Following the launch of the Pokemon Go app in New Zealand (a game where players have to walk around the streets of New Zealand to find little monsters to collect), stores and cafes around the country breathed a sigh of relief as foot traffic around towns increased dramatically. Amazon Surf Stores were quick to jump on this bandwagon by adding ‘lures’ to close-by Pokestops (a somewhat ‘pitstop’ for players to pick up items for the game) that attracted gamers into the store. Not only could gamers find rare Pokemon to catch but also were incentivised to buy.
“We had players walk in almost without looking where they were going, heads down and looking at their screens,” said Amazon Surf general manager Jason Neely.
“But once in the store, they were excited to find that they could get discounts on product and earn the chance to win Pokecoins [coins used in the game for in-app purchases] in the process.”
The promotion branded Pokezon, gave players who catch a Pokemon in-store a discount of between 20 and 30 percent depending on the level of the Pokemon character they caught. Or those who grabbed a screenshot of a Pokemon chilling in store and then published it on Instagram with the hashtags #PokeZon and #PokemonGo were put into the draw to win the opportunity for 14,500 Pokecoins to spend in-game and be closer to becoming a Pokemon Master.
The social campaign has already been worth its weight in purchases.
“Seeing foot traffic more than double within minutes of joining the game has been exciting,” said Neely.
“Our Dunedin store added a lure to a Pokestop at the entrance of the store and within minutes we were flooded by Pokemon hunters. Augmented reality is an incredibly powerful technology that has been around for a while but just waiting for something like PokemonGo to bring it to the masses. I have no doubt it will help reshape retail, and we’re hoping that Amazon Surf will be at the cutting edge.”
