• October 18, 2011

Location-based shopping app shopkick has secured its first deal with a supermarket chain after partnering with major retailers including Macy’s, Best Buy, Target and American Eagle Outfitters. People shopping at all 228 Giant Eagle supermarket outlets will now be able to use the shopkick app to collect rewards points for buying featured store products. The points, known as “kicks,” can then be redeemed for items, such as gift cards at shopkick retail partners, song downloads, movie tickets and Facebook Credits for online games.

After downloading the shopkick app, shoppers enter their Giant Eagle Advantage Card number once, then can rack up rewards points for buying specific products. The virtual currency earned credited to a user’s account within two to 24 hours following a purchase. After launching last year, shopkick says it now has 2.1 million active users, more than half of whom are women. The majority are moms and half fall into the 25-39 age range. 

The startup led by former CBS Mobile head Cyriac Roeding has raised $20 million to date from investors, including Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Greylock Partners, and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman. --Mark Walsh