Yelp Mobile Builds the Bridge Between Online Searches and Offline Purchases

04 Jun Yelp Mobile Builds the Bridge Between Online Searches and Offline Purchases

Yelp first released its app for the iPhone back in 2008, and have since reaffirmed their commitment to the mobile market by releasing apps for Palm Pre, Blackberry, and all Android-powered phones and devices. Since then, the mobile market has proven to be quite a significant one for all Yelp users, be they consumers or business owners. How important exactly? Here are some interesting facts:

• About 27% of all Yelp searches originate from the iPhone app alone. This is a number that dips slightly during the weekdays, as Yelp searches from PCs rise accordingly. During the weekends, iPhone and mobile searches in general rise as more users on the move rely on Yelp mobile apps to help them get where they want and need to go.
• In just the past 30 days, Yelp users have used the iPhone app to make more than half a million calls to local businesses. This equates to Yelp helping generate about one call every five seconds to a local business.
• Point-to-point directions to a local business were generated by nearly one million users from their Yelp iPhone App in just the past month.
• In the past month, over 1.4 million visitors have visited Yelp for iPhone.

With over 32 million unique visitors a month, Yelp has grown into the leading online review guide on the internet, and it continues its growth in the emerging market of mobile devices. As evidenced by the data above, mobile devices are the fastest growing medium through which consumers use Yelp to help connect them with their desired local businesses.

With all this in mind, Yelp now seeks to capitalize on this mobile revolution and the success its recently released Yelp Check-ins feature, recently submitting the 5th version of their iPhone app. Here are some of its new features:

Users can now unlock “Yelp Badges” by checking into a combination of businesses. These badges can help a user show off exactly what type of businesses he or she has been checking into, being readily shareable on the Yelp iPhone app and social networking meccas Facebook and Twitter. There are plenty of badges out there to unlock, giving users plenty of reason to check into their favorite businesses more often.

One more reason for users to check in is to get a shot at becoming Yelp royalty. The user with the most check-ins at a single business is awarded the title of Duke or Duchess. Those with the most Dukedoms in a neighborhood get promoted to Baron, while those with the highest number in the entire city get to become King or Queen.

Member Search functionality and a few bug fixes have also been added to the latest version of the Yelp app.

With updated features like this, Yelp is living up to its mission of connecting consumers with the great businesses in their area. And the great thing is, iPhone users don’t get it all to themselves, as Yelp is set to roll out an updated version of their app for Android phones in the near future.