44 Foursquare Statistics You Must Know: 2024 Market Share & Business Use

Foursquare has come a long way from its beginnings as a popular location sharing and check-in app. By refining its product offerings, it has shifted its focus to local search and recommendations and location-based campaign targeting. In addition, Foursquare has completed acquisitions in a bid to become the world’s leading independent location technology platform.

In this article, readers can discover interesting Foursquare statistics, from information about the company’s revenue and valuation to its demographics. With this information, consumers can decide if the app serves their needs or interests. On the other hand, businesses can use Foursquare as one of its hyperlocal marketing tools to achieve their business goals. Foot traffic data can be especially useful for them once businesses start to reopen after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The State of Foursquare

As of 2019, the Foursquare revenue is estimated to be over $150 million. On the other hand, Foursquare’s valuation is pegged at $390 million. Although Foursquare ranks low in terms of usage among social media users in the United States, the app still has a massive database with billions of check-ins. The majority of Foursquare’s revenue comes from the enterprise side of its business, as well as from its software and data products. Further cementing its industry status is its partnerships with more than half of Fortune 100 companies.

• In 2019, Foursquare’s revenue reached over $100 million. (TechCrunch, 2019)
• By the fourth quarter of 2020, Foursquare and Factual generated more than $150 million in revenue.
• The Foursquare valuation stood at $390 million in 2019. (Forbes, 2019)
• The Foursquare database includes 105 million places and 14 billion check-ins. (Intelligencer, 2019)
• Foursquare’s Swarm app receives one billion check-ins per year. (Yahoo Finance, 2019)
• 99% of Foursquare’s business comes from its software and data products. (Intelligencer, 2019)
• More than 90% of the revenue of Foursquare comes from the enterprise side. (TechCrunch, 2019)
• Over 50% of Fortune 100 companies are partnered with Foursquare or Placed. Placed is a location-driven ad intelligence platform that tracks consumers’ offline behaviors. (TechCrunch, 2019)
• In 2019, Foursquare acquired Placed after a $150 million investment. With the acquisition, Placed powered by Foursquare, will have over 450 measurable media partners. These include big names like Twitter, Snap, Pandora, and Waze. Moreover, Foursquare’s acquisition of Placed is one of the largest investments ever made in the location tech space. (TechCrunch, 2019; Foursquare, 2019)
• According to a survey, only 2% of social media users in the US use Foursquare regularly. (Statista, 2020)

Foursquare Demographics Statistics

Demographics data reveals who uses Foursquare in the US. According to a survey, Foursquare users are mostly males aged 25 to 34. Moreover, they usually live in small households within urban communities. Below are some interesting Foursquare demographics.

• Foursquare has internet profiles of more than 100 million users in the US. (Intelligencer, 2019)
• 40% of Foursquare users in the US are aged 30 to 39. (Statista, 2020)
• 58% of Foursquare users in the US are male. On the other hand, 42% of users are female. (Statista, 2020)
• 47% of Foursquare users in the US are aged between 25 to 34 years old. On the other hand, 29% are aged 35 to 44 years old. (Statista, 2020)
• 26% of Foursquare users in the US live in a household with two people. Meanwhile, 22% live in a household with three people while 19% live in a household of four people or just one person. (Statista, 2020)
• 64% of Foursquare users in the US lived in urban communities. In contrast, only 36% lived in towns and rural communities. Twenty-six percent live in a large city while 28% live in a medium-sized town. In contrast, 20% live in a small town and 14% live in a rural community. (Statista, 2020)
• The income of Foursquare’s brand and category users are evenly divided among high, middle, and low-income households. Fifty-three percent of Foursquare brand customers are in high-income households. Likewise, 35% of category users are in the same income bracket. (Statista, 2020)
• Small families comprise 43% of Foursquare users in the US. Twenty-eight percent live in a small family with up to two children, while 20% live in couples-only households. Only 19% live in a single household. (Statista, 2020)

Foursquare for Businesses Statistics

Foursquare’s map of various places of interest can be leveraged by businesses to achieve their marketing needs, such as driving engagement and brand awareness. In light of the pandemic, it can be deployed in kiosks to let shoppers know the least busy times to visit essential stores. From time to time, Foursquare publishes industry reports that analyze user location data during seasonal events. The data gives businesses insight into consumer behavior and spending.

• Foursquare has a map of over 105 million places of interest in 190 countries. (TechCrunch, 2019)
• Based on Foursquare’s survey of consumers in their always-on panel, over 60% of casual dining visitors planned their trip in advance. Similarly, 45.5% of quick-service restaurant visitors planned their trip in advance. (Foursquare, 2021)
• Foursquare has teamed up with LinkNYC and Intersection to provide New Yorkers with a safe way to shop. LinkNYC has set up neighborhood kiosks in groceries, pharmacies, and other essential stores. The kiosks will show people the least busy times for the store to help with social distancing measures. Data that will be displayed in the kiosk uses Foursquare panel data from its 13 million users who are always on and opted in. (Street Fight, 2020)
• Using Foursquare data, spiked seltzer brand Bon & Viv served geo-targeted ads to football fans in 27 NFL stadiums before the playoffs. As a result, Bon & Viv experienced a 31% lift in brand recall, 28% lift in ad recall, and 18% lift in purchase intent. (Foursquare, 2020)
• For LL Bean, Foursquare developed location-contextual media units that gave users suggestions for top outdoor spots near them using user-generated content and machine learning. As a result, LL Bean’s rich media engagement surpassed benchmarks by two-fold for rich media engagement and 1.5 times for time spent on media. (Foursquare, 2019)

Foursquare Location Data on the Impact of the Pandemic

• In 2020, traffic at casual dining restaurants during late-night hours was still down by over 50% compared to pre-pandemic levels. In the same vein, late-night visits to quick-service restaurants are still down by 10 to 12%. However, these key restaurant trends show that fast-casual restaurants will see a boom post-pandemic. (Foursquare, 2021)
• Following the outset of the pandemic, foot traffic in warehouse stores increased by 39% in early March 2020 in the US. On the other hand, visits to liquor stores increased by 25%. (Foursquare, 2021)
• In April 2020, movie theaters saw a decline of 75% in foot traffic. Similarly, there was a 74% decrease in foot traffic in airports and a 72% decrease in clothing stores. In contrast, visits to hardware stores increased by 56%. (Foursquare, 2021)
• By June 2020, foot traffic in gas stations and auto repair shops increased by 3% to 6%. Foot traffic at gas stations had a lift of 9% in Northeastern states. These Foursquare statistics suggest people were traveling by car but still avoided airports. (Foursquare, 2021)
• Foursquare users in the US were heading outdoors by August 2020. During this period, there was an increase of 92% to 102% in trails in the Midwest and Northeast. Similarly, parks saw a lift of 77% to 84% in said regions. (Foursquare, 2021)
• A small percentage of students returned to schools in September 2020. During this period, visits to college residence halls increased by 1%. There was also only a small decrease of 3% to 5% in foot traffic in elementary, middle, and high schools. However, visits to college gyms and libraries were still below normal levels at -41% to -51%. (Foursquare, 2021)
• In February 2021, foot traffic in bars saw a decrease of only 11% on a national scale. Most notably, the Midwest was the lowest at 2%. (Foursquare, 2021)

Relocation/Moving Trends During the Pandemic

• 19.9% of people who lived in urban areas pre-pandemic moved to a new zip code by the fourth quarter of 2020. (Foursquare, 2021)
• 86% to 89% of people who lived in rural areas pre-pandemic stayed in the same zip code throughout 2020. (Foursquare, 2021)
• Among suburban dwellers who moved since the pandemic, 47% moved to rural areas. On the other hand, 32% moved to a suburban zip code while 22% moved to an urban zip code. (Foursquare, 2021)
• Among urban dwellers who moved since the pandemic, 29% moved to rural areas while 22% moved to suburban areas. (Foursquare, 2021)
• The majority (88.5%) of urban dwellers in New York remained in urban NYC zip codes. This debunks the myth of a big-city exodus from New York. However, they did not necessarily stay within the same zip code as they did in the first quarter of 2020. In contrast, only 5.3% of urban dwellers in New York moved to rural or suburban zip codes outside the city. (Foursquare, 2021)

Foursquare Location Data Insights on Special Holidays

• During Easter 2020, zoos, candy stores, and speakeasies all experienced an uptick of 11%. On the other hand, theme parks, bike trails, and wineries experienced a lift of 7%. The lift in visits was calculated by comparing Easter Day weekend visits versus the same day of the week before and after the Easter weekend. (Foursquare, 2021)
• Despite the pandemic, some top Mexican-themed restaurant chains in the US. reported an increase in traffic. First is Chili’s with an increase of 65%. (Foursquare, 2021). The second is Chipotle Mexican Grill with a 33% lift. Third is Del Taco with an increase of 13%. In contrast, Taco Bell traffic decreased by 19%. The figures were based on a comparison of Foursquare data on Cinco de Mayo versus the same day of the week before and after Cinco de Mayo. (Foursquare, 2021)
• Foursquare data show that flower shops experienced an increase of 22% on Mother’s Day. On the other hand, there was a 19% increase in cupcake shops and a 27% increase in visits to photography labs. (Foursquare, 2021)
• The Cheesecake Factory experienced a 93% uptick in visits on Mother’s Day versus the weekend before or after Mother’s Day. On the other hand, Red Lobster had a lift of 75% while Longhorn Steakhouse had an increase of 70%. (Foursquare, 2021)
• On Father’s Day, there was a 24% lift in visits to camera stores and an 11% lift in visits to hunting supplies stores. Traffic was compared on Father’s Day versus the same day of the week before and after Father’s Day. (Foursquare, 2021)
• Foursquare data shows an uptick of 36% in visits to campgrounds during Memorial Day. There was also a 35% uptick in visits to state parks. Data in location traffic were compared during Memorial Day to the weekends before and after the Memorial Day weekend. (Foursquare, 2021)

Data on the Effect of the Foursquare Relaunch

After Foursquare merged with Factual, it released enhancements to two of its offerings to strengthen its position in the market. First, the Places database has been improved for accuracy and freshness of data. Second, Foursquare rebuilt its Places Enterprise API to better meet enterprise standards and strengthen its infrastructure.

• Foursquare recently relaunched its Places Point-of-Interest product. The relaunch will include an enhanced dataset composed of 95 million points of interest around the world and an increased fill rate of 89.8%. In addition, enhancements to its Enterprise Places API are expected to provide a 99.99 availability SLA. (GISuser, 2021)
• In 2020, 70% of Foursquare’s data has been refreshed. During the start of 2021, there were 37 million points of interest that have been updated. (Directions Magazine, 2021)
• Foursquare Places gets over two million updates from hundreds of sources. In addition, direct feedback from millions of consumers enriches the data of Places. With the relaunch, Places can process more data quickly for continuous improvement of its datasets. (AI Technology Insights, 2021)

Challenges Facing Foursquare

Despite its growth and evolution in the location-based services market, Foursquare faces several challenges that could impact its future. Here are some of the key hurdles the platform must navigate:

• Intense Competition: Foursquare operates in a crowded space with numerous competitors, including Google Maps, Yelp, and Facebook Places. These platforms offer similar functionalities, have larger user bases, and have more resources for marketing and development. This competition makes it difficult for Foursquare to differentiate itself and maintain market share.
• Changing Consumer Behavior: As technology evolves, so do consumer preferences. The rise of mobile apps integrating location-based services with other functionalities, like social media and e-commerce, poses a challenge for Foursquare. Users may gravitate toward platforms that offer a more comprehensive suite of services rather than a dedicated check-in app.
• Data Privacy Concerns: With increasing data privacy and security scrutiny, Foursquare must ensure it complies with regulations such as GDPR and CCPA. Any breaches or mismanagement of user data can lead to a loss of trust and damage its reputation.
• Monetization Strategy: While Foursquare offers valuable data and analytics to businesses, finding the right balance between providing free services and generating revenue remains challenging. The company must develop a sustainable monetization strategy without alienating its user base.
• User Engagement: Maintaining user engagement is crucial for Foursquare’s success. The platform must continuously innovate and provide new features that keep users returning. Users may turn to competitors if they find the platform stale or irrelevant.
• Global Expansion: While Foursquare has a strong presence in North America, expanding its reach into international markets presents logistical and cultural challenges. Understanding local markets and adapting the platform to meet diverse user needs is essential for global growth.

Foursquare’s Growth and Future Prospects

Since its inception in 2009, the Foursquare valuation has grown tremendously, expanding into offerings beyond being an on-trend mobile app featuring location sharing and check-in. The company now has various location-based products and solutions. These range from local recommendations through Foursquare City Guides to location-based campaigns that are used by top Fortune 100 companies. Even in the midst of a pandemic, it is finding ways to leverage location technology to help people practice social distancing and curb the spread of COVID-19.

With its acquisition of Factual and Placed, Foursquare is poised to keep its strong position as an industry leader in location technology. Users can expect that with these capabilities, Foursquare can build a vast empire of people’s geo-location in real-time.

Key Insights

• Revenue and Valuation: Foursquare’s revenue reached over $150 million by the fourth quarter of 2020, with a valuation of $390 million in 2019. The majority of its revenue comes from enterprise clients and its software and data products.
• User Demographics: Foursquare users in the US are predominantly males aged 25-34, with 64% living in urban areas. Small households and high-income brackets are well represented among its users.
• Business Utility: Foursquare’s vast database of over 105 million places of interest and advanced location data is leveraged by businesses for hyperlocal marketing, consumer behavior analysis, and targeted advertising.
• Pandemic Impact: The COVID-19 pandemic saw changes in foot traffic across various industries, with increases in visits to hardware and liquor stores and decreases in visits to movie theaters and airports.
• Relaunch and Enhancements: After merging with Factual, Foursquare enhanced its Places database for greater accuracy and refreshed 70% of its data. The updated Places Enterprise API now offers a 99.99% availability SLA.
• Special Holiday Trends: Foursquare data indicates significant increases in foot traffic to specific venues during holidays, such as a 93% increase in visits to The Cheesecake Factory on Mother’s Day.

FAQ

1. What is Foursquare’s primary source of revenue? Foursquare’s primary source of revenue comes from its enterprise clients and its software and data products, accounting for over 90% of its income.
2. Who are the typical users of Foursquare in the US? The typical Foursquare users in the US are predominantly males aged 25-34, living in small households within urban communities.
3. How does Foursquare support businesses with its data? Foursquare provides businesses with detailed location data and insights, which can be used for hyperlocal marketing, analyzing consumer behavior, and running targeted advertising campaigns.
4. What were the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Foursquare’s data trends? The pandemic led to changes in foot traffic patterns, with increased visits to hardware and liquor stores and decreased visits to entertainment venues like movie theaters and airports.
5. What enhancements did Foursquare make after merging with Factual? Foursquare enhanced its Places database for greater accuracy, refreshed 70% of its data, and improved its Places Enterprise API to meet higher enterprise standards with a 99.99% availability SLA.
6. How has Foursquare’s valuation changed over the years? Since its inception in 2009, Foursquare’s valuation has grown significantly, reaching $390 million in 2019, reflecting its expansion into various location-based products and solutions.
7. What insights does Foursquare provide about holiday foot traffic? Foursquare’s data shows notable increases in visits to certain venues during holidays, such as a 93% uptick in visits to The Cheesecake Factory on Mother’s Day.
8. How does Foursquare leverage its location data to assist during the pandemic? Foursquare has partnered with entities like LinkNYC to provide real-time data on the least busy times to visit essential stores, helping people maintain social distancing.
9. What is the significance of Foursquare’s Places Point-of-Interest product relaunch? The relaunch includes an enhanced dataset of 95 million points of interest and improved data processing capabilities, ensuring continuous improvement and accuracy.
10. What future prospects does Foursquare have in the location technology industry? With its acquisitions and enhanced data capabilities, Foursquare is poised to maintain its strong position as a leader in location technology, offering advanced geo-location services and insights to businesses worldwide.

References

1. Crook, J. and Ha, A. (2020, April 7). Foursquare merges with Factual. Retrieved from Techcrunch.
2. Directions Magazine. (2021, March 21). Foursquare relaunches Places product with enhanced points-of-interest (POI) database and new API. Retrieved from Directions Magazine.
3. Foursquare. (2020, March 16). Anheuser-Busch InBev geo-targets Bon & Viv ads at NFL stadiums. Retrieved from Foursquare.
4. Foursquare. (2019, March 2). L.L.Bean leveraged location to showcase its summer products. Retrieved from Foursquare.
5. Foursquare. (2021, March 8). What location data tells us about COVID-19’s impact on dining out. Retrieved from Foursquare.
6. Foursquare. (2021, March 15). COVID-19 Year-In-Review: Impact on consumer behavior. Retrieved from Foursquare.
7. Foursquare. (2021, April 6). Where did the people go? An analysis of relocation/moving trends during the COVID-19 pandemic. Retrieved from Foursquare.
8. GISuser. (2021, March 16). Foursquare relaunches enhanced Places POI product. Retrieved from GISuser.
9. Glueck, J. (2019, May 30). Foursquare to acquire Placed from Snap Inc. to deepen its location technology platform. Retrieved from Foursquare.
10. Intelligencer. (2019, August 17). Ten Years On, Foursquare Is Now Checking In to You Even the company is still trying to figure out whether that’s “cool or creepy.” Retrieved from Intelligencer.
11. Kunst, A. (2020, November 19). Social network usage by brand in the U.S. 2020. Retrieved from Statista.
12. Melton, M. (2019, March 7). How Turning Down A Speculated $1 Billion Acquisition Deal Helped Foursquare See Its 10th Anniversary. Retrieved from Forbes.
13. Roberts, D. (2019, June 18). How Foursquare reinvented itself as an enterprise play—and might IPO soon. Retrieved from Yahoo Finance.
14. Statista Global Consumer Survey. (2020 May). Social Networks: Foursquare Brand Report (United States) 2020. Retrieved from Statista.
15. Miles, S. (2020, August 24). Foursquare Uses Location Data to Increase Shopper Safety During Covid-19. Retrieved from Street Fight.

By Nestor Gilbert

Nestor Gilbert is a senior B2B and SaaS analyst and a core contributor at FinancesOnline for over 5 years. With his experience in software development and extensive knowledge of SaaS management, he writes mostly about emerging B2B technologies and their impact on the current business landscape. However, he also provides in-depth reviews on a wide range of software solutions to help businesses find suitable options for them. Through his work, he aims to help companies develop a more tech-forward approach to their operations and overcome their SaaS-related challenges.