Want to find out what’s on sale at your local mall and/or your favorite mall store right now? NearbyNow has linked up over 200 malls around the US to its SMS based sales finder and product search. Shoppers can text the 2-letter code of their favorite mall to 632729 and get a listing by reply text of what stores have a specific product (like that hard-to-find hot video game) in stock or get a more general list of all the stores in the mall with sales going on. Or just text the local mall code and the word DEALS to 632729 for the list of sales and special deals.
NearbyNow founder and Director of Integration Technoloy Josh Schaefer describes the service this way, “You can search for the particular product or item you are looking for, find the variety of stores that have it, browse through, find the item, fill out a form, request for our concierge service to call the store, see if the item is available, and put a hold on it.”
“Think of it as a true mall concierge service. If you walk in, things are waiting for you.”
Schaefer details, “we have the ability to have consumers search the mall by texting in the mall’s short code, but also allow consumers to do the reserve process…We treat it as a claim check of sorts” NearbyNow shoppers can use texting for effortless, mobile shopping and can augment their mall trip by knowing the exact location and price of what they are looking for. Shoppers can also subscribe to weekly shopping alerts that they receive each Friday afternoon (1PM PST).
The text search is an innovative idea, but in practice I found that it requires too many text exchanges to satisfy my impulse shopper instinct. I found my local mall code with no problem (see how to find yours below), and requested a list of all the deals available by texting NM DEALS to 632729. Nearby Now sent back a list of all the Natick Mall stores with sales (23 of them!) in 3 text messages. To get the actual details on sales at a specific store, I had to text back the number of that store. Some stores responded with a list of items (more text messages, but at least I could see the details and prices right away). Others like Gamestop responded with a general message “Save up to 50% off selected games. See store for details” Not much of an incentive to get in the car and drive to the mall there. A suggestion for NearbyNow — how about including the direct phone number of the local store in the text message response and including a “click to call” feature?
A full list of NearbyNow-affiliated malls and their codes is available at http://www.nearbynow.com/sms/
June 16th, 2008
JP at Codespotter.com talked to Stacy Geagan Wagner, Vice President of Public Relations for Limbo. Stacy gave us some history of the company and some of its plans for the future.
What is Limbo?
Wagner explains, “Limbo is a mobile entertainment company. Limbo started with text message based entertainment and then added more content that is accessible through our website www.limbo.com.” As Wagner notes, “the entire website is advertisement- supported, which means that consumers can win prizes for free.”
What are its current uses?
Wagner explains, “Limbo is both a mobile entertainment community and a social network”. Limbo has grown from being a mobile specific opportunity to being a fun, multifaceted social community. Wagner cites the launch of Limbo’s first chat board in early 2007. When the board was introduced, it became instantly popular among the site’s users.
Are there more users from the text-based arena of game play or the web-based one?
There is no real, distinct difference between the number of players who play Limbo via text messaging and the number of players who play Limbo online. Wagner notes, “Some players actually play Limbo games simultaneously on phones and online and are able to customize their experience. Our audience isn’t just gamers. A large number are people who want to win free stuff.” Interaction at Limbo happens across multiple channels and areas, thanks in part to Limbo’s popularity. As Wagner proudly says “MTV viewers are interacting with Redbook readers.” This core group of gamers and users ultimately cater to the social aspect of Limbo, spreading the word about the site and spreading it with great success.
How many players are there currently? What are the site’s plans to grow?
Limbo reached 1,000,000 members in December. The site continues to grow healthily as it spreads via word-of-mouth. People are most drawn to the fact that it is not a scam. Wagner explains, “People love to know other people who have won or who play.” As a way to increase interest in the site, Limbo works with local television stations. This shows people that winners exist, and that furthermore, they exist locally. Wagner says, “People see other players in their cities and see that people actually win. The social networking aspect plays into that because [players] see real people with whom they can connect”
“People love to play for the sake of playing. It’s very gratifying to know that you’ve created something that people just want to do.”
What are the site’s coolest current features? Is Limbo introducing new features?
Limbo frequently adds content to Limbo Lowdowns. They offer more than 30 daily text message services for mobile users, including weather texts, celebrity gossip, Bible quotes and other customized alerts. The service itself is syndicated, but is free to Limbo users (with standard text rates applying). The site also offers Spanish texts to users. This both increases the variety of content that the site distributes, but also helps bring in new users. Limbo features a robust product life cycle. For example, since April 2007, Limbo has introduced new features My Limbo, Limbo Grab, and Limbo Mingle.
Weaver explains that Limbo’s games are all created and tested in the Limbo house, in the office. Limbo’s staff gets to test the games via mobile phone and web. This method of development causes friendly competition in the office, and Limbo’s developers often find themselves competing with staff members in games. In a separate game of Limbo Unique, staff members took the hat belonging to an intern, Omar, and added it as a prize on the site. The president of Limbo bought the hat, and Omar was compensated with a gift certificate to get a new hat.
What is the most popular game? What are the most popular prizes?
Although Limbo boasts many games and features, all of Limbo’s games are, for the most part, equally popular. The popular Limbo Unique is the longest running game. There are no uniquely popular prizes, and as Wagner explains, “People love cash and cars; and even though cash and cars are very popular, the amount of players across different games is very constant. Nike shoes are as popular as $1000 in cash. People love to play for the sake of playing. It’s very gratifying to know that you’ve created something that people just want to do.”
Currently, Limbo Unique is offering a 2008 Convertible Mustang as a prize in a contest that will last from March 21 to May 23, 2008.
June 2nd, 2008
