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Check-in services are all the rage these days. Just about everyone has heard of Foursquare and the now infamous Groupon. Even Google caught wind of the craze and started rolling out their own discount based check-in program in select cities. While Facebook introduced “checking-in” a few months back it didn’t really offer any kind of incentives for doing so (other than letting that one creepy guy know whenever you make a trip to Panda Express so he can watch you from his car and breathe heavily on his window while listening to Barbra Streisand as tears stream down his face). Wait- what?
Anyways, it looks like all of that is about to change with the launch of Facebook’s Deals. Starting tomorrow, the social media giant, will begin offering “Deals” for users in select areas (San Francisco, Atlanta, Austin, Dallas and San Diego) of specific check-in discounts at eateries and promoted venues in their city.
Facebook may also be looking into using their Credits currency for discounts on their Deals program as well. Currently, its only being used for buying virtual goods and game-related content like a shiny new shovel in Farmville.
With yet another big corporation trying to cash in on the online-discount phenomena, I wonder if Groupon is beginning to regret rejecting Google’s buy out offer? Look for yet another update to your Facebook app if this Deals thing really takes off and I’ll be seeing you at Panda Express (or the parking lot at least).
[Via Facebook]
Wow everyone is getting in on this. Goodbye Groupon.
Great idea I love facebook as much as google
I already signed up! Click the “via” link at the bottom of the post =)
I think Facebook Deals is going to end up being a lot of competition for Groupon. They already have a great consumer base to go on.
Consumers can find deals to take advantage of by going to http://www.dailydealpool.com. This site will compile a list of relevant sales and deals in your area, and email them to you daily. This saves consumers from having to search and helps businesses get more advertising!
How about they fix their app that constantly crashes
It is interesting to see how these giants are going to square off in terms of the market. Maybe Groupon should have taken the deal from Google?
A website approaching the market a bit differently is http://www.Foodscrooge.com, a website that provides weekly local deals on groceries.
Yeah this will be a nice addition once they incorporate more cities. Biggest thing for me though will be for them to update the Facebook app past 1.5.3 and fix the FC issues that everyone is experiencing. Since the update the FB app has dropped a whole star in the ratings.