in K-Cups, giving you a leg up on a perfectly brewed cup of coffee.

Step 2: Grind.

A medium grind (a texture similar to sand) will ensure the most even brewing for drip coffee pots. Most of Seattle’s Best Coffee comes pre-ground or in K-Cups, giving you a leg up on a perfectly brewed cup of coffee.

 

Step 3: Ratio.

One slightly rounded tablespoon of ground coffee for every 6 ounces of water will do the trick.You can always adjust to taste if you prefer your coffee stronger or more mellow.

 

Step 4: Enjoy.

Add your favorite combo of creamer and sugar or drink it straight and taste the difference!

 

 

 

Seattle’s Best and Shopkick have teamed up to help you stretch your dollar that much further. There’s joy in sipping a smooth cup of coffee, and there’s a sense of satisfaction found in knowing you’re saving because you’re drinking coffee you made at home rather than a cup purchased at a coffee shop. Whether you purchase ground coffee or K-Cup Pods from Seattle’s Best Coffee through Shopkick, you’re devoting your dollars to a budget friendly brand that still keeps flavor and taste at the forefront. Plus, you can save even more at select stores by opening Shopkick, scanning Seattle’s Best Coffee, and submitting your receipt when you purchase your go-to roast.

Don’t have Shopkick yet?

Download the app that makes earning free rewards easy and fun today!