Finding a car park outside a popular shopping centre is a trying task.

It’s dull, frustrating, wastes time and sometimes even leads to car accidents. What wouldn’t you give for your own dedicated rockstar car park, right outside the shopping centre’s entrance?

Well, the management at Westfield West Lakes is now using Foursquare to help you do just that.

If you’re the Mayor of the mall, you have your very own car park. And it’s a convenient one, too!

This is one of the best local uses of Foursquare I’ve seen, even though the geolocation/social media tool has been around in Australia since January 2010.

At that time, I wrote about the potential for Foursquare. The following year,  I wrote about my frustration with the platform because it wasn’t offering me anything tangible (Why I’m Quitting Foursquare). The competition to be ahead of my Foursquare friends, coupled with the reward of virtual badges, just wasn’t enough for me anymore. I wanted more real-world rewards. I wanted my favourite venues to acknowledge me.

So the Westfield example is a sensational one.

I’ve been corresponding with the centre management about the car park promotion, and I’m told there are even more exciting ‘reserved spots’ coming soon! It sounds like fun.

So what else has been happening with local Foursquare offers? More venues now – especially pubs and clubs – are offering free serves of meals, discount meals or a free drink. Some retailers are offering discounts when you spend $100.

But I’m yet to see something supercreative.

There’s a definite opportunity for business to make a splash in this space, not just in terms of customer loyalty and sales, but in terms of PR too.

What sort of Foursquare deal would excite you?