March 10, 2011
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Foursquare, the online location-based social networking site that now boasts some 7 million users, has teamed up with American Express to offer a compelling new incentive for smartphone owners to “check in” to the site: Cash. The pilot program, which will be available only to users in Austin, Texas, promises to give users a $5 credit when they spend $5 at one of the 60 participating merchants. And you’ll have to hurry to take advantage of it, as the program will have a limited run from March 11-16 in conjunction with the South By Southwest festival, which is expected to draw thousands of curious tourists and music lovers into the city over that time. OPEN Forum checked in with Tristan Walker, who heads up business development at Foursquare, to see how the program ties in with the company’s overall growth strategy.
Q: How did the deal come about?
A: We have been focused on finding ways to help merchants to drive traffic to their stores and measure the value of offline advertising. Part of that was finding a way to help recreate the experience of redeeming coupons. We also wanted to find ways to help redefine what customer loyalty means to retailers. And very few companies exist that understand loyalty like American Express does.
Want more on Foursquare? Check these out:
Q: How will the program work for users?
A: American Express is working with 60 merchants in the Austin area. Users can start signing up on Thursday, but the deals won’t kick in until Friday. When users check in with one of the participating merchants, they will be prompted to enter their credit card information. When they use their card to pay for their purchase, they will then get a $5 credit to their card in three to five days. We call it, “spend $5, save $5.” It makes the redemption process completely seamless, which should delight our users.
Q: Will you be publishing a list of the participating merchants?
A: There will be an element of surprise to that. I can tell you that you can check in to the W Hotel and Whole Foods.
Q: Are you planning to roll out similar programs like this one in the future?
A: Right now we have a laser-like focus on making this pilot as successful as possible by helping merchants better understand who their customers are. If this is as successful as we think it can be, it’s definitely our intent to explore ways to scale this out on a larger scale. Our ultimate goal is to help merchants provide an awesome experience to their customers.
Image credit: joelg87
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