Social media gets its kicks

I read an article in yesterday’s USA Today that announced a new deal by mobile app Shopkick that expands its national retail programs to the little guys as well.

Now besides delivering discounts and rewards to shoppers at Best Buy, Target and Sports Authority, Shopkick has partnered with Citigroup to solicit small business participation. The pair is seeking 1,000 mom-and-pop stores and small chains to sign up for free, after which Shopkick will install an in-store receiver that pushes pop-up discounts and offers to customers’ mobile phones.

"We will do for small and medium-sized local stores what we have done for large, national chains: drive foot traffic," Shopkick CEO and co-founder Cyriac Roeding told USA Today.

No question that social media is ramping up in retail. In fact, we at Chain Store Age want to find out more. Watch for a survey from us -- in conjunction with mall owner Forest City Enterprises and research firm Alexander Babbage -- in the coming weeks that asks you how important social media is to your business. We want to know whether you factor in a mall’s programs when you make your real estate decisions, and we want to know what social media programs are on your must-have list.

Stay tuned…..

-- By Katherine Field Boccaccio