Foursquare, the site that enables virtual check-ins, recently relaunched its business outreach section to make it easier for merchants to get on the geo-location bandwagon and join the Foursquare community.
The improvements relate to how Foursquare educates businesses, from small mom-and-pop shops to international chains, about the value of joining the community. In particular, the site encourages business to claim their venues, or officially take ownership of a check-in spot that users are already logging as places they visit (read our related review of Foursquare 2.2 for iPhone).
To further entice new businesses to join, Foursquare emphasizes its free Merchant Platform and associated Venue Stats dashboard. The dashboard lets business owners and managers track customer loyalty trends, see the prior locations of patrons, and reward customer loyalty with prizes, mobile coupons, and other offers.
A number of screenshots have also been added that may help businesses train their staff on how to process promotions and discounts offered through Foursquare. It even goes so far as to suggest that businesses might want to register a unique point-of-sale code for each offer.
The company is poised for more growth this year, having raised $20 million last summer—enough cash to easily see it through to the end of 2011, Foursquare co-founder Dennis Crowley told Reuters recently.
Additionally, in 2010 the company saw close to 382 million check-ins worldwide, or 3,400 percent growth. As of December 2010, the company claims to have more than 5 million users, presumably ready and waiting to be lured into new businesses near them.