9 ms·

Show HN: New Punchd website (like foursquare for the masses)

52 points by cloudwalking 16y ago

karanbhangui 16y ago
Hey guys, first heard about Punchd last night. I was looking at your new website and the redesign looks gorgeous. We've been working in a similar idea in Toronto: http://loyaltiapp.com/ http://loyaltiapp.com/ with a slightly different execution. I'm in the bay area for the next few days, do you guys want to get together and discuss some ideas? My email is karan.bhangui@gmail.com
bpeters 16y ago
What other features are you planning on adding to Punchd? Also, does Punchd have an overall game mechanic like Foursquare badges?
- minalecs 16y ago
  I really don't think badges/ or any gamifciation is necessary, KISS. Isn't winning a free coffee after buying 10 coffees enough motivation to use the product. I really don't think the problem is convincing users to adopt its going to be getting businesses to adopt. If I see 10 places I frequent often all using this app for their loyalty program.. then I think its pretty obvious I would use it to.
  - cloudwalking 16y ago
    Indeed, you nailed it on the head. Signing up venues is the hard part; they do the leg work to sign up customers. There's a vested interest :)
- cloudwalking 16y ago
  Integration with Facebook, foursquare, and twitter. A lot beyond that, but it's a little premature to talk about it right now ;) No game mechanics, right now we're focusing on real rewards. We'd love to add some gaming layer, but it can't be some sort of tack-on feature. It needs to be a fundamental part of the product, and we haven't figured out a great way to do that yet.
- robryan 16y ago
  I think this works without all those extras, providing a real service without having to turn it into a game to keep people interested. Seems to be a lot of cross advertising potential, kind of like "You frequent x, you might be interested in y close by, get your first .... free"
adityakothadiya 16y ago
Seems like a really useful idea and great execution too. I've never used the real punch cards in action before, may be I'm not aware of it. But this is something that I would definitely love to use!
- cloudwalking 16y ago
  Never used real punchcards?? That's impressive... something like ~94% of Americans have them laying around. Whenever I pitch Punchd to a group of people they all have punchcards and they all always forget them at home.
  - DanielN 16y ago
    Feature request: Notify me when I enter a location that uses the service. It's just as easy to forget about punch cards on your phone as it is to forget about them in your wallet. This looks like a great product. I can't wait for you to expand your venues.
    - cloudwalking 16y ago
      That's a fun idea, but we'd destroy your battery polling the gps. The best we can do is put up some fancy posters so you remember when you're standing in line :)
      - Skywing 16y ago
        Could just have a "does this place support punchd" button to do this, too.
        cloudwalking 16y ago
        We do have a list of nearby venues. Nearby is defined as ~10 mile radius.
      - nc 16y ago
        IIRC you can use cell tower loc only when using background location & geo-fences on the iPhone for local notifications. Maybe notify a user only for 'popular' punch'd locations?
shadowpwner 16y ago
As a developer, it feels better if I didn't have to go to Vimeo to watch in HD. But this is just a nuance, and I'm picky.
- cloudwalking 16y ago
  Unfortunately that's a vimeo requirement. We had YouTube, but you can't set which frame shows before it plays.
  - covercash 16y ago
    Could you just put the one frame you want at the beginning of the clip or does youtube randomly grab a frame from the middle?
  - ElbertF 16y ago
    Could you overlay an image and auto-play the video on click?
  - shadowpwner 16y ago
    If you buy a premium account and/or change some settings in Vimeo, they'll allow you.
gurraman 16y ago
For those who were not familiar with QR codes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_Code http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_Code
- yhmv 16y ago
  thx karma whore.
83457 16y ago
Who is the narrator of the video? The voice sounds very familiar but maybe I'm just imagining things. Will be mentioning to a restaurant down the street using traditional punch cards.
- cloudwalking 16y ago
  It's narrated by my friend Christopher Nolte. If you're around North Beach SF you may have run into him.
  - 83457 16y ago
    Not the person I'm thinking of but thanks for replying.
nathanlrivera 16y ago
Your product is off to a great start. How do you plan to scale?
- cloudwalking 16y ago
  That's where the uncertainty lies right now. We've made venue acquisition as smooth and easy as possible, but we still need to sell them on the idea. We're experimenting with some ideas (various geographic markets, adwords, referral program) but haven't found the ideal solution yet. This is our biggest challenge right now.
  - vnchr 16y ago
    I think your service is a boon to local businesses... I'm talking to some local economic development people in St. Louis in the next week or so. I'll show them Punchd and see their reaction. I think economic development groups should champion an array of web services like Punchd that are affordable, create engagement, and get measurable results. If it seems a good angle, I'll follow up.
    - cloudwalking 16y ago
      That would be fantastic. Drop me a line and let me know how it goes, even if it's just one sentence. Email is in my profile. Would hit you up first but you have no contact info.
- ally 16y ago
  I definitely love the idea. I understand nothing about how the selling works to the businesses, but is it possible to get Jamba Juice, Peet's, or Chick Fil A to take Punchd national through their stores? This seems like a possible way to scale. Then try to sell to the local stores from there.
covercash 16y ago
I'd love to see this integrated with blippy or Mint, this way the only thing I have to remember to do is use my credit/debit card and I'll automatically get 'punchd' for the transaction.
- vnchr 16y ago
  Oh, nice idea!! (my feedback for OP)
dryicerx 16y ago
Excellent work. Out of curiosity, what prevents a user from cheating this system? (eg. taking a picture of the QR and punching at home or with others).
- cloudwalking 16y ago
  A combination of things, one of which is GPS. Don't want to say anything more though ;)
  - sygma 16y ago
    Security through obscurity? It will get abused eventually.
dannyr 16y ago
Are the QR codes unique for every purchase? If so, I would imagine that it integrates with the POS.
vnchr 16y ago
I barely feel the connection between your tagline "like foursquare for the masses" and your actual service--which I think has far more potential because your are always involved with the transaction whereas 4sq is occasional and purely social in ~94% of my use. How about: - Starbucks Rewards for the masses - One punch card to rule them all (I'm watching Two Towers, sorry) - Frequent Flyer Miles for small businesses - American Express points for the rest of America Or something else. Because you're better than that. You are next to transactions. 4sq is next to brands. I would bet on you over them if you can execute.
- icco 16y ago
  Are they using the 4sq reference anywhere besides the Hn title? I kind of think it was a marketing ploy to get people to click through. As for your slogan suggestions, those are pretty amazing. I want an ad recreating Lord of The Rings with punchd :p
  - desigooner 16y ago
    even better: get the kids from The Big Bang Theory do it posing as characters from LoTR.
vkdelta 16y ago
Just downloaded your app. Looks clean and very responsive. But I could not find any punchd stores in nearby places around (SF bay area). Surprising since Jamba Juice and Peets is just a stone's throw away from where I am sitting. Is it limited to certain stores?
- cloudwalking 16y ago
  Yes, just the ones in San Luis Obispo right now. We have some venues in San Francisco, stop by and test it out: http://www.facebook.com/punchd?v=app_7146470109 http://www.facebook.com/punchd?v=app_7146470109
callmeed 16y ago
I see some SLO references ... you guys here in town?
- icco 16y ago
  They were, now in SF mostly. They are a Cal Poly Senior Project turned into a business. edit: school news article about them: http://mustangdaily.net/get-punchd-a-new-type-of-senior-project/ http://mustangdaily.net/get-punchd-a-new-type-of-senior-proj...
thomasswift 16y ago
Very clean iPhone App. I like it. No locations near me (chicago). I especially like the About screen with the pull down scroll to reveal the version number, nice little touch.
localhost3000 16y ago
I think this is a really cool idea but I also think it is horribly awkward to take out your phone and scan a QR code printed on a receipt. I imagine myself standing in a line at starbucks at 8:45am with 20 people behind me and there I am pulling out my cellphone trying to snap a QR code pissing everyone else off who just wants to get coffee and get to work. I just do not believe the mainstream user is ready for that (or QR codes in general). Find a better way to record the purchase and you'll win users like me, until then I will keep using the card in my wallet.
- antihero 16y ago
  1. Buy coffee. 2. Take receipt. 3. Go sit down/move to area in which you intend to drink coffee. 4. Scan barcode. 5. Enjoy coffee. I think people are ready for QR codes - they've worked out self service tills over here in the UK, and if the app was designed intuitively (don't mention "QR Code", just say "scan your receipt so the barcode is in this square") they'll work it out. They also need to sort out their site, get user accounts sorted/tie it to google accounts, and get that stuff on the market. It's amazing how quickly people learn stuff when there's free things in it for them.
d0m 16y ago
Really interesting! On a constructive note: The font on your website is weird on Windows/Chrome. I really see myself using that.. the big problem right now is that no business use it where I live.
- cloudwalking 16y ago
  You're right, that font does look bad. I fixed the problem by making it normal weight instead of bold. Thanks for pointing that out.
fabiandesimone 16y ago
Great idea! I see this getting a lot of traction. I would work a bit more on the website though. I don't think is perfectly clear what the objective is. It looks like you want to accomplish two main things: 1. Get users to download the app 2. Get business owners to request more info. Number 1 seems clear enough, but #2 I think is a bit shaky. I think business owners deserved a dedicated page explaining the benefits of why would they want to use Punchd. The idea of the letter to request more info is great and you seem to know your fare share of Direct Response marketing :). However, the contact form is quite unfamiliar. Idea: work on the border to make it look more like an envelope (maybe a stamp or whatever) Congrats on launching! If you need any more tips drop me a line. Email is in my profile :)
jw84 16y ago
Small businesses expect the marketing rewards of those loyalty cards, look forward to the breakage, and demand everything to be as cheap as possible. Traction is going to be hard. Good luck.

52 points by cloudwalking 16y ago

Hey guys, first heard about Punchd last night. I was looking at your new website and the redesign looks gorgeous. We've been working in a similar idea in Toronto: http://loyaltiapp.com/ http://loyaltiapp.com/ with a slightly different execution. I'm in the bay area for the next few days, do you guys want to get together and discuss some ideas? My email is karan.bhangui@gmail.com

bpeters 16y ago

What other features are you planning on adding to Punchd? Also, does Punchd have an overall game mechanic like Foursquare badges?

minalecs 16y ago
I really don't think badges/ or any gamifciation is necessary, KISS. Isn't winning a free coffee after buying 10 coffees enough motivation to use the product. I really don't think the problem is convincing users to adopt its going to be getting businesses to adopt. If I see 10 places I frequent often all using this app for their loyalty program.. then I think its pretty obvious I would use it to.
- cloudwalking 16y ago
  Indeed, you nailed it on the head. Signing up venues is the hard part; they do the leg work to sign up customers. There's a vested interest :)
cloudwalking 16y ago
Integration with Facebook, foursquare, and twitter. A lot beyond that, but it's a little premature to talk about it right now ;) No game mechanics, right now we're focusing on real rewards. We'd love to add some gaming layer, but it can't be some sort of tack-on feature. It needs to be a fundamental part of the product, and we haven't figured out a great way to do that yet.
robryan 16y ago
I think this works without all those extras, providing a real service without having to turn it into a game to keep people interested. Seems to be a lot of cross advertising potential, kind of like "You frequent x, you might be interested in y close by, get your first .... free"

adityakothadiya 16y ago

Seems like a really useful idea and great execution too. I've never used the real punch cards in action before, may be I'm not aware of it. But this is something that I would definitely love to use!

cloudwalking 16y ago
Never used real punchcards?? That's impressive... something like ~94% of Americans have them laying around. Whenever I pitch Punchd to a group of people they all have punchcards and they all always forget them at home.
- DanielN 16y ago
  Feature request: Notify me when I enter a location that uses the service. It's just as easy to forget about punch cards on your phone as it is to forget about them in your wallet. This looks like a great product. I can't wait for you to expand your venues.
  - cloudwalking 16y ago
    That's a fun idea, but we'd destroy your battery polling the gps. The best we can do is put up some fancy posters so you remember when you're standing in line :)
    - Skywing 16y ago
      Could just have a "does this place support punchd" button to do this, too.
      - cloudwalking 16y ago
        We do have a list of nearby venues. Nearby is defined as ~10 mile radius.
    - nc 16y ago
      IIRC you can use cell tower loc only when using background location & geo-fences on the iPhone for local notifications. Maybe notify a user only for 'popular' punch'd locations?

shadowpwner 16y ago

As a developer, it feels better if I didn't have to go to Vimeo to watch in HD. But this is just a nuance, and I'm picky.

cloudwalking 16y ago
Unfortunately that's a vimeo requirement. We had YouTube, but you can't set which frame shows before it plays.
- covercash 16y ago
  Could you just put the one frame you want at the beginning of the clip or does youtube randomly grab a frame from the middle?
- ElbertF 16y ago
  Could you overlay an image and auto-play the video on click?
- shadowpwner 16y ago
  If you buy a premium account and/or change some settings in Vimeo, they'll allow you.

gurraman 16y ago

For those who were not familiar with QR codes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_Code http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_Code

yhmv 16y ago
thx karma whore.

83457 16y ago

Who is the narrator of the video? The voice sounds very familiar but maybe I'm just imagining things. Will be mentioning to a restaurant down the street using traditional punch cards.

cloudwalking 16y ago
It's narrated by my friend Christopher Nolte. If you're around North Beach SF you may have run into him.
- 83457 16y ago
  Not the person I'm thinking of but thanks for replying.

nathanlrivera 16y ago

Your product is off to a great start. How do you plan to scale?

cloudwalking 16y ago
That's where the uncertainty lies right now. We've made venue acquisition as smooth and easy as possible, but we still need to sell them on the idea. We're experimenting with some ideas (various geographic markets, adwords, referral program) but haven't found the ideal solution yet. This is our biggest challenge right now.
- vnchr 16y ago
  I think your service is a boon to local businesses... I'm talking to some local economic development people in St. Louis in the next week or so. I'll show them Punchd and see their reaction. I think economic development groups should champion an array of web services like Punchd that are affordable, create engagement, and get measurable results. If it seems a good angle, I'll follow up.
  - cloudwalking 16y ago
    That would be fantastic. Drop me a line and let me know how it goes, even if it's just one sentence. Email is in my profile. Would hit you up first but you have no contact info.
ally 16y ago
I definitely love the idea. I understand nothing about how the selling works to the businesses, but is it possible to get Jamba Juice, Peet's, or Chick Fil A to take Punchd national through their stores? This seems like a possible way to scale. Then try to sell to the local stores from there.

covercash 16y ago

I'd love to see this integrated with blippy or Mint, this way the only thing I have to remember to do is use my credit/debit card and I'll automatically get 'punchd' for the transaction.

vnchr 16y ago
Oh, nice idea!! (my feedback for OP)

dryicerx 16y ago

Excellent work. Out of curiosity, what prevents a user from cheating this system? (eg. taking a picture of the QR and punching at home or with others).

cloudwalking 16y ago
A combination of things, one of which is GPS. Don't want to say anything more though ;)
- sygma 16y ago
  Security through obscurity? It will get abused eventually.

dannyr 16y ago

Are the QR codes unique for every purchase? If so, I would imagine that it integrates with the POS.

vnchr 16y ago

I barely feel the connection between your tagline "like foursquare for the masses" and your actual service--which I think has far more potential because your are always involved with the transaction whereas 4sq is occasional and purely social in ~94% of my use. How about: - Starbucks Rewards for the masses - One punch card to rule them all (I'm watching Two Towers, sorry) - Frequent Flyer Miles for small businesses - American Express points for the rest of America Or something else. Because you're better than that. You are next to transactions. 4sq is next to brands. I would bet on you over them if you can execute.

icco 16y ago
Are they using the 4sq reference anywhere besides the Hn title? I kind of think it was a marketing ploy to get people to click through. As for your slogan suggestions, those are pretty amazing. I want an ad recreating Lord of The Rings with punchd :p
- desigooner 16y ago
  even better: get the kids from The Big Bang Theory do it posing as characters from LoTR.

vkdelta 16y ago

Just downloaded your app. Looks clean and very responsive. But I could not find any punchd stores in nearby places around (SF bay area). Surprising since Jamba Juice and Peets is just a stone's throw away from where I am sitting. Is it limited to certain stores?

cloudwalking 16y ago
Yes, just the ones in San Luis Obispo right now. We have some venues in San Francisco, stop by and test it out: http://www.facebook.com/punchd?v=app_7146470109 http://www.facebook.com/punchd?v=app_7146470109

callmeed 16y ago

I see some SLO references ... you guys here in town?

icco 16y ago
They were, now in SF mostly. They are a Cal Poly Senior Project turned into a business. edit: school news article about them: http://mustangdaily.net/get-punchd-a-new-type-of-senior-project/ http://mustangdaily.net/get-punchd-a-new-type-of-senior-proj...

thomasswift 16y ago

Very clean iPhone App. I like it. No locations near me (chicago). I especially like the About screen with the pull down scroll to reveal the version number, nice little touch.

localhost3000 16y ago

I think this is a really cool idea but I also think it is horribly awkward to take out your phone and scan a QR code printed on a receipt. I imagine myself standing in a line at starbucks at 8:45am with 20 people behind me and there I am pulling out my cellphone trying to snap a QR code pissing everyone else off who just wants to get coffee and get to work. I just do not believe the mainstream user is ready for that (or QR codes in general). Find a better way to record the purchase and you'll win users like me, until then I will keep using the card in my wallet.

antihero 16y ago
1. Buy coffee. 2. Take receipt. 3. Go sit down/move to area in which you intend to drink coffee. 4. Scan barcode. 5. Enjoy coffee. I think people are ready for QR codes - they've worked out self service tills over here in the UK, and if the app was designed intuitively (don't mention "QR Code", just say "scan your receipt so the barcode is in this square") they'll work it out. They also need to sort out their site, get user accounts sorted/tie it to google accounts, and get that stuff on the market. It's amazing how quickly people learn stuff when there's free things in it for them.

d0m 16y ago

Really interesting! On a constructive note: The font on your website is weird on Windows/Chrome. I really see myself using that.. the big problem right now is that no business use it where I live.

cloudwalking 16y ago
You're right, that font does look bad. I fixed the problem by making it normal weight instead of bold. Thanks for pointing that out.

fabiandesimone 16y ago

Great idea! I see this getting a lot of traction. I would work a bit more on the website though. I don't think is perfectly clear what the objective is. It looks like you want to accomplish two main things: 1. Get users to download the app 2. Get business owners to request more info. Number 1 seems clear enough, but #2 I think is a bit shaky. I think business owners deserved a dedicated page explaining the benefits of why would they want to use Punchd. The idea of the letter to request more info is great and you seem to know your fare share of Direct Response marketing :). However, the contact form is quite unfamiliar. Idea: work on the border to make it look more like an envelope (maybe a stamp or whatever) Congrats on launching! If you need any more tips drop me a line. Email is in my profile :)

jw84 16y ago

Small businesses expect the marketing rewards of those loyalty cards, look forward to the breakage, and demand everything to be as cheap as possible. Traction is going to be hard. Good luck.