Offerpal Shopping: Get Virtual Cash for Buying Real-Life Goods

Offerpal, the folks behind one of the most popular social gaming microtransaction service, has announced that its now giving out points for shopping at certain real-life retailers. Some sample companies include Macy's, Buy.com, and Priceline, among many others. This only applies to the online stores of said retailers, so if you are shopping inside the actual store, you are out of luck. George Garrick, CEO of Offerpal, had this to say:

    Our goal has always been to give consumers an alternative to paying for virtual currency by letting them earn it instead-whether by filling out ad offers, completing surveys, or now simply by shopping for the types of goods and services they already use every day

Full press release after the jump.

Fremont, Calif. – December 2, 2009 – Offerpal Media (http://offerpalmedia.com), the leader in virtual currency payment alternatives, today announced "Offerpal Shopping," a new way for consumers to earn virtual currency for use in their favorite online games and social networks by shopping at brand-name retailers. The new service enables consumers to receive virtual currency back for every dollar they spend at hundreds of online retailers in categories including clothing and accessories, electronics, entertainment, food, furniture, gifts, services, software, sports, travel and more. Shoppers are typically reimbursed the equivalent of 5 to 10% of their purchase in virtual currency, with many reimbursements up to 30% or more.

"Our goal has always been to give consumers an alternative to paying for virtual currency by letting them earn it instead-whether by filling out ad offers, completing surveys, or now simply by shopping for the types of goods and services they already use every day," said George Garrick, CEO of Offerpal Media. "We are also proud to deliver a new way for game developers to monetize their traffic and reward their most loyal users."

Offerpal Shopping is available as a tab within the Offerpal I-frame, which can be found in more than 2,000 online games, social networks and virtual worlds throughout the Web. Users can browse through the hundreds of available retailers and make informed purchasing decisions based on important details provided by Offerpal, including a description of the products, the amount of virtual currency awarded, the minimum purchase requirements, and the length of time it takes to receive the virtual currency-typically 1-2 days.

A small sampling of the retailers currently in the system includes:

24 Hour Fitness: 5 – 10%

Proflowers: 10%

Gap: 4%

McAfee: 18%

Eastern Mountain Sports: 7%

CostPlus: 5%

Buy.com: 3 – 8%

Priceline: 2%

Snapfish: 8%

Macy's: 4%

For developers of social gaming applications and web sites, Offerpal Shopping increases revenues by introducing a new payment option and monetizing users who are not likely to purchase virtual currency directly. It can be turned on or off as a tab within the main I-frame, and will also be available as a standalone I-frame for developers interested in a separate integration. Early tests of Offerpal Shopping demonstrated a clear lift in both incremental revenue and payment conversions for the company's publishing partners. For more information, developers can contact publishersupport@offerpal.com.

Retailers interested in promoting their products through Offerpal Shopping can contact info@offerpal.com.