This past month, I traveled to Phoenix to deliver a keynote address to the International Franchise Association. One of the emerging trends I instructed the audience to put on their “radar screen” was gaming dynamics. Not surprisingly, many in the audience didn’t know what I was talking about and I proceeded to explain how continued advances in location-based technology, in combination with smartphones, was now allowing innovative retailers and restaurant owners to use these tools to influence the behavior of their customers in some profitable ways.
Today, the Wall Street Journal has an insightful article explaining how some of these innovators are using Foursquare to drive sales. Arby’s, for example, reserves tables at many of their restaurants for their most favored customers. (They become “favored” customers by using Foursquare.) Other owners are providing discounts or reserving parking spots for their most frequent customers.
It is mistake to think of these tools as simply an extension of existing loyalty programs. These new tools are significantly more powerful because they can not only drive the actions of individual customers in new and exciting ways, they can also be harnessed to influence the much wider social networks of their customers as well. In short, gaming dynamics, by involving more people in individual purchasing decisions can dramatically increase sales and profits.
P.S. Foursquare is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. A host of other exciting gaming dynamics apps are coming to a store, restaurant or business near you in the near future.
