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.

1. Mobile Application

8. Who Plays Who Runs It Amy 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.

18. Research Foursquare’s Audience Demographics Resource: Alexa.com

19. “ 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

20. Research Shopper Culture - Most Shoppers Report That Coupons Play a Large 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

21. Research Shopper 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