New idea for Mobile payment: free Coffee?

Jonathan Stark, author of three programming books ("Building iPhone Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript", etc.), recently made an interesting experiment with mobile payments. He uploaded a screenshot of his Starbucks top-up card to the Internet, and anyone can download the picture (below) to his mobile phone and scan the bar code on it to buy coffee. Of course, the money you spend is Jonathan's own money, and he will recharge the card. Does it sound like pie in the sky? Yeah, that's it.

What's interesting about the whole process is that Jonathan adds a small feature: if you follow @ jonathanscard on Twitter, you can see the change in the balance in his account. Jonathan initially charged $30 for the card and reminded everyone that it was best to limit spending to less than $3 at a time. Once the amount of the account changes, a tweet will be sent automatically. Users can also use @ Jonathan to share what kind of coffee they bought, the address of their branch, or upload photos of coffee or receipts.

Jonathan's social experiment with mobile payments doesn't go so far-whoever you have money to spare, you can top up your Jonathan card on the Starbucks top-up card page and invite the "next" for coffee. Do you think this game will be out of play in a few days? Because everyone wants to spend other people's money and is not willing to pay for it. However, after a day's experiment, Jonathan found that he had done nothing and the stored value in his account had increased. So, this game can be played endlessly?

Jonathan has opened up API, and Geek are welcome to be creative. API includes (you can see the list of transactions for nearly two days in the link), return the latest balance in the card and the transaction time, etc.

The Marketing significance of "Jonathans' Card"

Although Jonathan uses the project as an experiment, there is no official cooperation with Starbucks. However, for some brands operating fast-moving consumer goods, it provides a very valuable reference for the creativity of marketing activities. Manufacturers can disclose an account for users to consume and recharge, and can also encourage recharging and sharing geographical location by increasing points, points and gifts, so as to ensure the long-term operation of the activity.

If successfully applied, Jonathan's ideas will be very valuable:

Free gimmicks are very attractive to most ordinary users, so the number of participants can be guaranteed.

Manufacturers can obtain the information of users' behavior and habits, which can guide the following product development and corresponding promotion.

Activities can be carried out for a long time and can effectively enhance customer loyalty. Original link: ifanr.com/48681

China Coffee Trading Network: www.gafei.com