Location-based Service Yotomo Survives, Adds Point Reward Feature to App

Location-based service recently experiences obstables. Koprol is closed by Yahoo! And returned to its original owner, while Bouncity is sold to Qeon so it would be developed further. Another local location-based service is Yotomo. Although the number of its user is not as big as the two mentioned before, Yotomo is certain that it will survive with the developed business model. Even in this second week of August, Yotomo is update its app with point reward system.

The new app will be available for Android and Blackberry which are the epitome of most popular smartphone platforms in Indonesia nowadays. Each will immediately available on Google Play and Blackberry App World. However, Yotomo does not neglect other smartphone platforms. As mentioned by Yotomo’s CEO, Wahyudi, the iOS and Windows Phone version are currently under development.

So, what’s new on Yotomo? As reported in its press release, the main focus is customer loyalty with point reward. This feature aims to replace the old way in collecting points from business outlets which usually uses stamp card or punch card. Certainly, stamp card tends to disappear or torn so it does not provide the convenience and easiness for user when collecting points.

In the newest version, Yotomo adds a feature to collect points through check-in activities. Points earned by check-in, then can be added if user share something to Facebook and Twitter, and extra points for sharing a photo when checking in. This is based on the fact that when a social media user checks in, it’s a promotion for business owner.

Moreover, Yotomo makes the point collecting easier using Near Field Communication (NFC) and QR Code. To use this new version, user needs to own a smartphone with NFC chip and bring their device close to NFC card provided by every merchant that works together with Yotomo. If user’s smartphone does not support NFC, they can scan the provided QR Code. This video will explain more about the point reward process using Yotomo: http://vimeo.com/45177264

Merchant can provide various kinds of reward and can decided the minimum points required for receiving the reward. This can be done by the merchant itself. In addition, merchant can see the data of checked-in and collected-point users. Data that can be viewed are from many angles, from geography or user’s social media profiel, for example, influence level of user that checks-in at the merchant’s outlet.

As reported in the press release, Yotomo offers two important things for business owner: customer acquisition through location based advertising and promotion feature and now is a part of customer retention to keep the customer coming.

Other than business related features, Yotomo will stay loyal to gamification process (in the form of raihan badge) which once made it to popularity amongst other location-based service. Yotomo offers local badges with local brands as its partners. Currently, Yotomo is campaigning with Converse All Star and will work with Sports Station for the next campaign badge.