On Monday, Sports Authority kicked off its Foursquare mayor special. The promotion rewards mayors at its 463 retail venues with $10 Cash Cards. Cash Cards work similar to cash, so you can use them instantly at the time of purchase, though you won't get cash back if your purchase is under $10.
The retailer's deal one-ups the nationwide Starbucks promotion in terms of dollar value, and should prove to be a welcome reward for those with a predilection to shop for sports-related items.
In the bigger scheme of things, Sports Authority's mayor special serves to reaffirm the potential value of big brands providing customers with digital discounts for real-world behavior via the location-sharing application. With Starbucks, Domino's UK and Sports Authority all on board, the notion of U.S.-wide Foursquare deals appears to be catching on.
We hear from Foursquare's Tristan Walker that there's more big brand deals to come; California Pizza Kitchen, for instance, recently started offering its own special at 65 southern California locations. Walker explains the emerging trend is a sales-driven experience that rewards both consumer and retailer. He says: "We've shown how the intensely competitive nature of mayorships can inspire changes in consumer behavior. When retailers layer monetary rewards as a signal to encourage this repeat behavior from mayors and track/measure ROI at the point of sale, things get really interesting."
[img credit: ifmuth]