The Wet Seal, Inc. Partners with shopkick to Bring Rewards to Shoppers through Location-Based Shopping App Just in Time for the Holiday Rush

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 17, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- shopkick, the leading location-based shopping app that rewards shoppers simply for visiting stores, and The Wet Seal, Inc. (Nasdaq: WTSLA), a leading specialty retailer of fashionable and contemporary apparel and accessory items, today announced a strategic partnership to deliver location-based rewards to shoppers at nearly 100 retail locations across the country.

Starting this Friday, Wet Seal and Arden B shoppers can use the shopkick app to start earning rewards and offers – simply for walking into participating stores – in the Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Miami, Houston and San Diego metropolitan areas. The Wet Seal, Inc. joins current shopkick partners Target Corporation, American Eagle Outfitters, Inc., Best Buy, Inc., Macy's, Inc., Simon Property Group, Inc. and Sports Authority.  

"Early feedback shows shopkick helps get customers in the store and we know it will reward them for being there – so we all win. So as we approach the most important time of the retail year, Wet Seal chose to join with shopkick for an innovative way to get customers in the door," said Ed Thomas, acting Chief Executive Officer of The Wet Seal, Inc. "shopkick gives us a new way to connect directly with shoppers on the device our customers already depend on – the smartphone. And we can offer real high-value rewards, because we can verify each shopper who checks in at a store is really there, seeing our merchandise and interacting with our brand."

The shopkick app detects a shopkick Signal, emitted from a patent-pending device, located in each participating store, to deliver rewards called "kickbucks" to each user. kickbucks can be collected and redeemed across all partner stores for in-store gift card rewards or discounts, or song downloads, Facebook Credits to play games online, magazine subscriptions, donations to 30 different causes and charities and more. And, because the detection occurs on the user's mobile device, the privacy of presence information is completely under the user's control.

"Wet Seal is a great addition for the younger demographic on shopkick, and we're excited to bring them into the shopkick service," said shopkick Co-Founder and CEO, Cyriac Roeding.  "Together we will turn Wet Seal and Arden B's offline stores into interactive worlds full of rewards and benefits, and make the in-store experience even more fun for shoppers."

The shopkick app also lets users:

• Get even more kickbucks for scanning and learning about products and services
• Receive special offers, for example, a discount on specific products at participating retailers or double the kickbucks for check-in during promotional periods
• Earn kickbucks from every retailer and redeem them at any partner retailer

Currently more than 1,000 individual stores across multiple retailers and 100 of the country's largest malls have fully deployed shopkick's technology. In addition, at more than 230,000 other stores across America, shopkick offers smaller rewards for "checking-in" and scanning products from leading brands, including Kraft Foods and Procter & Gamble.

The shopkick app is available for free on the iPhone. Apple users can download it from the App Store or at www.itunes.com/appstore/.

About shopkick (www.shopkick.com)

shopkick is a new Palo Alto-based startup funded by Kleiner Perkins's iFund, Greylock Partners and Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn, and investor in Facebook and Zynga. shopkick, Inc. brings the power of the mobile internet to the retail experience. shopkick launched its mobile application CauseWorld in the United States in December 2009, in partnership with Citi, Kraft Foods and Procter & Gamble, which became the fastest-growing location-based retail app in the App Store within weeks. In August 2010, shopkick launched its flagship service by the same name, the first mobile application that hands rewards and offers to consumers simply for walking into stores and malls. In partnership with Best Buy, Macy's, American Eagle, Sports Authority and Simon Property Group, the largest mall operator in the United States, shopkick introduced its application, and immediately reached national coverage by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, ABC, NBC, CNBC, Fox, CNN, TechCrunch, Business Insider and most other major news outlets.

About Wet Seal, Inc.

Headquartered in Foothill Ranch, California, The Wet Seal, Inc. is a leading specialty retailer of fashionable and contemporary apparel and accessory items. As of October 30, 2010, the Company operated a total of 522 stores in 47 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, including 444 Wet Seal stores and 78 Arden B stores. The Company's products can also be purchased online at www.wetseal.com or www.ardenb.com. For more company information, visit www.wetsealinc.com.

SOURCE shopkick