The deal will help the South Korean wireless telecommunications company gain insights into the US market
According to The Wall Street Journal, South Korean wireless telecommunications company SK Telecom has said yes to acquiring US-based mobile loyalty app firm Shopkick.
The same report noted that as claimed by a well-placed source, SK Planet Inc., a subsidiary of SK Telecom, paid a rumoured US$200 million to acquire Shopkick.
An official press release added that this is a way for SK Telecom to move into the “growing US mobile commerce and location-based shopping market”. Additionally, SK Planet Inc. will definitely stand to benefit with relevant mobile-centric data, given that it operates mobile platforms and shopper reward programmes.
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Furthermore, SK Planet’s cross-retailer rewards programme has 38 million subscribers in South Korea, which has a population of about 50 million people. It also processes US$50 billion in transactions per year.
For background, Shopkick is a five-year-old smartphone app company that allows users to earn virtual points for walking into or patronising a partner store with their mobile devices. Users can also redeem these points for rewards through the app.
In Asia, one competitor of Shopkick will be Shopguru, which launched in Singapore last May.
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