London Startup what3words is a Strange Location Service

Natasha Lomas over at TechCrunch:

London-based U.K. startup what3words has set itself the ambitious task of reinventing postcodes/ZIP codes. Instead of a tricky-to-remember string of letters and/or numbers, it’s created three-word sequences that can be more easily memorised and shared. Or that’s the thinking. It launched its three-word location pinpointing service last week, assigning trios of words to the 57 trillion or so 3 meter x 3 meter squares around the globe. The system apparently pinpoints locations to the nearest 2 million, making it more location-specific than a postcode in some more expansive postcode areas. what3words also argues that its system has the benefit of being universal, whereas postcode/ZIP code conventions vary by nation.

A search for "Seattle, WA" in what3words returns the words "crowd.next.stops" for a location in Seattle's downtown area.  That search result isn't something that is inherently meaningful or actionable by a user. I suppose a user could fire up their browser, navigate to what3words, and enter the three words to find that particular location, but why would a user want to do that? It would be much simpler and quicker to use the mapping and sharing tools already available on the user's phone.

Seriously. Fire up your phone's mapping app, drop a pin or enter an address, then use the nifty 'share' button to share that precise location with your friends and family. Easy as pie. The folks at what3words have created a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. In fact, their proposed 'solution' is a bit convoluted compared to what is already supported in every smartphone out there.

Why would they do this? This is why:

Bingo.

It comes down to money. This company wants to make itself into the 'go-to' location services platform, all the while charging users and business for something that is inferior in almost every way to existing technology and standards.

Folks, I have three words that could be used to describe this startup: Whiskey.Tango.Foxtrot. 

Mobile Rewards Apps for Brick-and-Mortar Stores

Lauren Goode, writing forAllThingsD.com:

What would it take for you to shop in stores these days, rather than buy from the comfort of your couch? Some companies are betting that smartphones can help lure you back to the mall by offering rewards, coupons and other incentives that can only be earned when you’re physically in a store.

This is an interesting article on mobile rewards apps for brick-and-mortar stores. Goode covers the basics of two apps (ShopKick and Kapture) that encourage users to visit stores, scan items, or share product and business-related posts on their social networks in order to earn rewards such as discounts and freebies.

This is an area of increasing interest for traditional retailers. Every business, of course, wants to find new ways to increase customer engagement (and thus increase revenue). This type of rewards-based engagement is another way that physical stores can help combat the effects of lower-priced Internet-based competition such as Amazon.com. This is also intended to reduce the amount of 'showrooming' that is plaguing the brick-and-mortar industry.

The idea is to get customers to not just simply visit the store to see a product first-hand (and later make their purchase online), but instead to see the other products available at the retailer's location that can be added to their shopping cart. The addition of rewards and perks helps to not only minimize the cost advantages of Internet-based shopping, but also helps sway consumers to choose the immediate gratification offered by purchasing a product in a physical store.

It's worth noting that there have been some troubling developments in a similar space online. Lockerz.com, for example, was once the high-flying darling of the social engagement and rewards industry but recently laid off roughly 30 percent of its staff in its Seattle office and closed an office in San Diego. However, this is still a nascent and rapidly maturing industry. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.