Review of ShopKick for Android
ShopKick is a special and often valuable Android app which offers location based rewards and deals from nearly a few hundred popular retailers in America. The way Shopkick works is to allow users to earn reward points or kicks as they are called, these points can then be used to get free gift cards for various products. In addition to rewards the app also provides new details in real time from the largest retailers near you. For instance if you were located in New York, you would see walk in kicks and numerous deals for over 24 stores such as Best Buy, Old Navy, Barnes & Noble and Macy’s. You’ll be able to see a list of stores by tapping on the ‘Nearby” tab.
How to earn kicks?
There are a number of ways for people to earn ‘kicks’ which includes simply just visiting a store, scanning a few featured products or they can even purchase specific items. Right next to every store and within the green bubbles on your screen you’ll find kicks which you can earn there. If you are using the walk-in feature it will require that you have the widget open and ready when you walk inside the store. For people who run into trouble which is rare the widget makers recommend that you stand a few minutes near the entrance, in order to check your reception or even restarting the app / your phone if it stops responding.
In order to earn kicks by purchasing items you’ll have to link your credit card over to Visa’s website through the menu settings. The app also gives you the chance to save a deal for later by adding it to the ‘fave’ menu located in the top right corner of the app. You can also mark stores as your favorites if you want to easily access the deals later. ‘
By tapping on the “Rewards” tab you will presented with a number of offers which you can redeem using your collection of “kicks”. These rewards are mostly for retailers who are partnering with the makers of the widget but these rewards are surprisingly useful. For instance think about the fact that 400 kicks will entitle you a $25 gift certificate for Restaurant.com and 1250 kicks gets you a $25 gift card which can be used at Macy’s
Issues found
The app will not always work, during our tests there were times when our phone actually froze. But that was rare and only happened when we wanted to use the in store feature.
Conclusion
The ShopKick widget despite its somewhat buggy nature at times is useful. It’s a big money saver for people who want to shop at either a new location or get the best possible discounts.