Where is the foursquare of China?

While Facebook and Twitter are constantly being watched by the industry as valuations soar, Foursquare, a location-based, has quietly released its latest Foursquare3.0 version, prompting concern in the industry. It is also a surprise when people look back on the development of the past year Foursquare. According to statistics, in the past year, the number of registered users Foursquare has exceeded 6 million. In terms of "sign in (check-in)", Foursquare's 2010 attendance reached 3.,815,763,05e,+16, a 3,400% increase over the previous year. At present, Foursquare daily "check-in" number reached 2 million times a day, add 25,000 users. Why Foursquare has made such a rapid development, especially after last year's global social networking boss, Facebook, announced the launch of a places similar to Foursquare features and services, which the industry generally believes will suffer a heavy blow. In this respect, China's lbs from which can get what kind of inspiration?

Foursquare co-founder Naven Servadulle (Naveen Selvadurai), explaining the reasons for the increase in its number of users, said that Foursquare was a game-type experience; Foursquare creates a competitive atmosphere among friends; Foursquare is like a log that can record what the user has done. By contrast, Facebook places is tedious. This is related to the degree of attention, another is the so-called surgery industry has specialized, Foursquare itself is relying on lbs development, nature has a deeper understanding of it, and to the maximum implementation of this understanding to products and services. In particular, the recent release of its Foursquare3.0, a lot of updated features again focused on the check-in, but for the check-in this action injected more meaning. Now, users have more reason to go to various places to sign in, not just to announce their own position.

Foursquare the explosion of user-scale growth last year suggests that the huge space for lbs growth remains

For example, in the maintenance of user loyalty, Foursquare the original for the "landlord" of the preferential activities to provide more users, to help businesses attract customers in a variety of ways. Businesses can now offer promotions to groups, groups of friends, regular visitors, new customers, landlords, or to everyone. This is important because it provides some tangible benefits to users. Points and "landlord" titles can only attract motivated users, but promotions are more or less attractive to everyone.

When the foursquare of the other side of the ocean with its own services and experience to prove lbs broad market prospects, in the same hot social network in China, LBS development is what kind of scene? When the portal site has flocked to Weibo, everyone, happy these SNS website Zuba, How should China's lbs road move forward? Can you find the right development space in the fierce social network war, like Foursquare?

Throughout China's lbs, I found that the trend of a website is quite like Foursquare, that is the July 2010 by the micro-Bo transformation location of the service of the muttering network. As of February 2011, the use of muttering network mobile phone platform more than 2 million users to Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Beijing, Shanghai, the majority of users, is currently the largest number of users in the location of the registration service provider. Of course, the growth of the number of users is only a measure of lbs strength of a target, the ultimate strength and influence is to rely on the online and offline activities to reflect the effect.

Based on the impact of smartphone mobility on shopping (including businesses and consumers), the LBS service provider provides opportunities for development

Specific to muttering network, in early 2011, its work together with McDonald's, Haagen-Dazs and other well-known brands in all over the cooperation, held a series of muttering users enjoy special promotional activities, causing great concern. McDonald's 100,000 free send feedback to the activities of friends so far, as of March 2 has been successfully signed 584,253 times, 27,751 users have been electronic Maleca, Maleca activation rate of up to 78.5%; Thousands of users of the network to use points to win Haagen-Dazs coupons. These are enough to prove that the network as LBS service provider in the business and user influence.

In addition to the growing size of users and the expansion of influence, whether to maintain this momentum is the key to an invincible position in the lbs market. On what? Platform and service innovation.

Before the release of Foursquare3.0, the muttering net also released its latest version of 2011. In this new version, the additional task level integration system, users can be signed in addition to get points, but also according to the prompts to complete a variety of tasks, improve the level, and get the corresponding concessions; the higher the level, the more generous the discount. Accumulated virtual points can also be exchanged online real merchandise, such as McDonald's pineapple pie, California red cash coupons, Haagen-Dazs ice cream and so on. In addition, the new peripheral instant discount push function will be based on the user's location and points, after each check-in, for users to recommend the surrounding instant discount information, as well as the available points exchange options.

From these features, it is not difficult to see that the 2011 version of muttering network and Foursquare3.0 have similar place. It's all about how to increase the user experience (rewards, loyalty, competitiveness and gameplay). However, the author believes that the most essential is that both for the LBS concept and development strategy of the same. Just like muttering the net says, sign in is only a starting point, only will sign in the user and the offline entity merchant graft up, give both sides to provide the accurate service, can the long-term solution "viscous" question. This is also the direction of future muttering efforts.

To sum up, I think, given the development prospects of LBS, especially China has the world's largest mobile phone and PC users, its future market in China will be broader. And the real explosive growth of the market needs to be the production of lbs, a bellwether like Foursquare. At present, the fight of the network or other service providers in the field of lbs, who can finally win?