Mobile Application

Shopping Therapy is a new game application that lets foursquare users compete with one another and earn discounts at participating stores within a game space like a mall or shopping district.

Players earn points toward badges such as “Shopaholic”, “Fashionista”, “Discount Diva” etc. by checking in at participating stores, and buying promoted merchandise.

This is a mall-level game. After meeting with sales managers at various mall stores, the mall/game manager would input various rewards such as store-specific discounts or weekly inventory alerts.

The discounts and inventory alerts are the in-game messages sent to the players/shoppers who check-in at the mall.

Players/shoppers would participate in the game by filling out an online profile that allowed them to express shopping, store and brand preferences.

1. Users can choose a game role like Fashion Victim, Gadgeteer or Mall Rat. Each role gives you a different game scenario connected to different stores.

2. Each store check-in is worth two points. Eight points maximum for check-ins per scenario.

3. When the game players earn enough points, a discount badge is unlocked.

4. Game players may use the badge to access discounts at participating stores.

Shopaholic Badge•Awarded after users earn 60 to 90 points.•Users receive a 30% discount at participating stores.

Trendsetter Badge•Awarded after users earn 48 to 73 points.•Users receive a 25% discount at participating stores.

Fashionista Badge•Awarded after users earn 36 to 54 points.•Users receive a 20% discount at participating stores.

Discount Diva Badge•Awarded after users earn 24 to 36 points.•Users receive a 15% discount at participating stores.

Window Shopper Badge•Awarded after users earn 12 to 18 points•Users receive a 10% discount at participating stores

Each scenario has its own set of badges that follow the guidelines listed above. Users continue to earn points after they unlock a discount badge. Points return to zero at the beginning of every month.

Dungeon Master Badge•Awarded after users earn 60 to 90 points.•Users receive a 30% discount at participating stores.

Tech Wiz Badge•Awarded after users earn 48 to 73 points.•Users receive a 25% discount at participating stores.

Gadget Geek Badge•Awarded after users earn 36 to 54 points.•Users receive a 20% discount at participating stores.

Pixel Nerd Badge•Awarded after users earn 24 to 36 points.•Users receive a 15% discount at participating stores.

Thrifty Dweeb Badge•Awarded after users earn 12 to 18 points•Users receive a 10% discount at participating stores

Each scenario has its own set of badges that follow the guidelines listed above. Users continue to earn points after they unlock a discount badge. Points return to zero at the beginning of every month.

Mall Rat Badge•Awarded after users earn 60 to 90 points.•Users receive a 30% discount at participating stores.

Mall Ninja Badge•Awarded after users earn 48 to 73 points.•Users receive a 25% discount at participating stores.

Mall Regular Badge•Awarded after users earn 36 to 54 points.•Users receive a 20% discount at participating stores.

Casual Wanderer Badge•Awarded after users earn 24 to 36 points.•Users receive a 15% discount at participating stores.

Food Court Jester Badge•Awarded after users earn 12 to 18 points•Users receive a 10% discount at participating stores

Each scenario has its own set of badges that follow the guidelines listed above. Users continue to earn points after they unlock a discount badge. Points return to zero at the beginning of every month.

Who Who PlaysPlays

Who Runs Who Runs ItItAmy is a freshman at Syracuse

University. She keeps up with the latest trends, whether it’s fashion or gadgets. She is a frequent visitor at the mall and is able spend several hours there. Amy uses the stores’ reward cards and coupons whenever she receives them in the mail. She often forgets her store credit card and wishes there was an easier way to get her discounts.

Amy has been using foursquare for the past 2 months. She has five mayorships and 7 badges. She enjoys the game and competing for mayor with her friends.

Kim is a 28-year-old female, who is a store manager in the women’s department at Macy’s. She wants to be promoted to product manager, where she is responsible for managing the development of a private brand/label. To do this, she will need to display strong organizational and leadership skills. She is always suggesting new ways to increase traffic in-store during the recession.

Kim uses social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, on a regular basis. She heard about foursquare and it’s new shopping game application. She is intrigued by the game and thinks it could help the in-store traffic problem. In addition to the rewards card and coupons, she believes the store should offer discounts to its loyal customers.

Rob Schoeneck is the General Manager at Carousel Center located in Syracuse, New York. His responsibilities include staff management, administration of marketing plan, preparation and administration of annual budgets, ongoing communications with tenant store managers and active involvement in the community.

For the first time since Sept., retail sales have dropped 1.2% in May. To increase retail sales, Rob wants to test new forms of media to include in the marketing plan. Familiar with the growth of social media and mobile phones, Rob wants to figure out the best way to integrate new media into Carousel’s marketing plan to attract more visitors.

Amy, an 18-year-old female, enters Carousel Center to spend the day shopping. She launches the foursquare Shopping Therapy game application. She’s then directed to the game role screen where she can pick a scenario to play.

There are three different game scenarios to choose from. For this trip, Amy chooses the Fashion Victim game scenario.

Once Amy chooses the Fashion Victim scenario, she’s given four check-in locations, in this case, four fashion retail stores where Amy must check-in to gain points.

This screen displays the stores participating in the shopping therapy Fashion Victim game. Additionally, the screen lists what Amy needs to achieve to earn the Window Shopper badge.

When Amy enters Lord & Taylor, she locates the store’s QR-code and takes a picture of it to check-in.

After she takes the picture, Amy is brought to a screen that displays the store’s sticker with its QR-code.

Amy looks down to where the players levels are shown. She wants to earn the Shopaholic badge after she notices that Katie already has it.

The second check-in screen displays what products Amy’s friends have recently purchased. Amy uses this suggestion tool to check out the new top Katie has purchased. After downloading the application, Amy set permissions on which users can view their purchasing information. In this case, Katie gave permission for Amy to view her recent purchases.

Amy purchases a Ralph Lauren top while she is in Lord & Taylor. She takes a picture of the foursquare QR-code at the bottom of the receipt to earn extra points. She is awarded three points for her first purchase.

Amy followed the same steps to check-in at each store. Her points are totaled after her last check-in at Macy’s. She earned a total of 16 points for her check-ins and purchases.

Amy’s 16 points earned her the Window Shopper badge, which awards her a 10% discount at all the participating stores in the FV game.

The sales associate has the option to either scan the QR-code or manually enter in the discount code.

Shopping center management Retail store management Marketers Designers Boutique owners Trend obsessed

ResearchResearchFoursquare’s Audience DemographicsFoursquare’s Audience Demographics

Resource: Alexa.com

“Coupons, always one of the more popular shopping aids, have become even more important in the second half of 2009, indicating the economic effect of the recession on shopping behavior. Use of mobile phones, while still relatively limited, has nonetheless increased over the course of the year potentially due the growing usage of smart-phone shopping and information-seeking applications. This is especially true with younger shoppers (18-24), 15% of whom report using mobile phones as shopping aids versus 5% for those aged 35 and over.”

http://www.shopperculture.com/shopper_culture/2010/02/coupon-usage-continues-to-increase.html

ResearchResearchShopper Culture - Most Shoppers Report That Coupons Play a Shopper Culture - Most Shoppers Report That Coupons Play a Large Role In Brand SelectionLarge Role In Brand Selection

“With the upswing in coupon usage, we are again faced with the question, “Do coupons influence brand decisions at shelf?”  According to data from the latest Checkout Study, the answer is yes. The influence of coupons on brand selection is enormous, with almost 9 out of 10 shoppers (86%) saying that coupons are at least somewhat influential on their brand decisions and 48% reporting that coupons are very or extremely influential.”

http://www.shopperculture.com/shopper_culture/2010/05/most-shoppers-report-that-coupons-play-a-large-role-in-brand-selection.html

ResearchResearchShopper Culture - Coupons Used to Justify Brand SelectionShopper Culture - Coupons Used to Justify Brand Selection

“In general, it appears that most shoppers perceive coupons as rewards for products they typically buy as well as incentives to try new or alternative brands or products. Convenient and useful, coupon consumption is largely geared toward spending less money overall rather than buying a larger quantity of products except for attached-coupled (married; living with partner) and lower-income households (below $50,000 annual HHI). Female shoppers are more likely than males to use coupons as a gateway to trying new brands and products. In fact, women are twice as likely to say they ‘always’ use coupons as a means for trying new brands.”

http://www.shopperculture.com/shopper_culture/2010/05/coupons-used-to-justify-brand-selection.html