PARIS, France—Pokemon Go has sent millions of people onto the streets in a worldwide hunt for virtual monsters—and from neighborhood restaurants to multi-national corporations, businesses smell a profit.
“It’s going really well—this is the fourth time we’ve had to restock our Pokemon cuddly toys in two weeks,” said salesman Corentin Flamand, surveying a row of mini Pikachus at the Micromania store in Paris’ bustling Bastille area.
The chain has brought in mugs, baseball caps and a slew of other products to mark this year’s 20th anniversary of the cult Japanese franchise, and is now hoping to profit from the surge of new fans created by the smartphone game.
Beyond products, companies see huge potential in the app’s ability to attract crowds to places in a way that typical advertising does not, by tempting them with the prospect of adding new Pokemon to their collections.
Bars and restaurants from New York to Sydney are reportedly paying for “lures”, a feature of the game which draws Pokemon to a location, hoping this will draw in customers to linger and spend money.
“If you run a bar/restaurant and aren’t spending $10/day on lures and advertising the fact, what are you even thinking?” Eric Neustadter, former head of Microsoft’s Xbox Live gaming service, wrote in a widely-shared tweet.
Philippe Bonnasse, a retail expert at French consultancy CA Com, said companies could profit from showing “that their brand is in sync with the times — that they’re ‘Pokemon Go compatible’.”
Some firms are offering Pokecoins—the game’s currency, which players can spend on accessories to help them hunt—as prizes for competitions.