A Web-based incentive company is hoping Facebook Inc.’s virtual currency system can become a more-effective and less-expensive way for Internet retailers to develop consumer loyalty.
Earlier this year, ifeelgoods.com Inc. signed an agreement with Facebook to become a platform to enable retailers to provide Facebook Credits as a marketing incentive. The Menlo Park, Calif.-based company launched its website two weeks ago.
The company has not yet announced any participating retailers, but it is focusing on the top 100 e-commerce sites in the marketplace, Michael Amar, founder and CEO, tells PaymentsSource.
“We’re trying to figure out how best these sites can use Facebook and social media” to attract more loyal customers, Amar adds.
Ifeelgoods.com is attempting to promote the concept of mico-incentives, Amar says. Retailers will reward consumers who have a brief but meaningful interaction with a particular retailer immediately, whereas they previously might not have received such a benefit, Amar says.
Consumers could receive Facebook Credits for a number of actions, such as sharing a product review on their Facebook page or signing up for a retailer’s online newsletter, Amar explains. Retailers ultimately would determine specific actions.
Consumers may use Facebook Credits to purchase digital goods for use in a number of Facebook games, such as Farmville and Mafia Wars.
Some consumers lack incentive to pay actual money for credits on a virtual system, “but if it’s part of an incentive, they’ll use the credits,” Amar believes.
Consumers who could make such an incentive program popular fall into a “very targeted, younger audience who play Facebook games,” says Bill McCracken, the chief executive of Synergistics Research Corp.
That consumer set does not mind the limitations Facebook Credits present in that they may use the value only in a virtual setting, McCracken says. “I don’t think these kind of incentives would hit home with every single Facebook user,” he adds.
Ifeelgoods.com, however, might only need to capture the consumer segment McCracken mentions. Farmville has some 25 million Facebook application “fans” on its Facebook page. Mafia Wars has some 45.5 million monthly active accounts. Zynga Inc. developed and published both games.
McCracken believes an incentive program using Facebook Credits could be viable if it is part of a broader strategy. “In its current format, I don’t see this as a huge home run, and it’s not going to change the way [incentive payments] are done,” he adds.
Ifeelgood.com plans to explore other virtual incentives besides Facebook Credits, Amar says, citing video-game consoles as another possibility.
Both Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360 and Nintendo Co. Ltd.’s Wii enable gamers to convert real cash to “points” to buy games and TV shows.
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