6 tricks to help Vietnamese retail industry attract customers from Pokemon Go

Jones Lang LaSalle New Zealand Marketing Director Constantino Co said that the Pokemon Go fever is a great opportunity for Vietnamese retail businesses to promote their brands and increase sales - especially in the food and beverage industry.

As of August 25, the virtual reality game Pokemon Go has taken the top spot on Apple and is the highest grossing app. Yelp sees this opportunity and has added a Pokestop filter to its app page, where players can find nearby food stores and Pokestops, said Mr. Constantino Co. He suggested some strategies for Vietnamese businesses to take advantage of the Pokemon Go opportunity to increase retail sales.

The first: Get in the game. Retailers need to get in on the hype, they need to play the game. Understanding how the game works will give companies ideas for their promotional strategies.

Monday: Understand your target audience. Generation Y (also known as Millennials – people aged 18-35) is the target audience of this game. Convenient food and drinks are an attractive category for this generation.

Tuesday: Timing is everything. Lunchtime, weekends, and during holidays (when parents have more family activities) are the best times to run promotions and contests.

Retailers can get in on the Pokemon Go craze by playing the game to understand how to entice consumers into stores to shop and hunt for rare Pokemon. Photo: JLL

Wednesday: A creative strategy to “fish” for potential customers. Pokestops are famous locations (such as museums, historical buildings, shopping malls, etc.) where Pokemon trainers (players) can hunt for free in-game items and activate lure modules (Lure Module is a tool to attract Pokemon to your Pokestop within 30 minutes).

Lure Modules cost around 30,000 VND for 30 minutes and will have more Pokemon appearing within a 10 to 15 meter range and players can sit back and catch Pokemon without having to walk around anymore. For retail businesses, spending around 30,000 VND to activate a “Lure Module” won’t hurt the budget much, but will bring in more customers.

Retailers can also share the Lure Module activation fee with neighboring stores. Consider placing two or three Pokestops in locations near your store to really see the effect.

Thursday: Offer free wifi. Making it easy for your customers to connect to free and fast wifi will save your customers mobile data and encourage them to come into your store rather than standing on the street.

Friday: Tell customers that the company is happy to have them in the store by placing a poster in front of the entrance saying that the store is supporting Pokemon Go players.

According to VNE