The craze is here! More than 100 million downloaded!
If you hadn't heard of it, you deserved to be poke (pun intended). It's POKEMON GO!
There have been talk of accidents happening (it's true) because of people not paying attention to their surroundings and also businesses using it to generate sales.
Most of the PokeStops and gyms are outdoor places like shopping malls, transport points like MRT stations and bus stations, playgrounds, schools, tourist attractions and even places of worship.
Does it really benefit businesses? Let's look at shopping malls since I noticed an increase in visitors to shopping malls today. The increase in visitors today could be due to a short school day and working day for some adults.
I have used the word "visitors" because I consider you as a shopper only if you spend money. Increased traffic at a shopping mall is inconsequential if there is no corresponding increase in sales. If people are using the shopping mall as a thoroughfare or to get Poke Balls, there is no increase in sales.
Visitors ~> Converted Shoppers ~> Increased Sales
How then can a shopping mall or retail shop or F&B outlet encourage you to spend? The answer is not so straightforward.
For a shopping mall, they can use "lure" to increase the attractiveness of the PokeStop. "Lure" will increase the spawn rate for Pokemon monsters thereby attracting more people to the PokeStop.
The downside is that people do not need to go into the shopping mall to catch the monsters. All they need is to be nearby. Mall operators will likely have to run Pokemon events inside the mall to attract people in. For example, work with the game developer Niantic to release a rare Pokemon monster in the mall.
Retail shops selling Pokemon items are already benefiting before the launch in Singapore. I noticed an increase in sales of such items. For other types of retailers, I do not see a need for them to run any type of Pokemon promotion. As long as people visiting the mall sees the promotion and are interested, they will buy. Therefore they can just continue business as usual.
F&B operators will experience a mixed bag of fortunes. When people are tired moving around or hungry, they will stop for a bite or drink, translating into more sales. But F&B operators want a high table turnover rate because it translates into higher sales. If the people sit around longer than usual, the F&B operators suffer. I have seen a whole table of people having meals and drinks while talking about Pokemon Go. They seem to be in another world, oblivious to people who are waiting for a seat or table.
Now, will transport operators benefit? Maybe not. If your moving speed is above 15km/h, you are not clocking steps to hatch an egg. If you are taking a train, a reduced catch rate and higher escape rate is observed. I have personally experienced that.
The bad side of Pokemon Go is that there are increased instances of people and even vehicles stopping suddenly to catch a monster.
The good side is that the malls have a higher probability of getting more visitors. But these people must be converted to shoppers in order to benefit from Pokemon Go. But isn't that what they are doing now? So is there a need to go beyond and above what they are doing?
On the other hand, I do see tourist attractions like the Singapore Zoo benefiting from Pokemon Go. Why?
1. Such attractions are usually big enough that the PokeStop is deep inside and people have to buy a ticket to reach the PokeStop.
2. Once people pay to enter, they are unlikely to leave immediately.
3. When they stay, they will spend money on F&B.
On a side note, the public agencies like Active SG and Health Promotion Board should take a leaf from Niantic. There is no need to organise activities or give vouchers to encourage people to move around and live an active lifestyle.
Psst - you are more likely to find a rare monster outdoor than indoor. So please go out.
