Shopkick uses mobile barcode scanning to deliver an app that reinvents in-store rewards and benefits for more than 7.5 million users.

Shopkick Uses Scandit Technology to Reward Retail Shoppers

Shopkick partnered with Scandit, a developer of leading-edge mobile computer vision-driven retail solutions, to build and optimize its customer rewards app. Shopkick’s app incentivizes consumers to find, scan and purchase products by rewarding “kicks”—in-app points that can be redeemed for a wide range of digital gift cards. Shopkick capitalized on Scandit’s barcode scanning technology to bolster app scanning performance and the impact of in-store product interactions, increasing the quality and flexibility of shopping experiences for users.

An App That Revamps In-Store Rewards

With over 7.5 million users, Shopkick is one of the most popular shopping apps in the world. The Shopkick app is designed to reward users with points for discovering, scanning and purchasing the best products at major retail locations. The app even rewards users for simply walking into brick-and-mortar stores and visiting online shops, making both in-store and online shopping more gratifying and engaging. Shopkick partners with a wealth of leading retail businesses, including Macy’s, Old Navy, Best Buy, JCPenney, Crate and Barrel, Sports Authority and Target. Shopkick’s brand partners include P&G, Kraft and L’Oréal, among many others.

Leveraging Smartphones to Refine In-Store Shopping Experiences

The founding team at Shopkick believes that mobile has become the most important marketing medium for brick-and-mortar retailers. The smartphone provides a new and necessary opportunity for retailers to add rewarding, interactive experiences to their stores. The role of stores has changed due to online and mobile shopping, and in this new ecosystem, brick-and-mortar retailers have to embrace mobile technology (among other modern retail solutions) as a means of remaining relevant to today’s shoppers. The team at Shopkick sought to help retailers personalize the shopping experience, create additional incentives to shop in-store, and to make shopping in the physical world wonderful again.

Creating an App That Rewards Shoppers for Shopping

Shopkick’s goal was to build a mobile app that would reward shoppers for the shopping they already do. The mobile shopping app for Android and iPhone devices would also serve to create a communication channel between consumers and partnered brands, which was traditionally impossible. Another unique aspect of the Shopkick app would be its ability to bridge a consumer’s shopping experience from “couch to store,” educating shoppers on products prior to their shopping and then incenting them to interact with those products in-store via barcode scanning.

In-Store Product Interaction Through Camera-Based Barcode Scanning

The addition of camera-based barcode scanning to the mobile shopping app ensured that Shopkick could verify when a consumer actually engaged with a product in-store. This information is incredibly valuable to both brands and retailers. They are now able to recognize that someone has picked up their product and has it in hand, allowing them to build inventory and promotions around these insights. By using the mobile channel and Scandit’s technology, Shopkick was able to connect the consumer to the brand’s messaging and close the loop with engagement at the physical retail store. The dialogue with the consumer begins at home on the smartphone and continues through their shopping trip, all the way to the store shelf.

Benefits & Future Plans

The Shopkick app quickly rose to become one of the most used and popular shopping apps in the US. By rewarding shoppers who scan items in-store, Shopkick’s brand partners have benefited from incremental sales. Nielsen has identified Shopkick as the most used and the 4th most popular shopping app in the United States. The implementation of an in-app barcode scanner provided the mechanism to reward shoppers for their engagement, fostering superior shopping experiences for Shopkick users.

With the Scandit Barcode Scanner SDK powering its product engagement capabilities, Shopkick’s app provides meaningful rewards for in-store and online shoppers alike, driving sales for its partnered retailers in the process. How’s that for a win-win?

different products for sale

Scandit’s technology allows Shopkick to reward shoppers just for interacting with products—and our partners reap the benefits: a proven increase in sales as a result of product interactions.

Cyriac Roeding

CEO, Shopkick

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