Shopkick takes location-based apps to a new level. Get the app (iPhone only for now) then walk into a store that has a Shopkick transmitter and app knows you are there. You don’t have to do anything. It checks you in automatically via a transmitter tone unique to each store that you can’t hear..
Once checked in, you get free Kickbucks which you can convert for rewards, plus the stores may have special deals for Shopkick users too, which you get by scanning a bar code in the store with your phone. Zillions of stores and chains already have Shopkick. Walking around with the app installed the past two days in Utah and southern California, I can see dozens of stores on it.
Location-based shopping is still in its infancy (last night when I checked on at a restaurant on Shopkick, I got a Founders badge for being an early adopter) but could easily go mainstream fast. Shopkick, judging on the amount of stores it has, it obviously well-funded. Others are moving into this space fast too.
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