The new ability that foursqaure needs right now!

Last night, I was craving CPK…but had zero desire to go out to dinner. So I jumped online and ordered food for my husband to pick up at their (awesome) curbside delivery. But then I remembered…if I don’t go in for dinner, I can’t get the foursquare benefits, and CPK does a good job with theirs. For example, if you check in anywhere near a CPK, you get a “special nearby” for a free appetizer when you spend $20. And I would have loved a free appetizer! But, if you are picking up food to-go, you don’t want to wait for the appetizer. And there is no way to “check-in” through the web so that you can order it… Which I think is unbelievably silly because there are a huge number of people who shop online – and not just for food. So I did what any normal person would do and tweeted about it – and @Admore responded with an idea I liked, and wanted to expand upon.

(read from the bottom up)

So here’s how I think it should work…

Step 1. You login to foursquare from your computer, type in the retailers name that you want to shop online with, or you can search by categories.

Step 2. Follow them on Foursquare, then click on their web link within their profile – this will have a tracking code that determines what you are doing.

Step 3. Each retailer can determine the level of participation required on the site for the checkin points, however I suggest that the visitor should have to buy something if you are checking in online. This would stop the issues of tons of people checking in online, because they have to buy something to make it count.

Step 4: Stores could offer the same types of specials through the web that they can online. Or, another way to do it would be to have “web mayors” in addition to actual “mayors”, so there is one for the brick and mortar facility, and there is one for the website.

I just know how little I like going to real stores, but how much I shop online – and I think that we are such a web driven world that it needs to be recognized. This makes foursquare more accessible too for people who live far from their favorite stores, or don’t have the ability to go out as much as they would like. This opens up foursquare to a larger demographic – and as long as the checkins online have strict rules so that you can’t abuse it, I think this could be a really successful new part!

So Foursquare…what do you think?

Readers…how can we improve on this idea?

Related posts:

1. Foursquare and me
2. Foursquare vs Whrrl
3. Now THIS is how you should be using foursquare!