intu has become the first shopping centre landlord to launch an in-store cashback app that will allow retailers to drive footfall by rewarding customers for spending in physical stores.

Called intu Pocket, it will give shoppers at least two per cent cashback on anything they buy from participating shops and restaurants at intu’s 14 UK shopping centres.

Participating retailers can also offer bonus offers, which could be as much as 90 per cent off, to influence shopping behaviour in a particular location on a specific day. Anonymised data collected by the app will also provide retailers with access to real-time customer insights.

Customers can add their usual payment cards to intu Pocket, which uses card-linking technology to track transactions made by the same cards in stores. The customer then receives cashback on any purchases from participating shops and restaurants and can withdraw the cash to their bank account once a minimum of £5 is accrued.

A beta version of the app is now available to download and use in a number of shops and restaurants at intu centres.

Trevor Pereira, commercial and digital director at intu, said: “Online shopping data is used to build loyalty and drive sales, and we wanted to provide some of the same benefits to intu’s customers and retailers.

“Our scale as the owner of many of the country’s most popular shopping destinations, with 400 million customer visits a year, makes us well placed to create unique customer experiences and ensure the retailers in our centres continue to thrive.”

Last year, intu introduced its own shoppable visual search tool on its website and has run a succession of virtual reality and augmented reality experiences in its centres. Its incubator programme, intu Accelerate, has also trialled initiatives including retail robots, queue jumping apps and giant video games in partnership with technology startups.

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