Feb 10 2011
Location, Location, Location
There are three important notices for starting business whatever a restaurant, a clothing store, or even a huge mall. The first one is location, second is location. The third again is location. Roughly, we can define this kind of business is location-based service.
Today, we have already entered the internet era, which significantly impacts our daily lives, also the business. A new connection between business and customers shows up by location-based service website, location-application on smart phones. One of the famous location service which is widely used by us is Google Map. Usually, it can be used to search to location we looking for with some relative advertisements coming up.
Now with new companies entering this industry, one is http://foursquare.com/. Another one is http://www.facebook.com/places/.
Compared to the Google Maps, these two website actually offers more service or coupon to the customers which is more business related.
For the foursuare which started two-years ago now having over 5-million users allows users to “check in” from various locations, ranging from ballparks to coffee shops to hotels. The service relies almost entirely on smart phones and other mobile devices. On the other hand, for business users, Foursquare offers a compelling branding opportunity.Businesses can claim their virtual locations on Foursquare, and offer deals that encourage customers to visit the physical storefronts more often.Businesses can also offer special deals based on frequency of visits, or a one-time deal when a customer visits for the first time.
For the facebook.com/place. One of its advantage is that it is the largest social networking tool in the world which is very attractive for business owners who want to advertise their product or service. However, facebook just cooperate with group0buying site such as Groupon and Teamsave. Usually there web-site offer a great deal to customers. Users can check in to various locations, and see nearby discounts from participating businesses.