While that limits the kinds of shops you do, it doesn't eliminate entirely your ability to shop. There are some shops, such as bank shops, that require you submit a business card along with your report to prove you were in the right place, but have no purchase requirement. There are some shops where you are visiting a store to see if a particular product demonstration is occurring at a particular time that have no purchase requirement. By far, however, the majority of shops require a purchase of $1-5 for which you will be reimbursed in 4-8 weeks.