Google Offers for Mobile is a Google mobile app that provides discounts and deals that can be redeemed by users online or at physical store locations. Google Offers is Google’s version of Groupon, created to compete with other daily deal sites.
The Google Offers mobile app makes it easy for users to redeem their purchased deals, since users can bring up the deal on their mobile device, rather than printing it out. There is a Google Offers iPhone app and a Google Offer android app.
Businesses who post deals on the Google Offers app must pay a certain amount to Google. Using Google Offers can offer businesses a number of benefits, like brand awareness and new customer generation. However, there are risks to such Groupon-esk deal sites as well – businesses may experience a huge and temporary influx of non-returning customers who only visit the business to take advantage of the deal. When businesses aren’t capable of handling the drastic increase in orders, they may enter the red hiring more workers and increasing product volume to meet new demand. Eventually when this temporary, deal-created demand diminishes, businesses are left with too much product and too many new workers to be profitable.
Google Offers and the Google Offers app are very similar to Groupon and Living Social. Google Offers was actually created after Groupon turned down Google’s offer to buy Groupon in January 2011 for a reported sum of $6 billion dollars.
Google Offers is different from Groupon in that an offer on Google Offers is valid regardless of how many people purchase the deal. Google Offers also powered by Google Checkout and works with Google Wallet.
Bing Deals is not a deal of the day site, but instead aggregates deal offers from Groupon, LivingSocial, Nordstrom, Target and others, to serve as a one stop shop for deals across different sites.
Sites like Google Offers, Bing Deals, Groupon, and Living Social feature a “deal of the day” setup in which certain deals are showcased each day. Users can browse the deals, featuring heavy discounts on merchandise, restaurants, activities, and vacation packages. Deals usually have a specific time period in which they are available for purchase – this can range anywhere from a few days to a few weeks.
As with most deal sites, the company running the daily deal site often takes a decent chunk of profits. Google is no different, taking a cut of the cash that serves as the Google Offers cost of conducting business. To learn more, visit the Google Offers for Business page.