The company partnered with American Express and foursquare as it is continuously trying to immerse itself in the social media space. The Sports Authority offer ends on July 5.

“Our strategy with the Sports Authority, Amex/foursquare partnership is to deliver a new, fun and innovative way of connecting with families on the go,” said Clay Cowan, vice president of ecommerce and digital marketing at Sports Authority, Denver. 

“We’re always looking to simplify the shopping experience for our customers and this partnership enables them to realize the benefits of an offer without having to bring anything in store with them other than their mobile phone,” he said.

Sports Authority has a commerce-enabled mobile Web site and iPhone application.

Mobile partnership
The partnership will help the retailer deliver an exclusive special that is both couponless and hassle-free. 

Customers can simply sync their foursquare account, check-in at any Sports Authority store nationwide and receive a $20 credit on any purchase of $50 or more.

The $20 credit is automatically applied to the cardmember’s account and processed when credit card is swiped.

“We feel that this space is obviously still being defined, and as the exact path that the convergence of mobile, payment processing, and offer delivery/redemption is still being charted, we can learn much about what that path might look like from what our customers say and do during partnership like this,” Mr. Cowan said.

“This partnership helps put Sports Authority at the forefront of this movement, and we believe our customers will benefit from it – both now and in the long run,” he said.

Checking in
The company is getting the word out about the mobile initiative via its Facebook, Twitter and foursquare pages.

In addition to Sports Authority, H&M and Union Square Hospitality Group have also jpartnered with American Express and foursquare.

The service is expected to expand rapidly to include additional national and local merchant offers in the coming weeks and months.

“We’ve largely focused our efforts on word-of-mouth and social media, garnering tens of millions of impressions already,” Mr. Cowan said. “These channels tend to most directly communicate with to the Amex/foursquare customers, and we’ve seen positive response by using them.”