In recent years, businesses across various sectors have seen a significant increase in customer acquisition costs, with a recent survey indicating a nearly 35% rise between 2022 and 2025. In particular, venues such as restaurants, bars, clubs, and corporate event spaces are feeling the impact of these escalating costs, coupled with stagnant customer lifetime value.
The challenges are compounded by the limitations of traditional advertising avenues, including social media campaigns and influencer partnerships, which often require considerable upfront investment but offer little insight into their effectiveness. This situation is frequently referred to as an “attribution black box,” where marketing teams struggle to connect advertising spend to resultant customer actions like bookings or purchases. As a result, they find themselves presenting fragmented data to stakeholders, hindering the ability to demonstrate clear returns on marketing investments.
Moreover, many promotional arrangements depend on self-reported metrics, which can be problematic as partners may exaggerate results or fabricate conversion figures to justify their payments. The inability to authenticate whether a customer actually engaged with the venue means marketing funds can go toward campaigns that deliver no real value. Traditional tools also struggle to track the influence of word-of-mouth referrals, which remain one of the strongest generators of new business.
This environment creates a high-risk scenario for venues trying to manage rising marketing costs while lacking reliable performance tracking. Together, these factors render customer acquisition a risky gamble rather than a assured investment.
In response to these challenges, Belong, a Web3 community platform, has launched CheckIn — a blockchain-enhanced customer acquisition solution. CheckIn aims to help venues break free from the attribution black box by implementing a payment model that focuses on verified customer interactions. Rather than compensating for mere clicks or impressions, venues will only pay for confirmed customers who visit and make purchases.
Utilizing a multi-verification system that includes QR codes, NFC technology, and geolocation, CheckIn verifies the physical presence of referred customers. Following a successful transaction, smart contracts manage the automatic distribution of rewards. Venues can craft a dual-reward structure, consisting of a set visit bounty, ranging from $2 to $20 per customer, alongside a percentage of each customer’s spending, typically falling between 5% and 25%. For instance, if a restaurant sets a $10 bounty with a 15% commission, and a referred patron spends $100, the promoter receives $25, with payments settled instantly through the platform.
This innovative model aims to mitigate issues inherent in traditional affiliate arrangements, such as inflated traffic claims and unverifiable results. By mandating both a physical check-in and confirmed transaction, CheckIn ensures that venues only pay for genuine business value.
Building on the existing geo-rewards features from Belong’s Chain Atlas project, which has operated successfully in 35 countries, CheckIn underscores the feasibility of blockchain technology in verifying real-world customer interactions. The platform also aligns with Belong’s forthcoming LONG token, which is expected to launch in October. Customers opting to use LONG for payments will benefit from a 3% discount, while venues will experience quicker settlement times compared to the usual delays associated with traditional payment processors. Additionally, promoters can access higher commission rates through LONG token staking, with half of all platform fees directed towards LONG buybacks and burns, ensuring sustained demand.
Belong’s vision is clear: create a mutually beneficial ecosystem. Their CEO noted that by providing venues the assurance of paying only for actual customers, promoting fair rewards for successful referrals, and delivering instant perks to customers, they are establishing a performance-based marketing paradigm that serves all stakeholders.
As Belong continues to evolve its model, it plans to expand collaborations with point-of-sale systems, hotel loyalty programs, and larger event venues to forge a cohesive layer of verified, performance-based marketing throughout the hospitality sector. With blockchain technology gaining traction in traditional industries, CheckIn offers a streamlined path for hospitality businesses looking to adopt Web3 solutions while satisfying the demand for accountability in marketing strategies.
