Get a Kick Out of Shopping at the Livingston Mall

Love to shop? Got an iPhone? If both answers are 'Yes' then the brand-new Shopkick app is something that may be of interest to you.

Shopkick is a new mobile application for smartphones that enables users to "check-in" to the stores that they are visiting and provide them with discounts tailored to their shopping preferences.

The idea behind this mobile app is similar to Foursquare , which has been out for quite some time. In Foursquare, users earn virtual badges for the places that they check into using their mobile device. It's all fun and games, but the reality is beyond a badge there is no real rewards for your efforts. Shopkick differs in the sense that users receive kickbucks for their "check-ins", which can later be redeemed for various prizes.

Unlike Foursquare, Shopkick uses a special transmitter that communicates with your phone, which can determine whether or not you are actually inside a particular store. This is done to prevent people from bucking the system and earning points by checking into stores that they haven't actually visited.

As it turns out, the Livingston Mall is one of the nearly 300 pilot shopping centers around the country to feature the Shopkick technology, which officially launched last Tuesday.

Over the weekend, I decided that I would give Shopkick a run for its money and see just how well the service worked. Upon entering the mall the app instantly recognized that I was inside the mall and promptly credited me 75 kickbucks.

Great, but what now? I had only been at the mall for about twenty minutes and couldn't seem to find anywhere else to check into. I assumed that a stop at Barnes & Noble, a large retailer, would have netted me some extra points or at least some sort of discount. I was somewhat on the right track. Rather than earning kickbucks or a coupon, I received a special bonus which I could later redeem at a Best Buy retailer.

For my efforts in the mall, I earned a total of 137 kickbacks. To put this into perspective a Twilight DVD costs 4400 kickbacks and the minimum Best Buy gift certificate is valued at 500 kickbacks. It seems that the Best Buy certificate would be within reach after a few visits to the mall. Instead of cashing in my kickback points, I also was given the option of donating them towards a specific cause.

Much to my surprise, the app isn't limited to just earning prizes. A check-in to certain stores produces a circular that informs shoppers of what items are on sale for that particular week. In my case, a check-in to the Best Buy on Route 10, which I visited later that day, revealed that there was a sale on a Kodak inkjet printer, which was being sold for $114.

It is important to point out that there are a few shortcomings in regards to the Shopkick app at the moment. For starters, at this time the Shopkick app is only available for Apple iPhone users in the App Store, which means that Android and Blackberry smartphone users are left out in the cold.

Also, as I was testing the application in the Livingston Mall, I was prompted to visit the Alwilk record store. I like music, but unfortunately this store went out of business over a year ago. For such new technology it's baffling as to why the store was included in the first place.

The rather small selection of stores participating in the program also left a lot to be desired. Outside of the Livingston Mall, Macy's, Best Buy and Sports Authority, the selection of local stores to check into is somewhat small. To be fair though, the app just launched and the number of stores will likely rise in the future.

Overall, I liked what I saw with Shopkick and I believe that once more stores begin to adopt the technology, the app will become more useful and practical. If you have an iPhone it is certainly worth your while to give Shopkick a try, as it's free and only requires basic personal information (email address, birthday) to create an account.

For more information on the Shopkick application as well as a complete list of stores that are participating with the program, visit http://www.shopkick.com/.