A quick look around any shopping centre or street will show that Australians love mobile devices; whether it's tweeting, liking or listening we can't get enough of smartphones and tablets.

Riding the back of mobile comes the check-in, a feature championed by platforms like Yelp and Foursquare (and more recently Facebook), that lets users register at physical locations like a retailer or restaurant.

Check-ins are proving a new way for businesses to entice and connect with an increasingly segmented audience. This new infographic from Visual.ly and Social Loco Conference shows the data behind the hype. 

What they're using

The findings split users into two categories: early adopters and mass consumers, who would consider using a social location app.

Early adopters are most likely to use Facebook Places (90 per cent), followed by 30 per cent on Twitter and Groupon.

More than half of mass consumers would consider using Facebook Places, followed by Groupon (40 per cent) and Twitter (20 per cent). 

Groupon is the most discussed app online, with 51 per cent of users talking about it.

Food and drink

Both camps are most likely to check-in to a restaurant ( 53 per cent of early adopters and 30 per cent of mass consumers), followed by cafes.

The next most popular types of locations for early adopters are bars/clubs (38 per cent), homes (32 per cent) and new cities (26 per cent). 

Why people are checking in

Discounts and coupons are by far the most popular reason people check-in (54 per cent for early adopters).

A distant second comes meeting friends, to learn about a location and to promote a location.

All brands big and small

Bigger is sometimes better when it comes to check-ins, with users more likely to interact with large brands ahead of small businesses when it comes to location apps. 

However it's not all bad news – users are almost twice as likely to share interactions with small businesses with their friends via social networks (37 per cent for national brands compared to 63 per cent for small businesses.)

To see the infographic in full visit visual.ly/check-data.

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