The entire rollout was deployed by Mood Media Corp. Through its existing Mood Media audio system, Macy’s was able to instantly activate the shopkick signal and allow consumers nationwide to start receiving rewards and offers.

“Seventy percent of the U.S. population has visited a Macy’s store,” said Doug Galen, chief revenue officer of shopkick.

“People who go to shop at Macy’s end up patronizing neighboring retailers as well,” he said. “It’s a ripple effect. In addition to the value Macy’s gets from shopkick, nearby retailers offering rewards to shoppers through shopkick will benefit from increased foot traffic and sales as well.
 
“By partnering with large retailers, shopkick has created a powerful a cross-retailer rewards alliance that benefits shoppers and retailers. With multiple retailers offering the same rewards currency, in the form of kicks that can also be redeemed at any partner, a customer can receive rewards at Macy’s or even a mom-and-pop shop, and then redeem them elsewhere, like at Target or iTunes.”

Macy’s delivers fashion and affordable luxury to customers at more than 800 locations in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam. Macy’s was shopkick’s inaugural partner.

In August 2010, shopkick launched its first mobile application that hands consumers high-value rewards, offers and exclusive deals at shopkick’s national retail partners simply for walking into stores and malls.

Nationwide rollout
Macy’s and shopkick have added more than 50 new markets to the program with the nationwide rollout.

Consumers can walk-in to a Macy’s location and the shopkick app automatically detects that they are there.
From there, users can earn “kicks,” which can be collected at all participating partner store locations.

Consumers can redeem the kicks for in-store gift cards, song downloads, movie tickets, Facebook Credits and donations to charities.

“We have shown that small rewards will lead to an increase in visits and purchases,” Mr. Galen said. “The bigger challenge is how to make the shopper feel special again. 

“There is nothing like a retailer saying thank you for visiting and rewarding me just to walk in before I even buy anything,” he said. “That makes a shopper feel like the retailer cares about them.
 
“We believe that the next five years are going to produce as much change in retail as the last 100 years. The role of a store is completely changing. Shoppers no longer need stores to be warehouses with shelves and items that they can throw into a basket; they have Amazon for that. The consumer now expects more from bricks-and-mortar stores, so they need to either change the whole approach to retailing now or it’s too late. Through the power of the smartphone retailers can make that experience in the store a better, more valuable one for shoppers, and that’s where shopkick comes in.”

Retail efforts
Macy’s is not the only retailer using shopkick to drive foot traffic.

Earlier this year, Target teamed up with shopkick to bring its location-based rewards application to stores nationwide and let consumers earn points for shopping (see story).

Other retailers include Best Buy, Old Navy, Crate & Barrel, American Eagle Outfitters, Toys R Us, West Elm, Wet Seal, Sports Authority, Simon Malls and Exxon.

Additionally, in the beginning of the year, shopkick claimed that 3 million shoppers used its app for rewards.

To date 1 billion in-app deals and offers have been viewed via the app (see story).

“You can expect more exciting news before the holiday shopping season,” Mr. Galen said.

Final Take