Domestic LBS Case Analysis

= In the domestic, the street side net, much fun, Topsy, Bedouin, Pushpin and many other innovative enterprises are "LBS+SNS" model practitioners. Murong, the Bedouin CEO, said at the 2010 Internet Conference that "lbs will become a" snake balm "that can be used for search, community, portal, advertising, and possibly even standard. ”

The 2010 is known as the Year of China Mobile Internet because of the innovative business launched by the two major websites of Groupon (group purchase) and Foursquare (Location service website) that have brought life to the entire Internet.

The rise of the Foursquare makes geographical services (Location Based Service, or lbs) a new favorite on the internet and mobile phones. March 2009 Foursquare in the United States on the line, six months after the first round of angel financing, 15,000 users a day, to the current user volume has exceeded 2.6 million, the development speed even higher than the Twitter. Because of this, Foursquare is known as a great invention of the Internet. At present, China Mobile, Google, Apple, Facebook, Twitter and other areas of the leading companies have been competing for the LBS market.

In China, the street side net, much fun, play turn quartet, Bedouin, Pushpin and many other innovative enterprises are "LBS+SNS" model practitioners. Murong, the Bedouin CEO, said at the 2010 Internet Conference that "lbs will become a" snake balm "that can be used for search, community, portal, advertising, and possibly even standard. ”

Whether lbs will eventually become standard depends on whether it brings real business value and convenience to operators and users.

The commercial value of the interactive revolution

LBS is leading the innovation and development of information technology services and business models

The advent of Foursquare, which originated in the United States and based on mobile internet location-based Services, has prompted many to shout "an interactive revolution under the line" has opened. Analysys Mobile E-commerce analyst Ningyang that the reason why the Fouraquare fire, due to the former network users are fragmented, online is online, offline is offline. Now, through the LBS business Line online under the combination, through the channel.

Location is a very important node, but also has a high commercial value. For example, through this platform, the original offline merchants can promote the brand to the online users, online users can also find the offline merchant. The most critical core of this interactive service is the user relationship and the establishment of the circle, the original SNS users can also through the reality of the association, so that the way to make friends more diversified, from the online circle to the line, line online under the contact more closely, but also led to the realization of commercial value.

According to the official, Foursquare mode 50% is a tool for geo-information recording, 30% is a tool for social sharing, and 20% is a game tool. LBS adds a new tagging dimension to user information, Foursquare a combination of time series, behavioral trajectories, and geographic information tagging to help users create a broader and more intimate relationship with the outside world, creating a new location for social service experience.

The introduction of game elements in position service and the formation of competition and incentive mechanism are the key factors to increase the user's active degree and stickiness, enhance the interaction between individual users and enterprises, and improve the value of local advertising marketing. Foursquare To provide local advertising services to enterprises with real-time analysis tools is the profit model that Foursquare is exploring and practicing, and Foursquare is accumulating the energy of the local advertising service market leader at present.

In fact, the business value of geographical location services has been valued by all parties, but because of technology, market and other reasons, can not be truly commercial. Wan Haoki, a partner in the third generation, believes that the most essential thing is to turn a passive behavior into an initiative, and now more business opportunities are available based on this more frequent interaction.

Domestic first batch of water test location services in the street network and smartphone manufacturer Dopod cooperation, in July 2010 in the country more than 700 Wanda retail stores launched "Play Street, the ubiquitous" promotional activities. Consumers will have access to prizes including smartphones, just by registering on the street-side account and checking in. Ying, founder and chief executive of the street network, told the China Business News reporter, "Street side network is a link between merchants and consumers platform, we hope that consumers in the country 700 retail stores HTC mobile phone, can be in the help of a salesperson to experience this innovative service, but also let merchants realize the value of the promotion of the street side. ”

In addition to lbs brings online interactive promotional opportunities, the domestic handle network has become the first Groupon and Foursquare to get through the group buying site. Handle Network CEO Wu that Foursquare is a particularly accurate location-based platform that gives businesses the opportunity to push ads with precision. Based on this, some businesses not only participate in the site group buy, also participate in lbs "Handle quartet" check-in activities, through the registration to send points to achieve the role of mutual promotion. At the same time, 16Fun July just on the line of a combination of location services mobile games, but also let businesses see the combination of lbs and games brought new business opportunities. Eric Analyst Liuliang that lbs is leading the innovation and development of information technology services and business models, and is poised to reshape the vision of mobile Internet in the future.

The challenge of opportunity

The biggest problem of lbs business in China is the homogeneity of products

Despite the rapid development of Foursquare business, the market competition brought by lbs is becoming fiercer. In the United States, faced with a huge market, Facebook has recently launched a places model directly targeting lbs, which has created a huge competitive pressure on the newly booming foursquare. In Wan Haoki view, the current China's lbs business is the biggest problem is product homogeneity, each how to partition, how to obtain business breakthrough is a big problem.

Liuliang that, although the local advertising market based on lbs has a good development prospects, but the application of the basic conditions has not significantly improved, user-scale growth and user behavior education needs to undergo a long period of market cultivation, grasp the market entry time and business development rhythm is very important. At the same time, due to the lack of innovation in the business model, the ability to develop local products and services, telecom operators, mobile phone manufacturers and internet portals and other industries such as the leading enterprises in the LBS business, will aggravate the complexity of the market and the uncertainty of the competitive landscape. More crucially, the local advertising market is not enough to support the development of the social network ecosystem at present, it can only be said that expanding the personal pay market is the direction of exploring the profit model.

Ningyang to the "China Business newspaper" reporter, with pushpin, Bedouin core staff exchanges, they have a common feeling that their own market prematurely, and the market environment does not form a mutually supportive system, the future market will be how the development of the dispute.

Case one: Lbs+sns

Walking along the street of literary and artistic stylish

The street is the Chinese imitation foursquare mode most like a business, the main business is based on lbs check-in. The so-called sign in, that is Check-in's Chinese name, is a kind of information and geographical position in tandem action, so as to achieve the information according to the geographical location of the way to organize. At present, many Internet services use this check-in model to apply it to other services.

Small pang (net name) love music, sign in with the street with the cooperation of Beijing five music scene, will get the Great Wall Music festival tickets, and can accumulate a street to the "badge" (Check-in will get a badge). The street by this special promotional model, attracted hundreds of people to the scene to sign up, so that the city illustrated by a number of minority theatrical performances become overcrowded.

It is understood that Foursquare's advertising revenue mainly from the brand advertisers, catering, entertainment, retail, FMCG, traditional media industries such as brand enterprises are its potential customers. And the foursquare of the street in the early days of entrepreneurship caught the most easy to make well-known star concert business. After participating in and operating the Sheng, Wanfang Island music Festival tour, many young people began to know and play the streets.

Registered street, listening to concerts, signing souvenirs, winning tickets, which is the most disruptive innovation for social interaction sites. And on this new model of online registration and offline interaction, the street is proving to be a business model that can bring commercial value in China.

"At Nike's new shoe conference, 800 of people's venues, the street sign up to win prizes of activity brought 500 people, and attendance information is also synchronized forwarded to happy, everyone, watercress, Sina Weibo and other four sites, equivalent to 2000 live on the microblog." We have only one table at the scene, but two days, 800 people participated in the event, the scene almost 60% people participated in our activities. Although Ying, founder and chief executive of the street network, admits that the partnership has not been charged, the bright future has been revealed. She said that after working with some of the best-known brands, the brands had already put the street in the 2011-year new media budget.

The average user has a sign in every 10 seconds of ~20 seconds, an increase of 30% a week, which is now the speed of the street. This speed has also been recognized by businesses. Ying Frankly, our market cooperation is based on the mode of resource Exchange, in providing marketing channels for businesses, but also the development of New Street users. Mobile lbs service as a basic core function, the future branch form and mode will be richer, marketing channels is only one of them.

Ying said that at present although did not get the income, "but now comes to us to quote the company more and more, in the future we will introduce the better service to optimize the brand." ”

Case two: groupon+lbs

Handle attempt deep fusion

"We want to give the Check-in users the same as the purchase registered users of the benefits." "There is no doubt that the March g+f (groupon+foursquare) mode of the handle network CEO Wu most want to do is how the two modes to get through."

Although the current main group purchase business handle Network August sales will exceed tens of millions of dollars, employees from dozens of to 350 people, but the competition has been white-hot, which let Wu in the location services to explore business integration determination more determined.

At the beginning of the online group buying, the handle net set up a class Foursquare page. On this page, there is a boutique business interface, set up is a copy of Sina Weibo platform, the difference is that the Bo is mainly in Beijing's business. "Here you can focus on the business you are interested in, become its fans, and then constantly go to the merchant sign in, both online check-in, can also through the phone terminal in the actual arrival of the store check-in." But the simple check-in effect is not good, after signing no benefits, interest on the cold down. After the conclusion, we must give feedback to the users. "Wu said. But for the location of the service and buy a combination, in foreign countries can not find a copy of the object, all need to handle their own to explore.

Wu Introduction, in the handle of the check-in2.0 version to be launched in early September, "there will be some localized innovation, such as you go to the handle network happy Life channel merchants to sign in, and become guests, then each time to the store can enjoy discounts, but also like group members to obtain benefits." "Other benefits are the points or medals that the user can take to spend, spend, and give points." Even, for some tight buy places, users can also take points to redeem the purchase opportunity, so that will motivate customers to continue to earn points.

However, check-in although fresh lively, but can bring profit for the handle? Wu that, in fact, handle net buying business to achieve profitability, is already using the LBS check-in function, "We and some restaurants in cooperation, will take some of these restaurants to do experiments, members in addition to group purchase can also register as a handle ' Happy life ' member, carry on the store registration. This business, we will not directly collect money, but the promotion of business services fees will be a little higher. ”

Eric Analyst Liuliang that the handle network earlier combined with the "groupon+foursquare" business model, in the user and capital level have a first-hair advantage, fully integrated online and offline advantage of resources, in the country's hundreds of cities to quickly carry out group buying business, focus on users to push entertainment, Discounts on consumer products and services, such as catering and beauty, continue to innovate business content and extend the user experience on the basis of group buying business. But there is still a lot of pressure on how to integrate two separate business models in the future. Because of this model, it is not possible to replicate the experience of American peers.

Case Three: game+lbs

Fun Test Water mobile game

Go where to put the house, shop buy down, oneself can decorate decorate, can also with friends to the place of the house fried High ... This is the July just on the line of the game and location services linked to a mobile phone game 16Fun (Monopoly).

16Fun is a mobile gaming company in Beijing, Chi Chong billion Technology Development Co., Ltd. was established in January 2010 since the launch of the first smartphone game. But unlike ordinary mobile games, this is a geographical positioning of the social game, the user can live in the real life of the site and the 16Fun game mode, the user through to the surrounding location to earn points, upgrade level, but also can you like or feel that there is investment prospects to buy down, and other users who have always signed in here charge rent. Whether you work in a building or a regular restaurant, you can buy it if you have enough grades and cash in the game.

Through periodic calculations and statistics, the value of real estate in each city will change with the user's behavior, bringing to the user a feeling connected with the reality. The value of the property in the game will appreciate and depreciate with the activity of the user in the game, which depends entirely on the player playing the game. The more players go (sign in), the more they buy, and the more they invest, the more they will let the property appreciate, and vice versa. Players sign in will have the opportunity to get exquisite gifts. In addition, 16Fun also has a store in the game, there are a lot of games can make the game better play the props waiting for the player to buy. In community functions, users can send emails to invite friends, or add friends who are already in the game. "There are users who say that the biggest advantage of our game is that he realized the fun of buying a house to fry." Liuyang, co-founder of 16Fun, smiled.

The game was launched in early July, in the case of only the iphone client can use, so far there have been more than 5,000 people download, although the number of no explosive growth, but from the current Word-of-mouth has been recognized by the players. But it is still too early to talk about the profitability of the game. Because and 16Fun similar to a Gowalla game 2009 Christmas in the United States online, 8 months, also only a version of the iphone, there are 3.1 million users, the profit model is "virtual goods + advertising."

Liuyang to own this 16Fun game full of confidence, "the future we also learn this model, for example, to a place to sign in, send the gift can add ads, will be made to claim, complete the task can get prizes, these prizes will be combined with the actual business." "And in addition to the promotion of the game, the virtual currency is also a profit path for 16Fun consideration."

For the 16Fun attempt, Jingwei venture partner Wan Haoki that combined with location services to make this mobile phone game is different, but in China this model can still be difficult to judge, because he has to face not only a test of the game, but also constantly develop more characteristics of the application, to form their own competitive platform test.

Link

Location Services (Location Based service, referred to as lbs) refers to the mobile communication network of telecommunications operators, using GPS, base station and other related positioning technology, combined with geographic information system (GIS), through the mobile phone terminals, to determine the actual location of mobile phone users information, to SMS, MMS, voice, Web page and client software to provide users with geographic information services, social networking services.

Foursquare is a mobile social networking start-up founded in 2009. The company offers geographic location services that allow users to share geographic information with their friends, as well as bonus points, medals, and other rewards for frequent check-in on Foursquare. For example, if a user is dining in a restaurant and then uses his mobile device to sign in at the restaurant, the user's friend on the Foursquare will receive the location information of the user.