Small Businesses Cashing In On The ‘Pokemon Craze’ – Join In While Trend Lasts

With “Pokemon Go” absolutely exploding in dozens of countries now, it’s safe to assume that the craze is going to continue for some time. With that being the case, a lot of businesses are taking advantage of the trend while it lasts to lure in customers. In the case of stores, bars, or restaurants that were lucky enough to become “PokeStops,” some are using actual, in-game lures.

Venture Beat listed a few of the shops that have taken full advantage of the “Pokemon Go” craze instead of resisting it, as so many other businesses have done. Among them is a pizza joint in Manhattan that spent $10 on lures and saw their sales jump by 30 percent. Another shop in California called “It’s A Grind” was using even more aggressive tactics by offering to use lures whenever 15 drinks are purchased.

Now, for those who aren’t aware, lures are basically items within the app that can be dropped in the vicinity of a “PokeStop” in order to draw in “Pokemons.” As it happens, lures also draw in players since nearby trainers are alerted to a lure. With the prospect of finding more “Pokemons” in the location, players would inevitably choose to go to said “PokeStops,” thus allowing businesses to take advantage of the foot traffic.

With the number of “Pokemon Go” players in the U.S. sitting at the millions and walking around every day to find the little critters, small businesses have a large pool of potential customers to dip into if only they would show some enthusiasm to do so. Smallbiztrends actually posted an article that explains how small businesses can cash in on the growing trend and why they should do so.

To be sure, there’s no guarantee that the game will keep seeing the popularity that it has right now. However, it’s more than likely that several million people are going to walk away from this experience with a new appreciation of what it’s like to go outside, interact with people, and what businesses can offer.