South Korean firm acquires shopkick mobile app
SKP seeks to expand its global market reach with U.S. entry and intends to expand beyond mobile with online and offline shopping experiences.
In an effort to capture a major piece of the growing U.S. mobile commerce and location-based shopping market, SK planet Co. Ltd. today announced it will acquire mobile shopping app provider shopkick Inc.
SKP is affiliated with SK Holdings, a Fortune 100 corporation, and SK Telecom, Korea's largest mobile carrier, according to a press release. SKP operates South Korean mobile platforms and shopper rewards programs. Its cross-retailer rewards program counts 38 million subscribers in a country of approximately 50 million people, and processes $50 billion in transactions per year.
"The acquisition of shopkick will create the key platform of SK planet's U.S. mobile commerce business, and also expand our global market position," Jinwoo So, CEO of SKP, said in a statement. "Shopkick's dominant leadership position in mobile shopping in the U.S. combined with our depth of business assets will allow us to build the best shopping products across the globe. Together, we will expand well beyond mobile, connecting online and offline shopping experiences in unprecedented ways."
SKP said in the announcement the merger will bolster its leadership position in the global commerce markets and grow the newly combined business at a massive scale. Shopkick will continue under the leadership and vision of the current management team, but will add the resources and business assets of SKP to grow its standing with shoppers, retailers and brands.
"Our vision is to build the most beautiful and useful digital user interface on top of the physical shopping world," Cyriac Roeding, CEO and co-founder of shopkick, said in a statement. "When I first heard Jinwoo speak of SK planet's vision, it sounded like we were from the same company — that's how closely our strategies are aligned. We were at a point where we needed an infusion of resources and reach to keep up with the incredible demand and growth across partner retailers, brands and users. What we got goes well beyond that; we can now drive SK planet's international leadership forward in the U.S., and SK planet will help us achieve our global visions."