VISU Case Studies: Real Results & ROI Data (2026 Report)

This is the proof behind the pitch. Five real businesses in different industries, all using VISU to pay customers for attention and getting measurable ROI in return.

The proof business leaders need

Every serious marketing conversation ends with the same question: What is our ROI? Traditional channels struggle to answer it. Billboard impressions are vague. Social media reach is inflated. Store traffic attribution is guesswork.

Business leaders are tired of paying for attention they cannot measure. That is why they move to attention economy platforms like VISU - not for hype, but for verifiable financial results.

This collection brings together outcomes from VISU campaigns in retail, hospitality, fitness, events and book retail. You will see:

• Engagement rates between 17 percent and 28 percent instead of 2 to 5 percent.
• Customer acquisition costs cut by 40 percent to 72 percent.
• Lifetime value lifts of almost 2x for VISU users vs non users.
• ROI between 1,200 percent and 5,000+ percent in 60 to 90 days.

You can use these numbers directly in your own business case deck. If your team wants more context on this category, pair this post with Apps That Pay Real Money in 2025 and How to Earn Money From Your Attention .

Case Study 1: Local coffee shop chain

Result: 23 percent engagement rate and 47 percent customer retention increase

Business profile and challenge

Bean and Brew is a five location coffee chain in Portland that serves around 2,000 customers per week. They had loyal regulars but very little visibility into who visited once and never came back. Their paper punch card loyalty program had only a 12 percent participation rate and could not track frequency or spend.

Owner Sarah Martinez estimated customer acquisition cost at 18 dollars per new customer through Instagram ads, with no clear view of second or third visits. She needed a system that:

• Incentivized repeat visits without heavy discounting.
• Captured visit data and feedback at scale.
• Reduced dependency on paid social.

VISU implementation strategy

Bean and Brew launched a VISU program with three core earning actions:

• QR check ins at the register - customers scanned a VISU code to earn 0.50 dollars per visit, with 2 dollar bonus on the fifth visit and 5 dollar bonus on the tenth.
• Seasonal menu feedback - after buying a new drink, customers were invited to answer a three minute survey for 1.50 dollars.
• Social sharing challenges - monthly Instagram story posts featuring drinks with a branded hashtag, paying 3 dollars on completion.

Setup took four weeks from decision to full rollout, including QR design, table tents, register stickers and staff training on a simple script: "Scan this code, we will literally pay you for your coffee habit."

Quantified results in 90 days

Total reward payout over 90 days was 3,240 dollars. Including design, printing and VISU platform fees, the total investment came to roughly 4,387 dollars.

Incremental revenue driven by VISU users was estimated at 235,791 dollars, based on the difference between VISU and non VISU customer spend and frequency.

ROI: around 5,274 percent in 90 days.

Sarah sums it up simply: "The rewards are a line item. The data and repeat visits are the asset."

Case Study 2: Regional event company

Result: 28 percent booth engagement and 3.2x lead generation

Business profile and challenge

Experiential Edge is a Chicago based event marketing agency that designs trade show booths and brand activations. Their clients wanted proof that events drove real pipeline, not just foot traffic.

Badge scanning gave them email addresses but zero insight into how long attendees engaged or how interested they actually were. One enterprise client was considering cutting event budget by more than half because ROI was not clear.

VISU implementation strategy

Experiential Edge packaged VISU as part of a standard booth activation:

• Interactive product demos - after a three to five minute demo, attendees scanned a VISU QR to earn 4 dollars and completed a short survey.
• Gamified booth challenges - multi step missions that asked attendees to visit three zones, answer trivia and post on social, paying 8 to 12 dollars for full completion.
• Lead qualification surveys - a 10 question survey about budget, timeline and role, paying 6 dollars and replacing the classic business card fishbowl.

VISU setup, QR assets and analytics access were bundled into a 2,500 to 4,500 dollar add on for clients, framed as "measurable engagement layer".

Quantified results at a three day show

• 1,847 unique attendees engaged with VISU actions vs 420 badge scans at the previous show.
• 1,124 qualified leads completed the survey vs 89 usable leads before.
• 42 percent of leads flagged as high intent vs 11 percent previously.
• 18 percent of VISU leads booked a product demo within 30 days vs 4 percent of traditional leads.
• Cost per qualified lead dropped from 47 dollars to 7.78 dollars.

Reward payouts plus VISU fees for the show came to around 11,240 dollars. Within 90 days, the client closed 67 deals from VISU sourced leads with an average value of 3,400 dollars each, or 227,800 dollars in revenue.

ROI: around 1,926 percent on a single event.

Case Study 3: Boutique fitness studio

Result: 19 percent new member acquisition and 54 percent referral rate

Business profile and challenge

CorePower Studio is a boutique yoga and pilates studio in Austin with around 340 active members. They relied heavily on Meta ads, spending significant budget to acquire new members at roughly 110 dollars each.

A classic "refer a friend for a free class" program generated only two or three referrals per month. Members liked the studio but did not feel motivated to actively promote it.

VISU implementation strategy

The studio launched a VISU powered growth engine:

• Class check in rewards - 0.75 dollars per class whenever members scanned the VISU QR at the front desk.
• Referral bonuses - members earned a 15 dollar instant reward when a friend completed their first class plus 10 percent of the friend's VISU earnings over time.
• Review incentives - 3 dollars for a detailed Google review.

Members received branded keychains with a QR code for quick check ins and referral sharing. The studio spent around 620 dollars on design and printing plus 149 dollars per month on VISU.

Quantified results in 120 days

Total VISU investment for four months was about 8,056 dollars. New VISU referred members had an average lifetime value around 1,260 dollars. With 156 new members, that equaled roughly 196,560 dollars in LTV.

ROI: around 2,339 percent from the first four months alone.

Case Study 4: Local restaurant group

Result: 17 percent engagement rate and 41 percent repeat visit increase

Business profile and challenge

Harvest Kitchen operates three farm to table restaurants in Denver. Weekend nights were strong, but weekday evenings were inconsistent and many visitors never returned.

Email marketing had open rates under 10 percent and click rates just above 1 percent. Traditional loyalty tactics were not moving the needle.

VISU implementation strategy

• Dining check ins - table tent QR codes paid 1.25 dollars per visit, with bonuses on third and sixth visits inside a 60 day window.
• Menu feedback - 2 dollars for focused surveys on new dishes to guide pricing and portion decisions.
• Off peak incentives - a 3 dollar bonus for check ins Tuesday to Thursday between 5 and 7 pm.

Quantified results in 90 days

• 1,658 customers enrolled in VISU, around 37 percent of unique diners.
• Engagement rate of 17 percent per visit for at least one VISU action.
• Repeat visit rate increased by 41 percent among VISU users.
• Off peak weekday covers up by 28 percent.
• Survey insights led to portion adjustments that increased average ticket size by 23 percent.

Total VISU investment of roughly 5,507 dollars generated an estimated 154,194 dollars in incremental revenue tied to VISU customers.

ROI: around 2,701 percent in the first quarter.

Case Study 5: Retail bookstore chain

Result: 21 percent engagement rate and 67 percent email list growth

Business profile and challenge

Chapter and Verse is a four location independent bookstore chain in Seattle. They cannot win on price or shipping speed against digital giants, so their strategy is community and curation.

The gap: very little customer data. Only 840 people were on their email list across more than 3,000 monthly customers. They lacked insight into reading preferences and purchase history.

VISU implementation strategy

• Purchase check ins - customers scanned a QR on the receipt or on a bookmark and earned 1 dollar per purchase while VISU captured transaction data.
• Book reviews - 2.50 dollars for reviews above 100 words that could be featured on product pages and in store.
• Event attendance - 4 dollars for scanning at author talks and book clubs.
• Monthly reading challenges - 8 dollars for completing themed challenges tied to store displays.

Quantified results in 90 days

• 1,847 customers enrolled in VISU - around 58 percent of unique shoppers.
• Email list grew by 67 percent in one quarter.
• 284 detailed reviews were generated vs 19 in the previous 90 days.
• Author event attendance increased by 43 percent.
• VISU members visited 2.1 times per 90 days vs 1.3 times for non members.

Total VISU investment of around 6,467 dollars produced roughly 89,600 dollars in incremental revenue from higher visit frequency and larger baskets among VISU members.

ROI: around 1,286 percent in the first 90 days.

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Comparative analysis and cross industry patterns

Looking across all five case studies, the patterns are clear and repeatable. Industries, ticket sizes and customer demographics differ, but the mechanics of paying for attention are consistent.

• Engagement - VISU campaigns delivered 17 to 28 percent engagement vs the typical 2 to 5 percent for loyalty programs and 1 to 3 percent for email.
• Payback time - every business reached break even in roughly 21 to 45 days.
• Lifetime value - customers who used VISU had 98 to 187 percent higher LTV than non participants.
• Data quality - instead of impressions and likes, teams gained visit frequency, product preferences, price feedback and intent signals.

Success factors that repeat

1. Staff training and enthusiasm - teams that actively presented VISU as a benefit saw three to four times more enrollment.
2. Immediate, clear rewards - "scan and earn X today" worked far better than abstract points.
3. Multiple earning actions - check ins plus surveys plus referrals outperformed single action setups.
4. Physical integration - keychains, bookmarks and table tents beat generic QR posters on walls.

This aligns with the principles described in How VISU Turns Attention Into Measurable Assets and First Party Data Collection Guide for SMBs .

ROI framework: calculate VISU value for your business

Before you run a single campaign, you can model VISU ROI using a simple five step framework based on these case studies.

Industry specific benchmarks

• Retail - 800 to 1,500 percent ROI driven mainly by increased visit frequency.
• Food and beverage - 1,200 to 2,700 percent ROI driven by repeat visits and off peak fills.
• Fitness and wellness - 1,800 to 2,400 percent ROI driven by referrals and lower acquisition cost.
• Events and experiential - 1,500 to 2,000 percent ROI driven by higher volume and quality of leads.

How to implement a case study level VISU campaign

Phase 1 - pre launch planning (weeks 1 to 2)

• Choose 1 or 2 main goals - for example increase repeat visits, fill off peak hours or capture product feedback.
• Define budget - estimate active customers, actions per month and reward per action, then add a 20 percent buffer.
• Design earning actions - match actions to goals: check ins for frequency, referrals for acquisition, surveys for insight.

Phase 2 - launch execution (weeks 3 to 4)

• Train staff to present VISU as a gift, not a gimmick: "Scan this and we will pay you for your visit, it takes 30 seconds."
• Place QR codes on receipts, table tents, keychains, bags and any touchpoint that every customer sees.
• Soft launch with loyal customers, then adjust wording and design before full roll out.

Phase 3 - optimization (weeks 5 to 12)

• Monitor enrollment, engagement, payout and incremental revenue weekly in the VISU dashboard.
• Identify drop off points and test changes in reward amounts, placements and scripts.
• Double down on the two to three highest performing actions, then add new ones as needed.

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Frequently asked questions

Will customers actually scan QR codes and complete actions?

Yes, when there is clear and immediate value. In these case studies, enrollment rates ranged from 37 to 84 percent and engagement rates from 17 to 28 percent. Customers ignore vague marketing QR codes, but they actively scan reward QR codes that pay real money.

Is paying customers for attention too expensive?

The data says no. Across these businesses, every 1 dollar in VISU rewards generated between 8 and 25 dollars in incremental revenue. You pay only for completed actions, not for impressions that might never convert.

Does this work for small, local businesses?

Absolutely. Some of the strongest results came from small chains with three to five locations. VISU pricing is flat and designed so smaller businesses often see the highest ROI percentage.

How do I measure success in a way my CFO will accept?

VISU tracks scans, actions, rewards and revenue attribution in a single dashboard. The simplest approach is to compare visit frequency and spend for VISU users vs non users, then calculate incremental revenue and divide by your VISU investment.

References

• VISU Blog - Apps That Pay Real Money in 2025
• VISU Blog - First Party Data Collection Guide for SMBs
• VISU Blog - Attention as Currency: The Financial View
• VISU Blog - Best Reward Apps Comparison: VISU vs Competitors