You’d be surprised at what Toby’s Sports has been able to do in the past few months.

I’m talking about SEO friendly pages, a working product review system, a recommendation engine, a full-blown email marketing program, and social media presence. Though the pages are far from perfect, there isn’t anything on the Toby’s site that can’t be improved on experience. Kudos to the management of Toby’s Sports for taking the jump.

A more detailed review soon to follow.

If you own an Iphone, Blackberry, or Nexus, you can readily download the app at here. This is basically how the process goes.

First of all, you need to understand how the technology works. Generally, people use lo-so apps on their phones to “check in” whenever they go places. Global Positioning Satellites (GPS) locate the users and determine what “venue” they might be at, giving them options to select a location or create a new listing. These “check ins” allow their friends to know where they are now, or where they frequently go. Some services allow users to leave location-based tips for friends to discover later, and several involve social competitions, or the ability to unlock digital badges, stickers, and prizes. Businesses can announce specials or promotions through these apps, so when users “check in,” they receive notifications of nearby deals.

Source: Mashable

In layman’s terms, you can say this is a bit like Twitter on steroids, though you can’t post any links, and it just tells everyone where you are. If that still doesn’t mean anything to you, imagine yourself taking a trip out of town (it doesn’t matter if the location is foreign or domestic). All you have is your backpack and your mobile phone. All you have to do is check into foursquare and see where other people have been going. Imagine having 10 restaurants to choose from, and then reading a tip from someone who was previously in the same area.

“Try out the Turkish Beef Shawarma at Jacob’s, and ask for extra lemon sauce. It’s beside the local clinic, so you might miss it.”

Foursquare Facebook Integration

Some existing practical applications? A lot of known brands have already started to take advantage of Foursquare. I don’t think I’d want to be a Starbuck’s Barista though.

What I’d like to see are foursquare specials in the Philippines, because currently, there are none. In foursquare, a user is granted a “mayor” badge once he or she becomes the most frequent visitor of that location. Here are just some of my ideas:

• Fitness First – Free membership for a month at any Fitness First branch (Disclaimer: I am the current mayor at Fitness First ABS-CBN). I say only for a month because it’s going to be hard for anyone to claim mayorship from someone else. Once a mayor has claimed his free membership, the following month’s incentive should go to someone else.
• Mc Donalds or any other fast food chain – First time check-ins shall receive a free upsize on their next visit (with a minimum purchase of course). I say only give the incentive to first time visitors since you don’t need to upsell to regular customers.
• Starbucks – Maybe make a special blend available for people who belong to the top 50 who check into a specific branch? It could be for a free cookie once a month too.
• Bench - Just read this article and get find another way to give tickets to the Bench Underwear fashion show.

After having used foursquare for about two months however, there are still a lot of loopholes to be taken advantage of. People can check into a specific coffee shop or restaurant without having to buy anything. What’s going to prevent anyone from checking into each of the 50 establishments they pass on the way to work everyday. It’s also possible to check into the same place more than once in a day. Somewhere down the line, I hope developers of similar apps such as Loopt and Gowalla can do something about it.

Right now, location marketing is still in its infancy stages, and while promising, still requires a high degree of engagement from consumers (not to mention data charges from telcos). But hey, people didn’t think Twitter would take off either. The possibilities between online and offline marketing are endless.

Do you know of any establishments in the Philippines that are already taking advantage of 4square?

In the Philippines, Halloween and Thanksgiving isn’t celebrated by most. There’s no such thing as Cyber Monday, and Black Friday isn’t what we would say the best retail day of the year. Looking at the subject lines in my inbox, I see that most US retailers (those that survived) showing no signs of the economic storm it had to go through more than a year ago. Spending was down. Jobs were lost. Americans cut corners any way they could.

On our own shores, we experienced our own storm more than a month ago.  As rains filled up our streets, washed away cars, houses, and lives, we saw how natural it was for Filipinos to share whatever they could for their countrymen. And then we saw those same people be first in line at one of our local malls’ 3-day sales. It’s funny how people from opposite sides of the globe react to almost similar situations. Most of this is rooted on the belief that Christmas season begins as soon as the “ber months” arrive.

Using consumer behavior in the Philippines as a starting point, here’s a general guideline (or an idea) on how you can become the first mover online in your own market this Holiday season.

1. Have your Christmas gift pages up and ready - Go look at your numbers and find out which items were fast moving the previous year. Chances are, they’ll get the same attention this year.
2. Release an early Christmas email. - You might say, well it’s not even Christmas yet. Think about it, while others are gearing up for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Cyber Monday, you’ve already gained a distinct advantage in getting your customer’s attention. Sometimes, being different is the best way to get your market’s attention.
3. Bump up em’ discounts as soon as December rolls in. - You’ve already started promoting the items on your site, now convince your customers they should follow through with their purchase by giving them better discount options.

You've got to find a way to stand out.

When coming up with an email campaign calendar, always remember the inevitable rise in volume of emails being sent.  In most cases, some of your competitors may even have better deals than you do. The most important thing to remember is that there will always be a way to gain more opens, clicks, and purchases (while protecting your company’s profitability margins). All you have to do is be prepared.

If you aren’t Yahoo or AOL, this is one route no one should ever be taking. If you haven’t noticed, Pinoys are resistant to change, even if that change will make our lives easier. Sandbox.ph in lieu of Inquirer.net, Facebook, et al? “If everyone just learned how to use Sandbox, then this will eventually catch on”?

C’mon guys, who are we kidding here.

Email Marketing isn’t even in its infancy stages here in the Philippines. The lack of reliable payment gateways, along with the typical Pinoy’s reluctance to give his credit card information, make it impossible for emails to become valid points of purchase. While sites such as Bidshot and Ebay.ph provide the platforms, transactions happen through simple kaliwaans instead. Do you know anyone who has acquired any item through honest bids?

Such is the unfortunate state of e-commerce in the Philippines.

While this is the case, there are some local sites out there that show a lot of promise. Take FHM.com.ph for example. It has the makings of a brand that can adapt remarketing strategies to boost its revenue.

Let’s go through some facts:

• FHM.com.ph is independent from its print counterpart, FHM Magazine.
• While the site has the full support of the magazine, its direction is different – to provide an online platform for its subscribers.
• Boasting a user base of 60,000+ members, and 16,000,000 page views a month, it has the legs to reach out to an untapped market.

Some ideas the team came up with:

• How about using the FHM brand to promote a product or service? Online initiated subscriptions should yield a percentage for the platform.
• Include the following in the weekly update email and charge the bar a promotional cost for spreading the word for them.

“This week FHM Live goes to Route 196, featuring blah blah blah”

Again, these are all just simple ideas that can lead to bigger things. Expect more examples in future posts.

A few years down the line, when payment gateways have been improved, and the Filipino consumer finally realizes he doesn’t have to go to the neighborhood sari-sari store to purchase a sachet of shampoo, email marketing will become a very vital part of every online business.

If the you haven’t seen any of the posts, then I suggest you go on ahead and announce it on all your online/social media accounts.

Philippineaid.com makes it easier for you to lend a helping hand to the victims of Tropical Storm Kestana (ondoy) in the Philippines. Send help to people in dire need using Pay Pal or your Credit Card.

The faster we get this out there, the easier it’ll be for everyone else out there to help this initiative make a difference for the hundreds of thousands who have been displaced from their homes.

UPDATE: As of 5:07 PM, Philippineaid.com has managed to raise $1,221.60! A sincere thank you to everyone out there. If you can’t spare any amount, a good re-post or re-tweet will suffice!