FOURSQUARE MOTIVATES SHOPPERS

A fresh application from Foursquare, the new kid on the block of social networking, is rising in the popularity stakes as its benefits to businesses and consumers attracts celebrity endorsements and a buy-in from Twitter.

Launched this past month, Foursquare For Business is a new iPhone app that blurs the line between location-based game playing and business marketing tool. Adding a new layer to the 'where-you-at' school of apps lead by recommendation service Urban Spoon, the latest Foursquare offering rewards users who visit the sites of participating businesses (restaurants, cafés, book stores) with discounts, points and even Mayoral status for those who hit a location most frequently. So far the business has proved so successful that Twitter co-founder jack Dorsey is reported to have invested in the service.

As well as exploiting the iPhone's GPS functionality, the free download hooks users in with a live Twitter stream showing the activities of other players to add a competitive edge to exploring the streets of your home town. One participating business is Tasti Dlite, a frozen yoghurt chain operating in New York. Having recently signed up to the Foursquare scheme they'll soon be giving out discounts on their food products sold to any Foursquare users who check into their business, showing how the app can work as a means to empower consumers by incentivising their movement through commercial districts.

BJ Emerson, spokesperson for Tasti Dlite is excited about the product as it provides them with previously untapped information about who is engaging with their products and services, when and how often.

"This kind of information would help us make effective decisions around what promotions to run, when and where. The touch points that are being created with consumers online couldn't be better", he enthuses.

The concept emerged from the ashes of the now defunct Dodgeball - a similar network application that was acquired by Google in 2005 and promptly shut down as a cost-cutting measure this year. Dodgeball, and now foursquare co-founder, Dennis Crowley launched Foursquare only six months ago. The idea for the business addition was spawned over the summer when he say venues like bars, restaurants and coffee-shops were making flyers offering promotions, discounts and freebies for Foursquare users.

"Eventually it will be automated but right now you submit the types of things that you are interested in and we'll reach out to the venue and say we saw that you wanted to give ten percent off but we think it's better if you give a free drink …and we just flip a switch in our system and every time somebody uses Foursquare on the iPhone that special shows and you can take advantage of it", explains Crowley.


And its stock is rising rapidly in the popularity stakes, 50 companies have signed up with 10 jumping onboard just this week, an ascent resembling that of social network maestro Twitter. Crowley says the pair compliments each other perfectly, for example when you clock into a certain place in your Foursquare application it provides you with the option of updating your Twitter status about where you are.
"Twitter is very much about what are you doing, and foursquare is very much about where you are doing it", he muses.

While the business looks to be sitting pretty with funding, it is still very much in its evolutionary phase. Crowley says he and his team are still trying to manage some of the pitfalls in the system like making sure people who clock into a certain place, are in fact at that place and so on.

Currently available in 21 major cities including New York, Amsterdam and Vancouver, the app has already attracted attention outside of America with calls for a UK version cropping up on the App Store comment boards. With celeb endorsement from Ashton Kutchner and his missus, Foursquare looks set to grow in popularity over the coming months. And with a London version due out imminently you'd better stay tuned.