Apparently, Foursquare is testing NFC check in’s at it’s headquarters.  Two things strike me about this:

1. Foursquare realizes that GPS alone is not enough to comfort merchants with the check in.
2. Consumer-oriented technology companies need to “eat their own dog food” much more than they probably do.  Everyone in the company should be immersed in and obsessed with the consumer experience.  Everyone in the company should be a power user of their own app.

It can be easy to let our daily responsibilities and areas of focus take us away from the holistic user experience.  Nothing is more important.

Here are some articles which have caught my interest lately.

Blue Dot Special

Google has added a new feature to Google Shopping.  When you search for an item, not only will Google tell you the price ranges found, it will now tell you (indicated by a blue dot) the retailers that have it in-stock, it’s price, distance from you and a link to directions.   This could be trouble for local shopping startups like Milo.com

Mobile

According to a new Nielson report, smartphones will outnumber feature phones by the end of 2011.

Gartner released a new report outlining 10 mobile technologies to watch this year and next.  The two that most caught my attention were:

• By 2011, over 85 percent of handsets shipped globally will include some form of browser.
• By the end of 2011, over 75 percent of devices shipped in mature markets will include a GPS.

This has interesting implications for retailers and location-based services.

Check-in’s and Cheaters

Tired of checking into multiple location based services?  Check.in may have the answer.  It will be interesting to see how the fragmentation around ‘checking in’ will shake out.

Nate Riggs has a good article for retail and restaurant companies about how to leverage your relationship with your location’s Foursquare mayor.

Of course, you may be talking to a cheater.  A new app – Fake Mayor – allows users to present a screen which makes them appear to be mayor.  You should check the Foursquare website to be sure.

Foursquare Introduces New Tools for Business. This is a more in-depth article on the new Foursquare dashboard.   Think Google Analytics for Foursquare data related to my business.

Target Stores to Bring Mobile Coupons Mainstream.

Andreessen Horowitz-backed Burbn bets location is more than a check-in.

Facebook to launch one of its many geolocation projects next month.

SXSWi: Let the geolocation games begin.

OK, I admit I’ve been slack during the last month about my blog posts.   So, to get things jump started, I thought I would at least share links to recent articles I’ve found interesting.   I’m a bit obsessed with location-based services lately and believe that early adopter retail and restaurant companies will be able to leverage these to competitive advantage.

Are You a Foodspotter Yet? Foodspotting is a new application that helps you find good food.

Location Privacy Goes to Washington. Do we have a right to control what location-based advertisers do with our info once they have it? Do we have a right to ensure that law enforcement and government agencies don’t abuse our easily obtained mobile data streams? Are our children safe? What does social science research say about all these changes?

CauseWorld’s Checkin For Charity Gets More Citi Money. CauseWorld’s Checkin for Charity is a mobile app that lets users check in to retail shops for credits that can be donated to charity.

Blippy.com.  Sharing What You’re Buying. Blippy.com is a social networking site that encourages people to see and discuss what their friends and others are buying on services such as iTunes, Netflix, eBay, Amazon, and more.

Gowalla Follows Foursquare’s Lead with Real-Life Incentives. The first content integration will focus on the new series, Food Wars, a new Travel Channel offering where blindfolded participants choose sides to determine “Who Makes The Best Dish In Town.”

Foursquare Confirms Restaurant Dashboard Alpha Testing. 30 hand-picked restaurants are alpha-testing, “an analytics dashboard for Foursquare, where [restaurant] owners can pay to create custom offers and badges.”

Photo by:  dpstyles

According to an article by Greg Kumparak on MobileCrunch yesterday, Mophie, manufacturer of iPhone hardware accessories is getting into the mobile payments business.

While currently a hardware provider only, Greg speculates that Mophie may also be getting into the software side of things.  Should they enter into the payment business, they will be competing head-to-head with Square.

This is another good example of how consumer wireless devices are going to force big changes on traditional hardware and providers in the retail device and payments space.

In my previous blog post, I talked about how mobile will affect retail. One of my 6 implications for retail was the need to prepare for the coming of consumer devices, like the iPhone, to the enterprise.

“4. Ready or not, devices like the iPhone are coming to the retail enterprise. People are using them in their daily lives and will see the value of using them at work. Security and other concerns need to be addressed, but departments and business units will push retail CIO’s to incorporate these tools sooner rather than later.”

Square is a good example of what I mean.  Square is a new company led by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey.  I’m not sure if Square is the next big thing; there is of course some skepticism out there.   I do believe that over time, companies like Square will fundamentally change the landscape for payment and mobile device providers in the retail and restaurant space.

According to Eliot Van Buskirk’s article on the Wired website, the Square business model looks like merchant banking and additional, related services like loyalty and e-receipts for the low end of the market – single store operators and individuals selling via Craigslist.  Square will not put a dent in Verifone’s business soon.  Square’s power is in demonstrating how to take a consumer device and use it to make payment services and mobile retail applications accessible at a price point that is 80% lower than current solutions.

Impact on the Customer Experience

Square has the potential to enable significant improvements in the customer experience for both retailers and restaurant companies.   With something like Square, retailers and restaurant operators can facilitate an improved customer experience at a much lower price point.  For example, by allowing payment at the table, the payment process at a restaurant is easier and faster (valuable to both the customer and the restaurateur).

No Shortage of Challenges

There are plenty of issues, not the least of which are potential hacking of the device to steal credit card information, general security of the consumer device in a wireless environment, remote administration concerns and the lack of protection against viruses and other malevolent software.

Conclusion

Who knows if Square will be the winner, but the team and the funding behind it represent the opening shot in a battle with incumbents which will spur innovation to the benefit of retailers, restaurant companies and the customer experience.

I’ve worked in retail technology for most of my career.  I’ve also had an entrepreneurial itch for as long as I can remember.  I was having a great time working with the folks at Radiant, BlueCube and RedPrairie, so it just never seemed like te right time to pull the trigger.  I’ve come to believe that there is really no “right time” and no “perfect idea”.  You just need to decide if you are going to start.    

This summer, I made the decision to leave RedPrairie and pursue the entrepreneurial itch.  I spent many hours interviewing COO’s and CIO’s in the retail and restaurant space to better understand their current pains.   I am grateful to the many people who took the time to speak with me.  In these conversations, a pattern started to emerge; these companies were driving cost cutting efforts, but they needed to figure out a way to drive top line comp sales. 

Retality is about helping retail and restaurant companies leverage store, mobile, and social media technologies to deliver a differentiating customer experience and increase sales. 

Retality is about creating a great company to work with that delivers results.

Retality is about creating a great place to work.

Welcome to Retality.