I barely feel the connection between your tagline "like foursquare for the masses" and your actual service--which I think has far more potential because your are always involved with the transaction whereas 4sq is occasional and purely social in ~94% of my use.
How about:
- Starbucks Rewards for the masses
- One punch card to rule them all (I'm watching Two Towers, sorry)
- Frequent Flyer Miles for small businesses
- American Express points for the rest of America
Or something else. Because you're better than that. You are next to transactions. 4sq is next to brands. I would bet on you over them if you can execute.
Seems like a really useful idea and great execution too. I've never used the real punch cards in action before, may be I'm not aware of it. But this is something that I would definitely love to use!
Never used real punchcards?? That's impressive... something like ~94% of Americans have them laying around. Whenever I pitch Punchd to a group of people they all have punchcards and they all always forget them at home.
That's a fun idea, but we'd destroy your battery polling the gps. The best we can do is put up some fancy posters so you remember when you're standing in line :)
I'd love to see this integrated with blippy or Mint, this way the only thing I have to remember to do is use my credit/debit card and I'll automatically get 'punchd' for the transaction.
I would work a bit more on the website though. I don't think is perfectly clear what the objective is.
It looks like you want to accomplish two main things:
1. Get users to download the app
2. Get business owners to request more info.
Number 1 seems clear enough, but #2 I think is a bit shaky. I think business owners deserved a dedicated page explaining the benefits of why would they want to use Punchd.
The idea of the letter to request more info is great and you seem to know your fare share of Direct Response marketing :). However, the contact form is quite unfamiliar. Idea: work on the border to make it look more like an envelope (maybe a stamp or whatever)
Congrats on launching!
If you need any more tips drop me a line. Email is in my profile :)
Just downloaded your app. Looks clean and very responsive. But I could not find any punchd stores in nearby places around (SF bay area). Surprising since Jamba Juice and Peets is just a stone's throw away from where I am sitting. Is it limited to certain stores?
I think this is a really cool idea but I also think it is horribly awkward to take out your phone and scan a QR code printed on a receipt. I imagine myself standing in a line at starbucks at 8:45am with 20 people behind me and there I am pulling out my cellphone trying to snap a QR code pissing everyone else off who just wants to get coffee and get to work. I just do not believe the mainstream user is ready for that (or QR codes in general). Find a better way to record the purchase and you'll win users like me, until then I will keep using the card in my wallet.
1. Buy coffee.
2. Take receipt.
3. Go sit down/move to area in which you intend to drink coffee.
4. Scan barcode.
5. Enjoy coffee.
I think people are ready for QR codes - they've worked out self service tills over here in the UK, and if the app was designed intuitively (don't mention "QR Code", just say "scan your receipt so the barcode is in this square") they'll work it out. They also need to sort out their site, get user accounts sorted/tie it to google accounts, and get that stuff on the market.
It's amazing how quickly people learn stuff when there's free things in it for them.
That's where the uncertainty lies right now. We've made venue acquisition as smooth and easy as possible, but we still need to sell them on the idea.
We're experimenting with some ideas (various geographic markets, adwords, referral program) but haven't found the ideal solution yet. This is our biggest challenge right now.
I think your service is a boon to local businesses... I'm talking to some local economic development people in St. Louis in the next week or so. I'll show them Punchd and see their reaction.
I think economic development groups should champion an array of web services like Punchd that are affordable, create engagement, and get measurable results.
That would be fantastic. Drop me a line and let me know how it goes, even if it's just one sentence. Email is in my profile. Would hit you up first but you have no contact info.
I definitely love the idea. I understand nothing about how the selling works to the businesses, but is it possible to get Jamba Juice, Peet's, or Chick Fil A to take Punchd national through their stores? This seems like a possible way to scale. Then try to sell to the local stores from there.
Hey guys, first heard about Punchd last night. I was looking at your new website and the redesign looks gorgeous.
We've been working in a similar idea in Toronto: http://loyaltiapp.com/ with a slightly different execution. I'm in the bay area for the next few days, do you guys want to get together and discuss some ideas?
Very clean iPhone App. I like it. No locations near me (chicago). I especially like the
About screen with the pull down scroll to reveal the version number, nice little touch.
I really don't think badges/ or any gamifciation is necessary, KISS. Isn't winning a free coffee after buying 10 coffees enough motivation to use the product. I really don't think the problem is convincing users to adopt its going to be getting businesses to adopt. If I see 10 places I frequent often all using this app for their loyalty program.. then I think its pretty obvious I would use it to.
Integration with Facebook, foursquare, and twitter. A lot beyond that, but it's a little premature to talk about it right now ;)
No game mechanics, right now we're focusing on real rewards. We'd love to add some gaming layer, but it can't be some sort of tack-on feature. It needs to be a fundamental part of the product, and we haven't figured out a great way to do that yet.
I think this works without all those extras, providing a real service without having to turn it into a game to keep people interested. Seems to be a lot of cross advertising potential, kind of like "You frequent x, you might be interested in y close by, get your first .... free"
How about:
- Starbucks Rewards for the masses
- One punch card to rule them all (I'm watching Two Towers, sorry)
- Frequent Flyer Miles for small businesses
- American Express points for the rest of America
Or something else. Because you're better than that. You are next to transactions. 4sq is next to brands. I would bet on you over them if you can execute.