May 16, 2012
Coupons Get Personal with Check-In Service
Foursquare, the popular check-in app service, will soon offer personalized coupons. Starting in July along with an update of the app, Foursquare will let merchants pay for special placement of personalized local offers.
Users will be able to see the specials, but have to "check in" to redeem them. Foursquare lets its app users alert their friends to their location by "checking in" via smartphone from coffee shops, bars, stores and other locations.
"We’re getting really good at connecting people with places, and connecting those places with people," co-founder and CEO Dennis Crowley told the Wall Street Journal. "We’re finding ways to do this algorithmically."
Newer products enable Foursquare subscribers landing in a new city to be guided to places similar to what they have visited in other regions or their friends have patronized. Said Mr. Crowley, "We can do the same things for businesses, and [tell them] these are the folks that are most likely to come here, based upon their check-in habits, based upon the places they’ve been to and their friends have been."
The service is peaking the interest of the 750,000 merchants it already works with on largely what have been freebee check-in offers. Beyond deeper data around best and former customers, Foursquare can provide details such as the time of day a customer typically reaches a location.
"It is insights they haven’t had before" said Mr. Crowley. "The question they always ask us: How do we act on these different groups? They always want to target specific segments of those customers, whether they are new, repeat or lapsed customers. That is one thing we are getting pretty good at being able to segment out."
The coupon launch comes as two smaller check-in services, Gowalla and Facebook Places, closed down in the last six months. Suzanne Choney of MSNBC Tech adds that Foursquare still has "to deal with the issue of many users who are wary about sharing more information than they have to online."
On a more encouraging note, PewInternet found in a February 2012 survey that 41 percent of U.S. adults get location-based information on their smartphones, up from 23 percent in May 2011. Eighteen percent used check-in programs in 2012, up from 12 percent at the same time the prior year.
Mr. Crowley told the Journal that people are still "warming up" to location sharing. He adds, "We are inventing this category, or really pushing it forward. You open up a map with list of customized results of things that are relevant to you at this moment in time – that’s something a lot of people haven’t experienced before."
BrainTrust
Recent Discussions
Discussion Questions
Discussion Questions: What do you think of the prospect of personalized coupons tied to mobile check-ins? How would you rate the potential quality of consumer data emanating from location-based mobile check-ins?
Poll
Personalized offers tied to mobile check-ins is a great idea, but it’s one that retailers should drive, not Foursquare. Retailers should own the customer data and determine the best offers. Using Foursquare for this purpose makes the retailers one step removed, and that’s not in the best long-term interest of the retailers.
One step closer to the holy grail of influencing the purchase decision. Serving up a personalized coupon at check-in allows you to get in the ‘buying pathway’. Knowing whether or not it is relevant to that customer’s specific category purchase is the last mile. Having enough data on the customer so they can influence the purchase decision will be key to success. Otherwise, it is just another offer. Maybe it will be good for impulse items….
Personalized coupons for mobile check-in is good in theory, but the offers need to be so compelling that consumers will give up their privacy and take the time to check in.
Foursquare has been around for years and is still searching for a business idea that will catch fire with consumers. At first it was an interesting gimmick, but consumers lost interest since the rewards were limited.
I question if the newest iteration of Foursquare will generate enough interest to propel them into the tier of ecommerce companies that matter.
Picture me conflicted. One side of my brain says, “What took these guys so long?” I mean what’s the whole point of personalized marketing if it isn’t, well, personalized? On the other hand, I also understand the argument that says people won’t share enough information.
But … wait … aren’t we talking about the same digital narcissists that actually believe I care that they are having a double dip framboise latte at 10:05 a.m.? Oh, yeah … they’ll deliver the old info sharing issues, alright, as long as the data request is framed to look like an ego boost.
On the other hand, I ask myself if this isn’t just the latest in a long line of marketing offers based on the notion that the way to get rich is to discount existing business. Look — it’s Foursquare — the cybersheep are “checking in” already without a coupon. After all, how are you ever going to become Mayor of Java Heaven if you are busy racing from coffee shop to coffee shop looking for half price, half cafs?
Personalization via inference has potential, but also has limits. Here are a few reasons:
1. Algorithmic filtering is only as good as the underlying data. Foursquare is limited by infrequent users with only a thin history and by the absence of many merchants. The outcome may be a lot of food offers.
2. Inferences work mysteriously behind the scenes. Consumer acceptance is mixed. Irrelevant offers quickly are perceived as spam.
3. Machine-driven recommendations raise issues of privacy. If not tamed, consumers may actually be less likely to share information.
Answer to the above? Asking users to specify their interests, similar to AmazonLocal. This has a better track record.
Finally, merchants need to see proof inferred offers work. Merchants can already create Newbie, Flash, Swarm, and other offers for free. Why pay for the privilege now?
Curiously lacking in the announcement were any case studies showing personalized offers drive more business. In theory, distinct offers to infrequent or lapsed visitors should drive impulse, especially if those visitors are visiting the “category” elsewhere. Surely foursquare has tested this. The absence of any examples is surprising.
Personally, I feel we’ve moved beyond the check-in economy. Sure, there remains a small segment of the population that continue to check-in but the trajectory of the trend is declining. Whether coupons, be they personalized or not, can resuscitate check-ins is doubtful.
Delivering the right offer, at the right time to the right person in the right place is a brand’s dream. This is easier said than done. What Foursquare is working on is interesting and has potential. Like Facebook, they need to show the relevance and value of their solution. For example, brands including GM are questioning the value of “Likes” on Facebook. If you can’t help a brand measure the value of your marketing, it is impossible to determine the effectiveness and worth.
I like the concept overall; it’s a fairly frictionless way to do opt-in marketing. Consumers will only get offers when they check-in, so they’ll be pre-disposed to the engagement. I do think that the data generated by these programs will have a lot of noise in it and their will be huge risks that retailers will confuse correlation with causality and make poor decisions as a result.
Foursquare is launching this initiative “just in time” as the ennui of checking in with no feedback other than realizing you’ll never become the “mayor” is rapidly diluting the value of the service.
Not wanting to appear overly critical, I use Foursquare and continually scour the locations that pop up for offers. Sadly there are not enough and there is small incentive for me as a user to check-in. Interest in competing with connections for meaningless points has long since waned and even I am cautious at times about over-sharing.
Targeted coupons with sufficient value will renew interest in Foursquare, depending on how well they execute the new plan. At the least, I am delighted they are giving this a try.
Makes total sense, and frankly should have been done sooner, probably as part of earliest releases of the solution. Seems to provide some additional value to counter the question that still remains, are retailers really motivated to implement foursquare when acquired points can be used at other retailers?
For the longest time, people wondered what the value was for checking in. Just for bragging rights? It seemed so irrelevant. We were waiting for something to tie to it and if coupons are incentive enough for consumers, then it’s worthwhile for retailers to get onboard. The next question, for retailers, will be: Are we getting enough new/recurring business out of these Foursquare coupons?
The quality of consumer data from these coupons will depend on the level of adoption.
One of the advantages of check-in coupons is that they’re opt-in, rather than the spammy geo-location coupons that arrive to you via SMS when you walk withing range of a store.
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Personalized offers tied to mobile check-ins is a great idea, but it’s one that retailers should drive, not Foursquare. Retailers should own the customer data and determine the best offers. Using Foursquare for this purpose makes the retailers one step removed, and that’s not in the best long-term interest of the retailers.
One step closer to the holy grail of influencing the purchase decision. Serving up a personalized coupon at check-in allows you to get in the ‘buying pathway’. Knowing whether or not it is relevant to that customer’s specific category purchase is the last mile. Having enough data on the customer so they can influence the purchase decision will be key to success. Otherwise, it is just another offer. Maybe it will be good for impulse items….
Personalized coupons for mobile check-in is good in theory, but the offers need to be so compelling that consumers will give up their privacy and take the time to check in.
Foursquare has been around for years and is still searching for a business idea that will catch fire with consumers. At first it was an interesting gimmick, but consumers lost interest since the rewards were limited.
I question if the newest iteration of Foursquare will generate enough interest to propel them into the tier of ecommerce companies that matter.
Picture me conflicted. One side of my brain says, “What took these guys so long?” I mean what’s the whole point of personalized marketing if it isn’t, well, personalized? On the other hand, I also understand the argument that says people won’t share enough information.
But … wait … aren’t we talking about the same digital narcissists that actually believe I care that they are having a double dip framboise latte at 10:05 a.m.? Oh, yeah … they’ll deliver the old info sharing issues, alright, as long as the data request is framed to look like an ego boost.
On the other hand, I ask myself if this isn’t just the latest in a long line of marketing offers based on the notion that the way to get rich is to discount existing business. Look — it’s Foursquare — the cybersheep are “checking in” already without a coupon. After all, how are you ever going to become Mayor of Java Heaven if you are busy racing from coffee shop to coffee shop looking for half price, half cafs?
Personalization via inference has potential, but also has limits. Here are a few reasons:
1. Algorithmic filtering is only as good as the underlying data. Foursquare is limited by infrequent users with only a thin history and by the absence of many merchants. The outcome may be a lot of food offers.
2. Inferences work mysteriously behind the scenes. Consumer acceptance is mixed. Irrelevant offers quickly are perceived as spam.
3. Machine-driven recommendations raise issues of privacy. If not tamed, consumers may actually be less likely to share information.
Answer to the above? Asking users to specify their interests, similar to AmazonLocal. This has a better track record.
Finally, merchants need to see proof inferred offers work. Merchants can already create Newbie, Flash, Swarm, and other offers for free. Why pay for the privilege now?
Curiously lacking in the announcement were any case studies showing personalized offers drive more business. In theory, distinct offers to infrequent or lapsed visitors should drive impulse, especially if those visitors are visiting the “category” elsewhere. Surely foursquare has tested this. The absence of any examples is surprising.
Personally, I feel we’ve moved beyond the check-in economy. Sure, there remains a small segment of the population that continue to check-in but the trajectory of the trend is declining. Whether coupons, be they personalized or not, can resuscitate check-ins is doubtful.
Delivering the right offer, at the right time to the right person in the right place is a brand’s dream. This is easier said than done. What Foursquare is working on is interesting and has potential. Like Facebook, they need to show the relevance and value of their solution. For example, brands including GM are questioning the value of “Likes” on Facebook. If you can’t help a brand measure the value of your marketing, it is impossible to determine the effectiveness and worth.
I like the concept overall; it’s a fairly frictionless way to do opt-in marketing. Consumers will only get offers when they check-in, so they’ll be pre-disposed to the engagement. I do think that the data generated by these programs will have a lot of noise in it and their will be huge risks that retailers will confuse correlation with causality and make poor decisions as a result.
Foursquare is launching this initiative “just in time” as the ennui of checking in with no feedback other than realizing you’ll never become the “mayor” is rapidly diluting the value of the service.
Not wanting to appear overly critical, I use Foursquare and continually scour the locations that pop up for offers. Sadly there are not enough and there is small incentive for me as a user to check-in. Interest in competing with connections for meaningless points has long since waned and even I am cautious at times about over-sharing.
Targeted coupons with sufficient value will renew interest in Foursquare, depending on how well they execute the new plan. At the least, I am delighted they are giving this a try.
Makes total sense, and frankly should have been done sooner, probably as part of earliest releases of the solution. Seems to provide some additional value to counter the question that still remains, are retailers really motivated to implement foursquare when acquired points can be used at other retailers?
For the longest time, people wondered what the value was for checking in. Just for bragging rights? It seemed so irrelevant. We were waiting for something to tie to it and if coupons are incentive enough for consumers, then it’s worthwhile for retailers to get onboard. The next question, for retailers, will be: Are we getting enough new/recurring business out of these Foursquare coupons?
The quality of consumer data from these coupons will depend on the level of adoption.
One of the advantages of check-in coupons is that they’re opt-in, rather than the spammy geo-location coupons that arrive to you via SMS when you walk withing range of a store.