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Best Buy - Expands w/ Location Based App

[Time4TA]

Best Buy Expands Use of Location-Based Mobile Commerce App shopkick Nationwide
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Fri May 20, 2011 3:25pm EDT

Shoppers with smartphones can receive rewards and exclusive offers by downloading the free app and simply stepping inside any Best Buy store

MINNEAPOLIS, May 20, 2011 - On May 22, 2011, customers using the shopkick shopping app will be rewarded simply for walking into any of the almost 1,300 Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile stores nationwide. The rollout will make Best Buy the first of shopkick's launch partners and first consumer electronics retailer to provide this engaging mobile shopping experience for consumers through targeted offers and rewards on a national scale.

"Our customers are always on the go and are increasingly looking for tools that fit into their daily lives to make shopping easier. Through our partnership with shopkick, we can provide these experiences when they want them," said Drew Panayiotou, senior vice president, marketing, Best Buy. "Now, Best Buy shoppers across the country can get rewarded not just for shopping, but simply for walking into one of our stores."

Since launching shopkick last August, Best Buy has seen a notable influence on consumer shopping behavior. By providing unique reward incentives, offers and engaging gaming features through shopkick, Best Buy has been able to drive in-store traffic, increase consumer engagement with CE brands and products through scans, and engage with customers via their smart phones on the go. Combined, these components have piqued shoppers' interest and given them more reason to visit their local Best Buy store. Specifically, Best Buy has run tests that show incremental lift in traffic when they increased rewards for walking in. Additionally, Best Buy is pleased to see customers choosing to redeem "kicks" rewards at Best Buy stores.

"We believe Best Buy, one of our original launch partners, deciding to go nationwide faster than expected demonstrates shopkick can work for retailers. We hope this will be another accelerator for shopkick's growth," said Cyriac Roeding, CEO and co-founder of shopkick, Inc. "This expansion nearly doubles the number of stores across the US that use shopkick to reward shoppers simply for visiting. Best Buy is one of the top leaders in technology adoption and we are very excited to work with them to revolutionize the way consumers experience shopping."

The shopkick app, combined with the first walk-in location technology, the shopkick Signal - an inaudible sound emitted from a patent-pending device located in each participating retailer - verifies a user is in-store, and then rewards them for visiting in the form of a currency called "kicks". Verifying presence in-store assures retail partners that the marketing dollars input to the shopkick program are being spent to reward customers who are actually inside the store. This is something not possible with traditional location-based "check-in apps," because they rely on GPS technology that has an error radius of typically 500 yards on mobile phones when apps are first opened.

Best Buy originally unveiled shopkick in 257 stores and the nationwide launch will now place shopkick in all 1,296 Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile U.S. locations. The partnership thus far has proved successful as an engagement method for both Best Buy and shopkick. Since the August launch, Best Buy has witnessed high levels of customer engagement with shopkick users which encouraged this transition into all locations and in specific departments throughout the stores.

Consumers looking for more information can go to BestBuy.com/Shopkick or download the free Android or iPhone app by texting "shopkick" to 332211.

About Best Buy Co., Inc.
With operations in the United States, Canada, Europe, China and Mexico, Best Buy is a multinational retailer of technology and entertainment products and services with a commitment to growth and innovation. The Best Buy family of brands and partnerships collectively generates more than $50 billion in annual revenue and includes brands such as Best Buy, Audiovisions, Best Buy Mobile, The Carphone Warehouse, Five Star, Future Shop, Geek Squad, Magnolia Audio Video, Napster, Pacific Sales, and The Phone House. Approximately 180,000 employees apply their talents to help bring the benefits of these brands to life for customers through retail locations, multiple call centers and Web sites, in-home solutions, product delivery and activities in our communities. Community partnership is central to the way Best Buy does business. In fiscal 2011, the company donated approximately $25 million to improve the vitality of the communities where its employees and customers live and work. For more information about Best Buy, visit https://www.bby.com/.
About shopkick, Inc.
shopkick, Inc. is a Palo Alto-based startup funded by Kleiner Perkins' iFund, Greylock Partners and Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn, and investor in Facebook and Zynga. In August 2010, shopkick launched the 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. Even more rewards can be earned for scanning partner brand products at over 250,000 stores nationwide. In combination with a groundbreaking new location technology called 'shopkick Signal,' the app can verify location within feet, and because the detection occurs on the phone, privacy of presence information is completely in the users' control. Shopkick's growing partner alliance includes Best Buy, Macy's, Target, American Eagle, Crate & Barrel, The Sports Authority, Wet Seal, West Elm, Simon Property Group, Kraft Foods, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Intel, HP and The CW. shopkick is the only 100% performance-based marketing platform in the physical retail world, with measurable foot traffic and transactions at stores. The app grew to 1 million users in its first six months. The free shopkick app is available for the iPhone and Android.
https://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/20/idUS202690+20-May-2011+HUG20110520