SK Planet Case Study

No membership costs for shoppers
The mobile application can be downloaded absolutely free of cost by the user.

* Strong funding & mobile marketing by SK Planet
The partner now behind Shopkick, SK Planet, is large with very significant resources. SK Planet is South Korea’s largest player in the mobile commerce industry. With the acquisition, Shopkick’s growth is expected to be accelerated by SK Planet’s experience in mobile marketing. This acquisition also allows Shopkick to directly tap into SK Planet’s existing customer base.
Shopkick envisions recreating the SK Planet’s success in the US. SK planet in a nation of 50 million, has 38 million people in their loyalty program. This experience will help to bring out similar results in the US,
But this in turn can result in heavy customer loss
Shopkick cheat sites can also affect retailers’ trust in shopkick. If retailers start to doubt shopkick’s ability in providing a secure application, they may cease to continue partnership.
* Privacy issues
Privacy policies of shopkick doesn’t clearly state the use of these datas collected by shopkick. Shopkicks tracks users location, to let them know near by walk-in stores. App needs access to microphone to record the inaudible audios played in stores, but the language of the privacy policy seems that it would cover audio eavesdropping. when an app or website shares or sells your data, that data enters the hands of another company whose privacy policies are unknown.
User details such as the combination of ZIP code, birthdate, and gender—all “non-personal information” that Shopkick and many other services collect—is unique for about 87 percent of U.S. residents. That means if an app has this data, it usually has enough that you can be individually identified.
The fact that there is ambiguity about what Shopkick does and what it could do in the future is both problematic and common among privacy
ShopBeacon requires minimal investment, and can be installed by sticking the device on a wall or other flat surfaces. The system includes RF transmitters, known as the “shopkick signal”, that are installed at a store's entrance or key locations. When a customer enters the store, these transmitters sense the mobile application and sends a "wakeup" signal to the users phone. Upon receiving the signal, the shopkick application alerts the customer to activate the application to enjoy discounts and receive “kicks”. With this technology, shopkick customers will never have to worry about missing out on discounts due to