Following a successful beta test, New York & Company said today that it is rolling out shopkick-enabled beacons to more than 170 of its locations, enabling consumers to earn loyalty points for walking into a store and for visiting a fitting room.

The collaboration, which has been in beta for the past several weeks, entails a beacon deployment powered by mobile shopping application shopkick. Shopkick installed at least two shopBeacons in each New York & Company location, one of which rewards app users with points for walking in the door while the other incentivizes customers to try on clothes in the fitting rooms.

“From a retail perspective, the biggest [goal] is to get more people into the store and then from there, spend more and do more in the store itself,” said Bill Demas, CEO of shopkick. “The beacon technology we have really allows us to see where someone is when they’re entering a store.

“It tends to be more accurate than GPS and Wi-Fi.”

The retail beacon bonanza
Women’s apparel retailer New York & Company now enables shoppers to earn “kicks,” or points, for walking into one of its stores, trying on items in a dressing room and making a purchase.

The retailer understands that many of its customers prefer to communicate via mobile and digital channels. This growing trend prompted the company to team up with shopkick to fuel incremental sales by incentivizing current fans to visit a location to browse new inventory while simultaneously inspiring new customers to venture in-store.

Shopkick has implemented two of its beacon devices at more than 170 New York & Company stores. One is located at the front door of each store and will offer customers kicks for simply walking in, while the other is stationed by the dressing rooms.

Therefore, consumers who may be waffling about whether to try on a shirt or dress will be incentivized to do so, provided that they are shopkick app users.

The mobile shopping companion’s kicks can be redeemed for retail gift cards.

Shopkick has previously entered into partnerships with retailers including Macy’s, American Eagle Outfitters and Best Buy.

Rewarding shopping experiences
New York & Company’s core audience, which is comprised of fashion-conscious millennial women, often appreciates earning rewards for loyalty to a particular brand. The collaboration with shopkick will enable New York & Company to target these customers with relevant and engaging in-store content that extends beyond the kicks.

Shopkick continues to evolve the mobile coupon space by introducing video viewing and receipt scanning, providing consumers with a wider range of methods to receive rewards while enabling retailers to enhance engagements (see story).

The apparel retailer will also be better-positioned to drive sales among new customers who may not have shopped at its stores before. If mall shoppers open their shopkick app and discover the ability to earn kicks simply for walking into a New York & Company store and visiting the dressing room, the entire experience could culminate in them making an unexpected purchase.

New York & Company has also been innovating within its mobile commerce initiatives lately.

In a reflection of the need for apparel retailers to continuously refresh their shoppable content on digital channels, New York & Company experienced a 44 percent increase in mobile conversions over the past year after implementing a self-service content marketing platform into its mobile site (see story).

Ultimately, the brand is well-poised to experience an uptick in revenue following the beacon deployment.

“We think it’s going to help attract more customers and have them do more in the store,” Mr. Demas said. “The beauty of this model is that everything is measurable.

“The notion of attribution and incrementality is something we’re able to measure well.”