Shopkick

For creating the first instant geo-couponing system that rewards users for stepping into retail stores. Shopkick has redefined the check-in-to-reap-rewards game by eliminating a step: the act of checking in. It works by installing a hardware system in each of its partner stores that picks up signals from smartphones that has installed the app. So users start accumulating “kicks,” or rewards, the moment they walk in. Since launching in 2010, Shopkick has grown to 3 million users who walked in to 5 million stores and interacted with 1 billion products as of January 2012. Last November, Shopkick partnered with Visa to give customers an added incentive to shop after walking in. Users with registered Visa cards get rewards anytime they shop in participating stores including Old Navy, American Eagle Outfitters, and Toys ‰Û÷R’ Us. “We’re the only company that gives rewards just for walking in,” says cofounder Cyriac Roeding. “It happens so fast, people think it’s like magic. It’s instant gratification.”