Shoppers also turn to mobile when they can’t find what they need on the shelves. Walmart’s mobile app comes with a barcode scanner for price and inventory checks. It can also be used to save items to order online later. Mobile coupons can help prevent showrooming—which is the practice of browsing items in-store, only to buy online or with a competitor.

Of course, there are many FUN ways to engage mobile in-store shoppers using gamification strategies, which create a more immersive shopping experience. Shopkick is a popular mobile shopping rewards app that specializes in enhancing the shopping experience through unique engagement tactics. One such way is through in-store “treasure hunts” that drive consumers through the purchase funnel. This gamification strategy influences purchase behavior in three main steps: product awareness, at-shelf engagement, and rewards.

Product Awareness

To drive consideration and trial, Shopkick sends users on an in-store treasure hunt for promoted products to find when they enter the store.

This helps cut through the clutter of the immense competition partnering brands and retailers are facing in-store, and also encourages shoppers to physically engage with the product now that it’s directly in front of them.

At-Shelf Engagement

Once Shopkickers find each promotional item, they scan its barcode to earn “kicks” (reward points).

Bonus kicks are received if they purchase the product and upload their receipt.

Scanning items’ barcodes provides shoppers with additional product information, trigger informative videos, and more.

Rewards

Once they’ve accumulated enough kicks, Shopkickers can redeem them for gift cards of their choosing.

Often, Shopkickers choose the retailer where they earned their kicks from as their preferred gift card, providing an incremental revenue stream for retail partners.

Regardless of where Shopkickers choose to redeem their kicks, you will have created a memorable experience that will foster a positive customer relationship and create long-term loyalty.

To see this concept in-action, you can look to Kraft’s campaign with Shopkick. Kraft wanted to drive trial, consideration, and sales across multiple brands during the holiday baking season. We first built pre-shop consideration by sharing in-app recipe content that used three of the main products Kraft wanted to promote. Once in-store, Shopkickers were sent to find these products in-aisle and were encouraged to physically engage with the products via barcode scans in exchange for kicks. Extra kicks were offered if all three products were bought, increasing the likelihood of purchase. Over 9 million Shopkickers physically engaged with the products at-shelf, with 27% converting to purchase for a 7.6x return on investment (ROI).

Ensure You’re Incorporating 2021 Retail App Trends With the Help of Shopkick

Shopkick incorporates the latest and greatest in retail app trends, successfully boosting brand awareness, shopper engagement, and revenue. Mobile shoppers can interact with the Shopkick app from home, on-the-go, or in-store, enabling partnering retailers and brands to engage with shoppers wherever they are. Consumers can make purchases with their favorite retailers online through the Shopkick app, or at their brick-and-mortar store, increasing the chances of capturing a sale.

By focusing on rewards instead of discounts, there’s no profit margin dilution. And while no purchase is necessary to earn rewards, our strategic method of rewarding shoppers for their engagement builds brand affinity and loyalty, often leading many Shopkickers to purchase (with the added bonus of extra kicks awarded!).