Foursquare is looking to cash in on all those check-ins.
The social network, which has been known for having a fast-growing footprint — more than 10 million members have checked in more than 750 million times to about 15 million venues worldwide, and a healthy valuation, $600 million after its recent $50 million round of financing — but very little revenue, is now ready to pump up its top line, The Post has learned.
The New York-founded firm is nearing a decision to start charging the 500,000 registered merchants which access a suite of Foursquare services that are now free, but won’t be forever, the company said.
Foursquare lets consumers log their locations by “checking in” from where they are at any given moment using smartphones or other Internet-linked devices. For their part, merchants offer special deals and use other business-generating tools.
In the early days, merchants didn’t realize full benefits from the check-ins. But the current mega-community is paying off for both consumers and store owners, company Co-founder Naveen Selvadurai said in an interview in Foursquare’s Cooper Square offices.
“Now we’re able to close that circle,” Selvadurai said. “[The check-in] comes back to me in forms of recommendations. It goes back to [users] in interesting ways.”
Foursquare and third-party developers are building new features atop the platform, such as applications that pinpoint a user’s location history on a map or give reminders of where someone was a year ago.
The $50 million investment is going to be used to build a dynamic platform for businesses, as well as users, Selvadurai said. Foursquare engineers recently retooled the “merchant dashboard,” which allows businesses to tailor their engagement with customers.
“The [merchant] tools allow you to claim your venue and start running specials and see the dashboard,” said Erin Gleason, Foursquare’s media liaison. “That’s all free right now, but it’s obviously very valuable data. So in the future when it’s a little more robust we see the potential to monetize that.”
Foursquare has followed a familiar path, giving away its online service to entice users and businesses, with plans to turn on the revenue stream when it matures. That blueprint has served some social networks better than others. Facebook, for example, has been able to generate billions in ad revenue while Twitter is still looking for a cash solution.
Foursquare doesn’t generate ads, and so far revenue has come from a few high-profile branding deals and the recent launch of partnerships with daily-deal companies, including Groupon. But some tech pundits pointed out that the Groupon deal will not add a dime of direct revenue to Foursquare.
Charging merchants for premium access to the platform will provide the company with a solid cash source, but it will be a tricky sell after they have been used to the free model, said eMarketer analyst Noah Elkin. However, “there is value in the analytics they can provide a merchant,” he said.
Selvadurai would not say when Foursquare would start charging merchants. “Our core focus is building our user base and building as many businesses on board,” he said. gsloane@nypost.com