Loopt’s World with Location-based Deals
Loopt wants you to think about deals. Imagine you are out walking around town, and you open up an application to find your location. Right there on your phone, the app is offering a “reward” for you. Some local store has a limited stock or an amazing deal and they want YOU to take advantage of it.
Can Loopt’s Location-based Deal Dream Become a Reality?
This is no longer a dream, or a wish. This is what Loopt wants to accomplish with the latest update on their location-based application. They will be offering location-based rewards, depending on where you are and what you are near. The purpose of this update is to give people the ability to find out about deals and the scoop around town, to take advantage of location-based offerings.
The update will roll out to all locations in the near future, but SXSW, the South by Southwest music and film festival, is the first event to give this new deal a try. All of you who are in Austin between March 11 and March 15 will be able to give this new feature a try and see what all the buzz is about. Let us know what you think of Loopt’s app and deals based on your location when you run it.
Full Press Release Follows:
March 1, 2011 – MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – Loopt (www.loopt.com), the best way to connect with people and places around you, today introduced Reward Alerts into its mobile app for iPhone, iPod Touch and Android* phones. The new alerts bring a social, real-time element to location-based deals.
With Reward Alerts, brands and local businesses can offer limited-time and perishable-inventory deals to nearby consumers. Reward Alerts open up a unique mobile opportunity to offer a “flash” deal that is immediately redeemable in person, instead of a deal that is purchased now, but used at a future date. The new local deal alerts complement Loopt’s existing Friend Alerts, which send users a notification when a friend is nearby.
The first Reward Alerts go live in March for upcoming deals featured in the Loopt application. Users simply download the update, log in, turn Rewards “on” in the app’s settings, and nearby deals will be delivered straight to their iPhone, iPod touch or Android phone.
“Reward Alerts represent one more step in a direction we see as really important for location-based services – making mobile more simple and real-time,” said Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of Loopt. “With Loopt, we can alert people to what’s going on around them right now, which opens up tremendous opportunities for consumers to learn about a great deal. It’s a win-win for businesses and consumers.”
While Reward Alerts will prove useful for local businesses in the future, the alerts first debut with national brands in Austin, TX during the South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive show (March 11-15). Loopt has set up an Austin-based moving “Rewards Wagon,” where brands are giving out more than $45,000 in rewards. Participating companies include Altec Lansing, FOX Broadcasting, Gilt City, Jawbone, Microsoft, OkCupid, Southwest Airlines, TabbedOut, Twelve South, TiVo andYurbuds; rewards from top musical artists including Jack Johnson, Anberlin and Hinder; as well as rewards from authors including Guy Kawasaki (Enchantment), Hugh MacLeod (Evil Plans), Gary Vaynerchuk(The Thank You Economy) and Tony Hsieh (Author of Delivering Happiness and CEO ofZappos.com).