The Shopkick app is one of the few shopping reward apps I use on a weekly basis to earn points towards free gift cards and PayPal cash.
However, the app functions much differently from other cash back programs in that it rewards you whether you make a purchase or not. It’s a unique feature that recently got me onboard to trying it out.
In this Shopkick app review, I’ll share with you my personal experience using the app. You’ll learn exactly how Shopkick works, how to get started, as well as see how much you can earn using the shopping rebate app.
Hopefully, in sharing with you how much I earned in my first 2 years, you’ll be able to determine whether the app is worth it to you.
- Earn 500 Kicks to Start
- What is Shopkick?
- How Does Shopkick Work?
- 250 Kicks Equals $1 on Shopkick
- How Many Kicks to Get a Gift Card?
- Shopkick Gift Cards
- Redeem Kicks for PayPal Cash Credit
- Ways to Earn Shopkick Points
- Shopkick App Review: My Experience (First 2 Months)
- Shopkick App Review: Update (2 Years Later!)
- Shopkick App Pros and Cons
- Is Shopkick Worth It?
- Shopkick App Review Final Thoughts
Earn 500 Kicks to Start
Earn 500 kicks as a sign up bonus by downloading the Shopkick app using this promotional link. Simply use the app to earn 10 kicks within your first 14 days to automatically qualify for the free welcome bonus kicks!
*Note – Video kicks don’t count towards the 10 kicks needed to earn the 500 kicks welcome bonus.
What is Shopkick?
Shopkick is a retail cash back app for android and iPhone users that rewards you for in-store and online shopping purchases, watching short video clips, scanning product barcodes and more. You’re rewarded in points referred to as ‘kicks,’ which can be redeemed for PayPal cash or free gift cards at over 5 dozen merchants.
One of the first noticeable differences with Shopkick is that it has features similar to gig apps. Tasks can be completed to earn kicks that don’t require you to make a purchase.
As a matter of fact, you can use the app entirely for its ‘gig-like’ features such as I do, and earn all your rewards this way. More on that later. First, let’s go over how Shopkick works.
How Does Shopkick Work?
Shopkick is a free app that enables you to earn money while you shop. Each ‘kick’ earned will get you closer to redeeming free gifts at merchants such as Walmart and Starbucks.
1. Download Shopkick App
First, download the app and enter your information such as name and email address. Set your notification preferences to ‘on’ to be notified when there are kicks available to earn close by.
2. Use Shopkick Invite Code CARD513768 for $2 Bonus
Enter Shopkick promo code (also known as ‘invite code’) CARD513768 to gain access to 500 free kicks as a special welcome offer.
That’s equivalent to $2 in free money. To be eligible for the bonus simply earn your first 10 kicks within 14 days of downloading the app. That’s basically just one scan of a product barcode the next time you’re out shopping!
How to Enter Code on Shopkick
It’s easy to enter the promotional code on Shopkick.
- Once in the app, go to the uppermost left-hand corner and tap on the icon.
- From there, you’ll see an option that says ‘Have a code?’
- Enter the invite code CARD513768 and press ‘Apply code.’
Your welcome bonus kicks will automatically be applied to your account once you earn 10 kicks within your first 14 days. If this time frame passes, then you forego the free Shopkick points. So definitely use the app as soon as you download it!
(Quick Side Note: If you notice that Shopkick is not accepting the code, then unfortunately that may mean I’m out of invites to give! Shopkick only grants us 100 invites per account. If that’s the case, then you may need to find another Shopkick user with an available invite code)
3. Start Earning Kicks
There are various ways to earn kicks on Shopkick.
One way is to make an in-store or online purchase and submit your receipt for cash back points (aka ‘kicks’). Another method is to complete actions such as scanning a barcode.
Scroll through the app to familiarize yourself with it, and start earning your first kicks today!
4. Redeem Kicks for Free Gift Cards or PayPal Cash
Shopkick will reward you in free gift cards or PayPal cash for kicks earned. You’ll have a slew of gift card options available to choose from including: Walmart, Amazon, Target, Starbucks, BestBuy, Uber Eats and more.
Currently, there are 52 merchants available to redeem gift cards on Shopkick.
250 Kicks Equals $1 on Shopkick
1 kick is worth about $.004 per kick, or 250 kicks per dollar. The lesser value activities on Shopkick will earn you 1 – 80 kicks, whereas other things such as uploading a receipt with a kick offer will earn you upwards of 1,000 kicks.
How Many Kicks to Get a Gift Card?
The minimum amount of kicks you need in order to get a gift card is 500 kicks, which is equivalent to $2.00 in value. Currently, 500 kicks will earn you a free gift card to: Target, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, HomeSense, and Sierra.
Once you reach 1,250 kicks more gift card options will become available to you.
Shopkick Gift Cards
Below is a list of some gift cards available to redeem on Shopkick. This list is not all inclusive. It’s a small sampling of what’s available now.
Also, some gift cards require a minimum amount of kicks in order to redeem. For example, while you can redeem a Target gift card starting at only 500 kicks, the same can’t be said for a Walmart gift card. You’ll need a minimum of 1,250 kicks in order to redeem a gift card from this merchant.
| Merchant Gift Card | Minimum Kicks to Redeem | Card Value |
|---|---|---|
| Target | 500 | $2.00 |
| HomeGoods | 500 | $2.00 |
| Marshalls | 500 | $2.00 |
| Walmart | 1,250 | $5.00 |
| Amazon | 1,250 | $5.00 |
| Starbucks | 1,250 | $5.00 |
| Apple | 2,500 | $10.00 |
| Sephora | 2,500 | $10.00 |
| AMC Movies | 2,500 | $10.00 |
| Uber | 3,750 | $15.00 |
| Panera | 3,750 | $15.00 |
| Uber Eats | 3,750 | $15.00 |
| Outback Steakhouse | 6,250 | $25.00 |
| Hotels.com | 6,250 | $25.00 |
| InstaCart | 6,250 | $25.00 |
| StubHub | 12,500 | $50.00 |
In addition to redeeming free gift cards, Shopkick has also offered free products in exchange for kicks. In the past, you could earn a set of AirPods Pro for 62,500 kicks, a Nespresso Vertuo coffee machine for 42,250 kicks, and a Nintendo Switch for 75,000 kicks.
These rewards are no longer available. Though, I wouldn’t be surprised if Shopkick offered products again in the future as a redemption option.
Shopkick Gift Cards Discount
Recently, Shopkick started offering discounts on gift cards.
This is similar to what many of the other cash back shopping apps have been doing for a long while now. So it’s great to see Shopkick finally get on board with this.
For instance, Shopkick in the past has offered a 20% discount off Chili’s® Grill & Bar gift cards. So instead of the usual 6,250 kicks needed to redeem a $25 gift card, you could redeem the same amount for only 5,000 kicks.
These special discount offers are few and far between on the Shopkick app. Plus, they only offer it on one or two gift cards at a time.
If you want a better option for getting gift cards at a discount, then check out the Ibotta app or the Fluz gift card app.
Redeem Kicks for PayPal Cash Credit
Kicks can be redeemed for either a $10 or $25 PayPal cash credit. This is what Shopkick calls it. Essentially it’s PayPal money sent to you that can be cashed out to a bank card.
PayPal reward redemptions will run you an extra 50 kicks as a transaction fee. This fee is already built into the redemption cost.
- 2,550 kicks = $10 PayPal Cash Credit
- 6,300 kicks = $25 PayPal Cash Credit
Ways to Earn Shopkick Points
You can decide to use Shopkick for its product deals feature that will earn you kicks, or for its gig-like features. Either way you go, this money making app will get you closer to earning free gift cards the more you use it.
Shopkick Deals
Product rebate deals will get you the most amount of points on Shopkick. This is where you purchase an in-store or online offer and upload your receipt for kick points.
In-Store Kick Offers
In-store kick offers can be redeemed by selecting an offer within the app and purchasing it at a Shopkick participating store. Simply snap a picture of the receipt once you’ve made your purchase and upload it to Shopkick.
Online Kick Offers
The online kick offers work similar to a deals website, such as Rakuten, whereby a retailer offers the deals site an affiliate commission for sending customers to them.
When you open the Shopkick app and go to the ‘online’ shopping tab, you’ll see a list of Shopkick partnered retailers. Click over to any retailer you wish to shop and make your purchase. Shopkick will reward you a designated amount of kicks per dollar spent at that retailer.
After you’ve completed your purchase, Shopkick will confirm within 72 hours that your kicks are on their way, and when you should expect to see them in your account.
Shopkick Stores List
You may be wondering which stores you can earn kicks towards free gift cards. Most stores are major retailers that may be close to where you currently live. Below is just a small sampling of stores within my area that have available kick offers nearby.
| 7- Eleven | Rite Aid | Walgreens |
| Marshalls | Target | Stop and Shop |
| GNC | BJ’s Wholesale Club | Market Basket |
| Petco | T.J. Maxx | Shaw’s |
| Best Buy | Ultra Beauty | PetSmart |
| Costco | Walmart | AMC Theaters |
| Aldi | Bed Bath & Beyond | Wegman’s |
| Hannaford | CVS | Sam’s Club |
Shopkick Gigs
Shopkick is one of the best apps that pay you to walk around and get moving. You never have to make a purchase in order to earn free gift cards. As a matter of fact, it’s gig-like features is what helped me earn my first Shopkick gift card.
Walk-Ins
Stores are willing to pay a pretty penny to get you into their store to shop. They know once you’re inside, there’s a high likelihood you’ll buy something. For that reason, retailers pay apps like Shopkick to bring you in, and Shopkick pays you a portion of that money.
Simply make sure you enable location pin-pointing on Shopkick, and then walk into a store with available ‘walk-in’ points. Once you do so, you’ll immediately receive points. These points can range anywhere from 10 – 250 kicks per walk in.
Scans
You can earn kicks for walking around a store and scanning product barcodes. So if you’re interested in a little workout that pays, then this feature may turn into your best workout buddy. Scanning products can earn you from 5 – 45 kicks per scan.
According to Shopkick they “have a limited number of scans per product available in total across all Users of the Application and Shopkick Program; if the scan limit is reached, you will no longer be able to earn kicks for scanning that product.”
Earn More Kicks
We just went over the main ways in which you can earn kicks. But there are also lesser known ways to earn more kicks towards free gift cards. In this section, I’ll go over two such ways.
Shopkick Promotions
This is perhaps the easiest method to get free kicks on Shopkick, and it barely requires any effort on your part. On occasion, Shopkick will send you a notification about special promotions to earn more kicks. Check under the ‘Announcements’ tab in your app to see these notifications to earn free kicks.
For example, recently Shopkick awarded me 50 kicks for simply opening the app 7 straight days in a row.
Watch 30-Second Video Clips
This next method will earn you the least amount of kicks…but hey, it’s still something. Under the ‘Discover’ tab, you’ll see products being advertised. Occasionally, there will be an opportunity to earn 1 – 3 kicks for simply watching a 15 – 30 second promotional video clip.
Link Your Credit or Debit Card
Have you ever heard of the popular catchphrase ‘set it and forget it?’
Well, that’s essentially what you can do when you link your credit or debit card to the Shopkick app.
When you link a VISA or Mastercard and buy with your linked card, Shopkick will search for eligible kick rewards at participating retailers. Kick points earned will be automatically applied to your account within a few days.
These kicks will be temporarily reserved in your account and can not be redeemed until the 30 – 45 day store return period has passed.
Quick Tip! In order for your linked debit card transactions to count, you want to make sure to run your purchase through as a ‘credit transaction.’ On most payment terminals, press “cancel” when asked for your PIN number and select the credit option instead.
Sweepstakes and Giveaways
Keep an eye out for Shopkick emails promoting free kicks by entering Sweepstakes and Giveaways. I recently entered the Shopkick Christmas in July 125,000 kicks Giveaway.
The requirements for entering were to answer a few questions about how I use my Shopkick gift card rewards, as well as to earn 1 kick within the next few days.
It was easy enough to complete and now I’m crossing my fingers that I win!
Shopkick App Review: My Experience (First 2 Months)
Now that we’ve gone through all the basics of how to use Shopkick, here’s my experience with testing out the app.
In my first 60 days, I was able to earn a $25 Walmart Gift Card. It helped a lot that I had signed up with an invite code because that immediately gave me access to 1,250 bonus kicks. But don’t expect to get all 1,250 points at one time.
At first, I was given 500 points for scanning my first product within 7 days. The next few scans at the store earned me the remainder of my bonus points. Thankfully, I was able to complete it all within a few minutes while shopping at my local Target.
Reward bonuses are constantly changing, so just make sure to read all notifications that Shopkick sends you through the app. They want you to start using the app and will reward you with tons of free kicks during your first few days of sign up.
If you still need an invite code, then you can feel free to use mine here: CARD513768
Again, we are only given 100 invites per account. So if the code doesn’t work, then simply Google ‘Shopkick Promo Code’ to try and find another code.
For the first week, I diligently opened the app and scanned a few product barcodes whenever I was at a participating store. Though soon after, I quickly forgot about the app. Nonetheless, a couple of weeks passed before I realized I hadn’t used the app, and so I went at it again.
The in-store kick offers were really not exciting and not anything I would buy, so I mainly stuck with the scans and walk-ins. Fortunately, my gym was in the same plaza as Marshalls, which nearly everyday had anywhere between 75 – 200 kicks that I could earn for simply walking in. (That’s $0.30 – $0.80 for doing nearly nothing!)
I also discovered that if I simply drove close enough to the store that the Shopkick app beacon would ping it as a walk-in. So everyday on my way to the gym, I would earn points for simply driving by the Marshalls store.
After that, I really only used the app to scan products whenever I remembered to open the app. It wasn’t top of mind to do so – So it was nice that I was able to earn a $25 gift card from doing simple scans while shopping from time to time.
Shopkick App Review: Update (2 Years Later!)
It’s now been 2 years since I started using Shopkick, and in that time I’ve earned $200 in free gift card rewards.
That’s with limited use of the app as I simply always forget to scan products when I’m doing my in-store shopping.
One thing I’ve noticed is that the ‘walk-in’ points have significantly decreased since I first started using the app. Before, I used to get 75 – 200 kicks for walking into a Marshalls.
Now, Marshalls is no longer a retailer included on the list.
Instead, I’m rewarded only 10 kicks for doing a ‘walk-in’ at Walmart, CVS or Target. I’m by no means complaining as these are places I normally frequent on a regular basis anyway.
I also make better use of the Shopkick deals and offers for cash back kick rewards.
I’ve discovered that on many occasions I can double dip on rebate rewards by scanning the same receipt to other apps such as the Fetch app.
For instance, I recently submitted my Walmart receipt to claim a Shopkick offer on Degree deodorant worth 750 kicks. That’s a $3 rebate offer.
There was also a rebate offer for the same item on the Fetch app worth about $0.75 in cash back rewards.
In total, I received $3.75 in cash back rewards by stacking my rebate apps!
Needless to say, I do enjoy using the Shopkick app now more than I did when I first started. It’s definitely become a part of my shopping rewards hacks.
Shopkick App Pros and Cons
These were some of the noticeable pros and cons I came to discover while using the Shopkick app.
PROS
- You can earn points on the app without having to purchase anything, ever.
- You earn $2 as a sign up bonus when using someone’s invite code, such as mine here CARD513768
- There are more than enough walk-ins and scans to earn 100 – 200 points per day.
- The app is fairly easy to use and quick to get a hang of once you get started.
CONS
- At an average of $0.004 per kick, you’re really not earning much when you look at how much you’re earning per hour.
- The gift card selection is decent, but not as varied as I’ve seen with other similar reward apps.
- Shopkick is easy to forget to use since it doesn’t offer bigger rewards for using it.
- If you don’t live close by to large retail stores, then this app may be worthless to you.
As you can see, while the app does have its fair share of positive features, it’s also an app that can very quickly and easily be forgotten.
Is Shopkick Worth It?
As a full-time YouTuber and blogger, I welcome using Shopkick because it gets me out of the house to refresh and do mindless activities.
Let’s face it, these past few years have been rough on most people due to the on-going global health crisis. I haven’t traveled as much as in previous years, and I’ve been home a lot more. So getting out more and scanning a few products has been rather relaxing to do.
But don’t expect to get rich from using this app. At $0.004 per kick, it’s better off as spare change money for a couple of fast food lunch meals.
On the other hand, if you use the app as an addition to your other reward apps such as Ibotta or Fetch, then this app may be worth it to you.
Shopkick App Review Final Thoughts
While I like the app, I wouldn’t say it’s for everyone. The in-store offers are products that I would rarely buy.
If you’re looking for other similar apps with higher shopping rewards, then these cash back apps may interest you.
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