When you stop by a Starbucks, you can ‘check-in’ to that Starbucks. It is not a real check-in but a virtual behavior. In the beginning, the concept of ‘Check-in’ which is originated from “Foursquare” was used as a positioning method. But now, check-in no longer orients only to a behavior to register a user’s location to an internet service.
The concept has expanded and the function of check-in is used at various services and applications from the commerce business to the multimedia service. Check-in is a useful method to input data. In former days, a user had to type his record to upload the contextual information such as location, time and one’s behaviors. It was not easy for a user to keep using actively. The new check-in has changed a trend of internet life. If you want to upload your location, you just push the check-in button.
After the launch of Foursquare, there are a lot of services which use the function of check-in as follows:
1. LBS
By using GPS data, users can upload their locations and share them in services such as Foursquare and Gowalla.
2. Commerce and Advertisement
Combining information about a product and sales promotion, a service provider enables a consumer to check in at a merchant mall or participate an event such as Shopkick and Barcode Hero.
3. Multimedia and Others
Expanding its service area, a user can check in at the content or anything that has an interest on such as Get Glue.
< Check-in Services >
To provide a more contextual service, service providers are developing newer and more useful technologies such as barcode scanning, high frequency sound and NFC. But it is not enough to satisfy customers’ needs that adopt an optimized check-in method. Even though check-in is very important and can be a differentiated tool from others, if there are no components which persuade users to participate into the service regularly, it is difficult to build its customer base.
What will be the basic components of check-in embedded services?
1. Self-satisfaction through an Achievement
It is a very basic and famous factor for people to be dragged to the world of check-in services. Badges and the concept of ranking are preferred and commonly accepted. But I think this method is easy to copy and is difficult to maintain users’ interests in the long term.
2. Sharing Life-style with Friends
If you go to a nice restaurant located on the edge of a cliff by the sea or go to a wonderful party, you want to brag about it to your friends. And if you have an exciting experience, you also want to share it with your friends. So it is really important how to spread out the experience and enjoy sharing through a check-in service.
For example, Into_Now recently acquired by Yahoo provides its patented SoundPrint technology to get information about contents automatically and share the interest with friends.
3. Benefit and Information
When you browse a shop, you want to know about the detailed information about the product or promotion. To satisfy those customer’s needs, several providers have connected marketing components to their services such as Shopkick. Even there are players which give a discount coupon or a gift exchange for a user’s diligent check-in.
This kinds of reward or usability are very efficient to intrigue users.
Finally we face the last question of “what is the ultimate goal of check-in services?”
Except for the case of Shopkick used as a marketing tool, it is not easy to get revenue from most check-in services from check-in. As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, check-in conclusively appears to pursue enriching the competitiveness of SNS. Check-in makes users’ life patterns and logs to be accumulated and analyzed to understand more meaningful messages. So check-in is utilized as the efficient tool to strengthen various types of platform businesses which are strongly related with personal patterns.