Retailer harnesses the power of Pokemon Go

Within minutes of adding lures to Pokéstops in and around their stores, fans of Nintendo augmented reality game Pokémon Go were rushing into Amazon Surf Stores throughout the country, trying to catch the online creatures.
Pokémon Go has become a global phenomenon, with more than 21 million users worldwide, making it the biggest game in history – and the trend hasn’t peaked yet.
The game see users chasing Pokémon characters around the city in a mobile phone-based game that puts virtual characters in the real world.
Last weekend Amazon added lures to PokéStops in or near their stores, a place where some of these characters could be found, with incentives for players who bought garments while in store.
The result was immediate says Amazon Surf general manager Jason Neely.
“We had players walk in almost without looking where they were going, heads down and looking at their screens,” said Neely.
“But once in store they were excited to find that they could get discounts on product and earn the chance to win Pokécoins in the process,” he said.
The promotion, branded Pokézon, gave players who catch a Pokémon instore a discount of between 20 – 30% discount depending on the level of the Pokémon charachter they caught. 
Or those who grabbed a screenshot of a Pokémon chilling in store and then published it on Instagram with the hashtags #PokéZon and #PokémonGo were put into the draw to win the opportunity for 14,500 Pokécoins to spend in-game and become a Pokémon Master.
The social campaign has just begun but has already made its mark. “Seeing our foot traffic more than double within minutes of joining the game has been exciting” said Neely. 
“Yesterday afternoon our Dunedin store added a lure to a Pokéstop at the entrance of our store and within minutes we were flooded Pokémon hunters.”
“Augmented reality is an incredibly powerful technology that has been around for a while but just waiting for something like PokémonGo to bring it to the masses. I have no doubt it will help reshape retail and we’re hoping that Amazon Surf will be at the cutting edge,” he said.