In-store digital marketing in 2020 looks very different than in-store digital marketing even five years ago. Continue reading “How to leverage in-store digital marketing to boost sales”
Author: shopkick
How to create product awareness on the path to purchase
Technology has greatly changed the standard path to purchase model over the years. Continue reading “How to create product awareness on the path to purchase”
Learn how to spend less money as a student in college with shopping apps
People always say college is a learning experience that goes way beyond lectures and textbooks. And they’re right — I’ve learned how to manage my time, take care of myself, and most recently, how to spend less money as a student.
When you’re responsible for buying all your own essentials, that weekly grocery bill (or dorm décor haul) can sneak up on you. And while I still love surprise care packages from my mom, I know I can’t count on them forever.
So, if you’re also trying to stretch your student budget without sacrificing everything fun, here’s one of my favorite tricks — and it all starts with your phone.
Download a Shopping Rewards App
There are tons of ways to spend less as a college student — stay in more, eat out less, volunteer, live off ramen (we’ve all been there). But even with all that, I found myself going over budget at the store. That’s when I discovered the magic of shopping rewards apps.
The best ones work at a variety of stores, are easy to use, and actually fun (unlike Chem 101). They should fit into your normal routine so that saving doesn’t feel like a chore.
Why I Use Shopkick
After trying a few apps, Shopkick became my go-to. Here’s why:
-
You earn points (called kicks) for everyday shopping behaviors — like walking into stores, scanning items, or making purchases.
-
You can also earn kicks online by visiting websites, watching videos, or shopping through eReceipts.
-
It works for both in-person and online shopping, so it fits into my busy schedule.
Using Shopkick seriously feels like turning every errand into a mini scavenger hunt — which makes it way more enjoyable than just picking up toothpaste and cereal.
Turn Kicks Into Gift Cards
Here’s where the real savings come in: once you collect enough kicks, you can redeem them for gift cards to major stores like Target, Walmart, and Amazon. That means you can get your dorm supplies, snacks, or next go-to hoodie without dipping into your bank account.
Spend Less, Stress Less
Shopkick has made a big difference in how I manage money as a student. It’s rewarding (literally), fun to use, and a smart way to make your budget go further. I even find myself looking forward to shopping, which is a big shift from seeing it as just another expense.
So, consider this your cram session on how to spend less in college. You might not remember every detail, but if you remember one thing, make it this: Shopkick is your new budget-friendly bestie.
Download the app today and start earning your kicks — because being a student is expensive enough.
3 steps to a successful integrated retail strategy
Aligning the in-store experience with online and mobile channels should be a priority for every retailer. Continue reading “3 steps to a successful integrated retail strategy”
How to save money on groceries without coupons
My friend Lisa has always had a deep appreciation for all things retro. She loves to go shopping at thrift stores for retro clothes—from 1950s dresses to leg warmers from the ‘80s. She has beautiful retro magazine covers framed and hanging all over her house. In fact, she even saves money on her groceries in a retro way: coupon clipping. When I came to her about wanting to save money on groceries, she recommended I give it a try.
We’ve been friends for a long time so, of course, I trust her judgment; I decided to give coupon clipping a try. Man, was it a fail! I didn’t make it a full two weeks before I was completely over it; it took too much time and effort—sifting through newspapers and sales papers for the best deal and physically cutting them out to place in a binder, just to get to the store to have to spend even more time searching for the products on sale. I realized that I needed to learn how to save money on groceries without coupons. Then I remembered something I read online about a shopping rewards app for groceries and how much I could save without having to do the work of couponing.
I shared the article with Lisa and while she was a bit hesitant to give up on her strategy, she said she’d give mine a try to return the favor. After about a month, Lisa told me how much time and money she’d saved by using a shopping rewards app instead of clipping coupons.
If you’re tired of spending countless hours clipping coupons, you’ll definitely want to read on to learn how to save money on groceries without coupons.
Say Good-Bye to Coupons and Hello to Shopping Rewards Apps
I definitely understood Lisa’s fondness for clipping coupons. She said—and I agreed—that it helps you relax and organize your shopping plan; I’ll give her that. But, in the end, shopping rewards apps were just so much more convenient. We all know how clipping coupons work, and, in fact, I’m sure many of us grew up doing it with our parents. Some of you, however, might be less familiar with shopping rewards apps, so I’ll explain how they work.
What Are Shopping Rewards Apps?
There are many types of shopping rewards apps out there but the best ones allow you to earn points for things you do when you go out shopping already, things like walking into stores, scanning barcodes of products, and, of course, making purchases. The more activities you do or the more you spend, the more potential you have to earn points. Once you’ve earned enough points, you’re typically able to trade them in for some sort of reward like cash back or gift cards to use towards future purchases.
Like coupons, shopping rewards apps can’t help you save money if you don’t use them. Having a shopping app that is fun to use makes you less likely to forget it when you go out to the store, and that means you’ll have the chance to earn points towards savings each and every time you shop!
How to Save Money on Groceries Without Coupons
My favorite shopping rewards app is called Shopkick; and, how it works is pretty simple. Shopkick gives you points—which it calls kicks—for things you do whenever you shop for groceries, things like ordering groceries online, walking into stores, scanning barcodes on items, and making purchases in-store. Once you get your kicks, you can then trade them in later for gift cards that you can use to purchase even more groceries—no coupons required. And, if I forget to open the app while shopping, no worries. By linking my Visa or MasterCard to my Shopkick account and making purchases, I can still earn kicks—maximizing my credit card rewards, too!
There’s a lot to love about Shopkick. For example, if you’re ever in need of meal inspiration, there are tons of recipes featured within the “Discover” tab of the app, making planning meals a breeze! Another one of my favorite things about Shopkick is the way I can use it to order my groceries online with Walmart and receive 900 kicks! I can open the app and shop directly on Walmart’s site and have my groceries delivered or I can pick them up. It’s the perfect way to save money while also earning rewards points towards gift cards to use on future purchases. Shopkick even has a cool feature that gives me ideas for recipes, helping me plan ahead. Many of the recipes feature products that allow me to earn kicks towards gift cards when purchased together. Shopkick has definitely turned into my shopping companion; I take it everywhere I go!
Shopkick has definitely turned into my shopping companion; I take it everywhere I go!
Speaking of shopping companions, I ran into Lisa last week while out shopping for groceries and it was so funny because we were both scanning the same product to earn kicks on Shopkick. We looked up at each other and laughed. We were saving money and having fun while doing it! Shopkick has literally turned every trip out to the store into a fun scavenger hunt for points. It’s so fun to use and if you’re a competitive shopper like me, you’ll want to use it as much as possible to boost your savings.
So there you have it, a way to save money on your groceries without coupons. And, Lisa and I both agree that when it comes to shopping, there’s no better way to do it than by using Shopkick!
It’s time to let go of the old way of shopping for the best deals and start earning kicks! Shopkick makes shopping a rewarding experience, and it’s the perfect way to save money on groceries without coupons. Download the app today and start getting your kicks instantly!
Image courtesy of mangostock
3 effective experiential marketing ideas for building brand awareness
Mixed-Use Retail
We’ve come a long way since cafes in bookstores were newsworthy, but mixed-use retail is still an emerging trend. When transforming a retail space into a community gathering space, where visitors don’t feel pressured to spend money, retailers can inspire visitors to reciprocate in a way that feels natural and organic. Retailers opening stores in Las Vegas’s 200,000-square-foot AREA15 this year will share the space with a permanent art exhibit, a steampunk AR experience, and an ax-throwing lounge. “Storytelling is crucial,” said AREA15 CEO Winston Fisher. “It conjures emotions and memories and has the potential to bring you back again and again. Also, storytelling must be experienced in real life—it is nothing that can be authentically replicated online.”
Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality
AR and VR can make the shopping experience more engaging. Sometimes this is as simple as using screens to inform shoppers about your products. But you can also use AR and VR to create an immersive retail experience. Augmented reality doesn’t always mean digital technology. AREA15 CEO Fisher suggests creating a cold room where coats can be tried on in realistic surroundings. L’Occitane en Provence on Fifth Avenue in New York City features a “rain-shower sink” where shoppers can test their products. The French-based retailer isn’t backing away from hi-tech, though. At the same store, shoppers can experience a 360-degree VR-powered hot air balloon ride over France while simultaneously receiving a free hand massage.
Showrooming
Showrooming is the practice of examining merchandise in a traditional brick-and-mortar retail store—or other offline setting—and then buying it online. This concept of experiential marketing can also involve the use of mixed-use retail and AR and VR experiences. There is little difference between checking out a Tesla in a showroom in a mall and kicking the tires at a dealership, where chances are you would be more likely to order a customized model for later delivery. An extravagant display of your product can make your store a destination for new shoppers and it may encourage browsers to purchase other items while visiting. According to Neilsen, nearly 75% of food shoppers have used a physical store to “showroom” before purchasing online.
3 ways to spend less money on groceries when you’re shopping on a budget
When I’m planning my budget for each month I always look back over the previous month to see if there are any areas to improve. And of course, I always seem to go over my allotted budget for groceries; and I know exactly why that happens—my lack of planning. Then, once I’ve spent too much, I have to find ways to make my budget stretch in other areas.
The only advantage of having to stretch my budget for the past few months is that I’ve been thinking of ways to spend less money on groceries. And, luckily for all of you, I’ve found a few ways that I’m happy to share so that you won’t have to make the same mistakes.
How to Spend Less Money on Groceries
Plan Your List in Advance
When I was a kid, my parents would always say: “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” If I’m being honest, at the time I didn’t think much of it, but now that I’m an adult, I find it invaluable. By keeping that saying in mind, I’ve figured out how I can spend less money on groceries. When I go to the store without a list, I end up buying items that don’t get used until months later. If I plan my shopping list in advance, even by meal sometimes, I only use the money that I planned to spend on groceries that month. Not only does this way of grocery shopping help me save money, but it also reduces the amount of food that goes to waste because of my impulsive buying. I’ve gotten so good at planning ahead, that I’ve even learned how to plan my meals around the items that are on sale. If there’s a discount on pasta sauce and noodles when purchased together, you can bet we’re having spaghetti!
Order Groceries Online
I have to be honest. When some of my favorite stores like Walmart began offering online grocery ordering, I was a bit reluctant. I’m the shopper who likes to pick up and look through the cartons of strawberries to make sure the ones at the bottom aren’t too soft and moldy. The thought of someone else just grabbing my groceries for me kind of weirded me out. “What if they don’t pick the brand I like?” “What if they don’t reach from the back and grab the milk with the furthest expiration date?” But, if I’m also being honest, because I finalize my grocery order online, I don’t have to worry about getting distracted and grabbing items that aren’t on my list. I even like that I can see my cart while shopping so if I feel something increases the bill by too much, I save it for next month.
By ordering my groceries online, I’m able to spend less money on groceries and I can do it from the comfort of my own home. I don’t even have to leave my house when I choose the delivery option—saving money on groceries and gas!
By ordering my groceries online, I’m able to spend less money on groceries and I can do it from the comfort of my own home.
Download Shopkick
This last way to spend less money on groceries is actually my favorite because I can use it with the ways I mentioned above. This way is a shopping rewards app called Shopkick. The way that Shopkick works is simple. It gives you points—which it calls kicks—for things you do whenever you shop for groceries, things like ordering groceries online, walking into stores, scanning barcodes on items, and making purchases in-store. Once you get your kicks, you can then trade them in later for gift cards that you can use to purchase even more groceries, spending less money from your budget.
There’s a lot to love about Shopkick. However, one of my favorite things about it is the way I can use it to order my groceries online with Walmart and receive 900 kicks! I can open the app and shop directly on Walmart’s site and have my groceries delivered or I can pick them up. It’s the perfect way to spend less money while also earning rewards points towards gift cards to use on future purchases. Shopkick even has a cool feature that gives me ideas for recipes, helping me plan ahead. Many of the recipes feature products that allow me to earn kicks towards gift cards when purchased together.
These three ways to spend less money on groceries have definitely been invaluable for me and my budget. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who wouldn’t want to spend less money on groceries, which is why I try to tell everyone I know about these methods. I want to spread the savings around as much as I can!
It’s time to spend less money on groceries while earning kicks! Shopkick makes shopping a rewarding experience. Download the app today so you can get in on the savings!
Image courtesy of wavebreakmedia
Why personalization in retail is a must when growing engagement
The average American is exposed to an estimated 4,000 to 10,000 ads per day. At some point, it’s intrinsic to subconsciously screen for messages that spark a personal interest and filter out those that aren’t relatable.
Personalization is the key to locating the right demographic for particular products and brand messaging—and yet, so many brands are woefully inadequate at aggregating data and deriving meaning from it all. That’s actually good news if you’re a retailer or marketer reading this, as committing to a personalization strategy can give you a leg up on the competition. In fact, there are several reasons why personalization in retail is a must for engaging new and existing customers.
What Does Personalization in Retail Look Like in 2020?
Personalization in retail is about delivering a tailored, individual experience to a shopper based on demographics and past behavior. Personalization varies greatly in practice, but examples in the retail sphere may include:
- Disney: Customers can book a trip on the Disney website, download the app to plan out trip details, and use the physical Magic Band to connect their credit card, room key, photo gallery, Fast Passes, meal plan, parking ticket, and more.
- Starbucks: When customers download the Starbucks app, they have access to a loyalty rewards program. They can use the app to order and pay for coffee, download the music that’s playing over the café’s speakers, and redeem free offers.
- Sephora: Customers can access their Sephora account from a mobile device while in-store to schedule a makeover, discover promotions, virtually try on makeup, add products to a wish list, and purchase via the app to pick up in-store. Sephora associates have access to customer purchase histories to make personalized recommendations.
- Nordstrom: Customers can buy online and pickup in-store. Personal stylists can visit customers at home to provide them with VIP treatment. Customers can also benefit from alterations and express returns. Homepage personalization with suggested items and trending location-based digital catalogs are just one way Nordstrom goes the extra mile for their customers.
- Amazon: When shoppers add an item to their cart while shopping on Amazon.com, the item also pops up in their cart within the Amazon mobile app. When customers make a purchase, they are invited to share product details on social media, and will subsequently find targeted ads on Facebook related to the purchases they’ve made. Shoppers can easily view complementary items that other customers purchased with the item they’re currently browsing, as well as similar products and tailored recommendations.
Why Personalization in Retail is a Must to Grow Engagement
1. Brands and retailers can’t capture general attention without personalization.
In order to engage consumers, you must first capture and hang onto their attention. Studies show that brands and retailers don’t have a fighting chance without more personalized marketing efforts:
- 91% of consumers unsubscribe from emails
- 44% say they simply throw out direct mailings
- 60% of smartphone users opt-out of mobile push notifications
The end result of this disengagement is over $280 billion left sitting in virtual shopping carts each year. In a 2018 study, 55% of marketers said the top benefit of personalization was increased visitor engagement and improved customer experience.
2. Personalization is still a differentiating factor.
Personalization plays a major role in consumer purchase decisions. In fact, 91% of consumers in one study said they’re more likely to purchase from retailers who know their names, purchase history, and what to recommend. In another study, more than half of shoppers (52%) said they would change brands if a company doesn’t offer personalized communication. Many shoppers have claimed to have chosen, recommended, or paid more for a brand that provided a personalized service or experience. And many expect consistent experiences across multiple devices and believe it is important that retail brands recognize them across all channels. Yet, only 10% of companies rank themselves “highly effective” at personalization; surveys have confirmed that retailers are missing the mark:
- Half of the surveyed shoppers “never” or “rarely” discover valuable in-store content.
- Two-thirds of shoppers say they are “frustrated” by these impersonal experiences.
- Another third of shoppers think personal assistance is missing from the in-store experience.
3. Engagement from personalization efforts pays dividends.
There’s no refuting the evidence that presents itself study after study, confirming the effectiveness of engaging consumers with personalization techniques:
- Personalized emails drive a six times higher transaction rate compared to generic emails.
- Forty-eight percent of consumers say they buy more when marketers take their interests into account.
- Personalization delivers a five to eight times return-on-investment of marketing spend.
- Personalization can cut the cost of customer acquisition in half.
- Personalization increases the effectiveness of marketing spend by 30%.
- Increasing personalization efforts has increased consumer spending by up to 500%.
- Eighty-eight percent of U.S. marketers have seen measurable improvements from personalization.
- Most marketers report over a 10% lift in marketing improvement after personalizing.
4. Personalization and marketing efforts are ultimately about lifetime value.
The end goal of any marketing strategy used to be “to convert a browser into a buyer.” However, this sort of brand interaction is transactional and fleeting. Brands and retailers should aim to establish long-term relationships with customers.
The end goal of any marketing strategy used to be “to convert a browser into a buyer.”
Delivering exceptional, personalized service based on consumer profiles empowers employees to provide the sort of relevant experiences shoppers desire. Thanking customers after a purchase, educating buyers about getting full utility out of their purchases, and helping them take the next step to buy again is simply good old-fashioned customer service. With intelligent recommendations and capitalized cross-selling opportunities, shoppers not only put more in their carts but walk away with a better brand impression. They are more likely to tell friends and family what a great experience they had, and return for more shopping experiences over the course of their lifetime.
In this type of relationship, brands and retailers don’t have to continuously spend resources on acquisition, persuading a shopper to purchase, or discounts and coupons that take away from their value. Once a shopper has moved beyond initial engagement, feeling deeply valued and developing brand affinity, the relationship can really blossom. The more shoppers with high lifetime value, the more successful a company will be year after year, as guaranteed sales return.
5. Personalization is a way to survive.
As Retail Dive put it: “Personalization is the key to keeping your customers engaged—and spending money. Retailers that get it right stand to gain a lot. Those who don’t, lose.”
Casualties of the 2018 retail apocalypse included major players like Toys R Us, Sears, and Kmart. These established brands failed to meet consumer demands for digital experiences and personalization. As a result, they had to close their doors. The trend didn’t stop in 2019 as stores like Gymboree, Payless Shoes, DressBarn, and AC Moore did the same.
Brands and retailers can’t rely on name recognition and years of service alone. With small businesses, pop-up shops, and eCommerce players all vying for market share, the modern enterprise has to be one step ahead of customer expectations to provide what people don’t even know they want—yet.
Personalize the Experience and Engage Customers with Shopkick
Personalization technology doesn’t have to be expensive or difficult to implement. Given that people take their smartphones with them virtually everywhere, the mobile platform proves extremely effective at reaching shoppers during the crucial moments on the path to purchase. So, what better way to reach customers than with a mobile app that incentivizes shopping behaviors?
Shopkick, an innovative shopping rewards app, offers brands and retailers a way to engage with an already-loyal user base of customers who eagerly shop at partnering stores, watch branded in-app videos, locate products in-aisle, and make purchases to earn points (“kicks”) toward gift cards. Shopkick greets shoppers by name when they enter a partnering retailer, and helps guide them to products throughout the store. After racking up enough kicks, Shopkick adds a personal touch by allowing users to redeem gift cards to their favorite stores.
Brands and retailers looking to grow customer engagement should consider how effective Shopkick can be for personalizing a shopper’s experience. Shopkick offers users a personalized experience throughout the entire purchase journey—from trial and consideration to purchase.
Ready to incorporate personalization in your retail strategy? Read our success stories and contact Shopkick to learn how to become one of our partners.
Image courtesy of Robert Kneschke
3 ways to make money while shopping with friends
When you’re as busy as I am, it can be hard to find time to spend with friends. Work, family, and just about everything else tends to get in the way. Thankfully, I’ve found a great way to spend more time with my friends while also running a few errands; and it’s definitely paid off. You see, we’ve always been the group of friends who bond over shopping. When we were teenagers, we would go to the mall and help each other pick out outfits. Now that we’re older, with families of our own, we don’t have much time to spend shopping. And, when we do find the time, we have to make our budgets stretch because we have more responsibilities; adulting, bleh.
Recently, I’ve been looking into ways to make money while shopping with my friends and I was surprised to find that there are so many opportunities out there. Some of them allow you to earn money and others allow you to earn gift cards that are just as good as cash if you ask me. Of course, I couldn’t jump on every opportunity, so I decided to choose three that would fit into our busy schedules and also be a fun way to stretch our budgets.
If you’re looking for ways to make money while shopping with your friends, you should check out what I discovered.
How to Make Money While Shopping With Friends
One of the best pieces of advice I have for anyone who wants to make money while shopping with friends is that you should choose the best option that works for you. You don’t want to make the mistake and choose a way that takes the fun out of shopping, ruining your favorite hobby. Here are the three ways that I found to be both fun and rewarding.
Become a Mystery Shopper
One way to make money while shopping with friends is by signing up to become a mystery shopper. A mystery shopper is someone who goes shopping at a store and evaluates the shopping experience, providing feedback on how to improve and make that experience better. This has been a concept for a long time, and becoming one now is a great way to make money while shopping with your friends.
There are a number of different ways to become a mystery shopper. You can find lists of mystery shopper opportunities online, but the fact is these opportunities change often. That’s why I suggest regularly conducting your own research. It takes a little bit of extra work, but it’s worth it to find the best mystery shopper opportunities available. One thing to note, though, is that you might not always be able to visit your favorite stores which may take the fun out of shopping.
Shop for Others
Another great way to make money while shopping with friends is to work for services that make it possible for you to shop for others, and, obviously, get paid to do it. Like being a mystery shopper, there are different ways to do this. My personal favorite is a service called Instacart, which I also use as a customer.
The way Instacart works is simple. It’s an app that people who are too busy to shop for themselves can download, order groceries, and have someone else do the actual shopping in-store and deliver it to their doorstep. I’ve definitely used this service as a customer before when I found that I was even too busy to shop. (I know, right? No one should ever be too busy to shop!) Now, I’ve been using it with my friends to shop for others and make money while doing it! It’s a great way to spend time with my friends and make extra money to support my own shopping habits.
Use Shopkick
This last way to make money while shopping with friends is actually my favorite. It’s an app called Shopkick, and the way it works is pretty straightforward. Shopkick is a shopping rewards app that gives you points—which it calls kicks—for things you do while you’re out shopping already. With Shopkick, you can earn kicks by doing things like walking into stores, scanning barcodes, and making purchases. You can then trade your kicks in for gift cards, which are just as good as cash!
The potential to earn rewards while shopping at my favorite stores is one of the things that makes Shopkick my favorite. I also like that you can combine Shopkick with both of the other ways to make money shopping with your friends that I mentioned before. Shopkick also brings an added layer of fun to shopping by turning every trip to the store into a fun scavenger hunt for points. And, I can’t forget to mention that Shopkick is so convenient that I can use it to shop online on my phone while chatting over coffee with my friends.
The potential to earn rewards while shopping at my favorite stores is one of the things that makes Shopkick my favorite.
So, there you have it—three ways to make money while shopping with your friends. There’s nothing better than shopping, but the simple truth is that it can sometimes get a little expensive. That’s where these ways come in handy.
If you’re looking for a fun way to make money while shopping with friends, I highly recommend you download Shopkick. It’s made going shopping with my friends even more fun while at the same time helping me earn kicks toward gift cards to do even more shopping.
It’s time to get your kicks! Shopkick is easily the best way to make money while shopping with friends. Download the app today and start to get your kicks instantly!
Image courtesy of MaxStrogiy
Partner with a customer loyalty rewards app to boost affinity
Brands and retailers understand the importance of retaining loyal customers, especially when it’s been proven that it’s more cost-effective to retain customers than it is to acquire new ones. Continue reading “Partner with a customer loyalty rewards app to boost affinity”
How to maximize credit card rewards with Shopkick
I’m usually the one in my group of friends with all the hacks when it comes to shopping. But after meeting up with my girls for lunch last week, I found out that I’ve yet to master the art of shopping.
Somehow we got on the topic of credit cards and I told them that while I do have them, I’d always preferred using cash or my debit card to shop because I didn’t want to have to worry about paying it off later. They immediately told me that I was doing it all wrong and how much I was missing out. Since I love to shop, they told me how often I could be earning points towards cashback, gift cards, and frequent flier miles just for using a credit card to shop. I’m always down for getting the most out of my shopping trips, so I took their advice. And let me tell you, I’m definitely glad I did. I even found out how to maximize credit card rewards by using my favorite shopping app.
If you’ve been in the dark about credit card rewards like I have, you’ll definitely want to pay close attention while I tell you just how you can maximize credit card rewards by using a mobile shopping app.
What I’ve Learned About Credit Card Rewards
One thing I’ve learned about maximizing credit card rewards is that there are so many different ways to do it; you just have to choose the method that works for you. For instance, I have a friend who travels regularly for work. She uses her own credit card to pay for her flights, hotels, and rental cars, and then she has her job reimburse her. This might seem like a lot, but she swears by it—insisting that this way, she gets to keep all the rewards that she earns from the initial purchases.
I don’t travel for work—and maybe you don’t either—and that’s okay because there are plenty of other opportunities to maximize your credit card rewards by making everyday purchases. One way that I’ve found that works for me is by using a shopping rewards apps—an app that I’ve downloaded and linked my credit card to in an effort to really maximize my rewards.
The Best Type of Shopping App to Maximize Rewards
If you have never before heard of shopping rewards apps, that’s okay. It wasn’t too long ago that I hadn’t either, and now I consider myself a bit of an expert on how to combine shopping rewards apps with my credit card to really maximize my reward-earning potential. The first step is to understand what shopping rewards apps are available to you and how they work. There are several different kinds, ranging from apps that reward you for shopping at certain stores to apps that reward you for particular types of purchases such as gas or coffee.
The best type of shopping rewards app to link with your credit card is one you can use at several different stores—both online stores and physical locations. You can obviously use your credit card almost anywhere, so you’ll want to get a shopping rewards app that is equally as versatile; otherwise, you’ll be as my friends say, “missing out.”
Maximize Credit Card Rewards with Shopkick
My favorite shopping rewards app is Shopkick. I’ve been using Shopkick for years but it wasn’t until recently that I decided to link my credit card with the app. You see, before, I was using Shopkick any time I went out shopping for the essentials because it’s so easy to use that I’ve incorporated it into my routine. Before leaving the house, I would look up nearby stores that were offering rewards points (also called “kicks” in the app). Some of these stores offer kicks for simply walking in. Then, I would open the app to see what products I could locate to scan for even more kicks; it’s like a fun scavenger hunt for rewards. Once I’d earned enough kicks, I could trade them in for a gift card to do even more shopping!
Now that I’ve linked my credit card, I have the chance to earn even more rewards. The credit card that I use already gives me a percentage back on purchases, so by linking it with Shopkick, I’m rewarded for using the app too! Once I discovered this, I couldn’t wait to tell my friends how I’d taken their advice up a notch. They told me that they’d expected nothing less of me since I was the self-proclaimed “Master Shopper.”
Now that I’ve linked my credit card, I have the chance to earn even more rewards.
I know from experience that figuring out how to maximize credit card rewards can seem intimidating, but it’s really not. There are so many different programs these days that reward you for using credit cards. Whether you’re interested in earning points for travel or getting cash back on your purchases, there’s a program out there for you. If you’re looking for the best program, I highly recommend downloading Shopkick and linking your Visa or MasterCard. In no time at all, you’ll go from a newbie user to an expert at getting your kicks and, most importantly, trading those kicks for gift cards to do even more shopping to maximize your earning potential!
It’s time to get your kicks! Shopkick makes shopping a rewarding experience, helping you truly maximize your credit card rewards. Download the app today and boost your shopping budget!
Image courtesy of Nattakorn_Maneerat
How to create an effective omnichannel retail shopping experience
The digital and physical retail worlds have often been thought of as competing interests. Continue reading “How to create an effective omnichannel retail shopping experience”