Skip to main content

Groupon offers new way to nab deals with SmartKiosk experiment

grouponGroupon has just started experimenting with a new way of getting its offers into the hands of more people by utilizing kiosks with touchscreen displays located around the company’s home city of Chicago.

According to a Chicago Sun-Times report on Wednesday, Groupon has done a deal itself—with a local tech company called SmartDigital—in order to get its offers showing on the kiosks.

Recommended Videos

The displays, known as SmartKiosks, can currently be found at around 30 locations around the city, with plans for another 70 in the coming months. They feature 32- and 46-inch touchscreens and can be used by anyone to get information about local restaurants, transportation and events. They also allow users to take HD photos which can then be shared on social networking sites.

Each SmartKiosk will offer Groupon deals relevant to the immediate area in which they’re located, and can be paid for with a credit card or sent in an email to be viewed later.

“We think the kiosk partnership offers a fun way to get great, relevant Groupon deals while you’re out exploring Chicago,” Groupon spokeswoman Julie Mossler told the Chicago Sun-Times.

SmartDigital is already looking to take its kiosks to other parts of the US, including Miami and New York, with Groupon likely to follow if its kiosk-based services prove popular in the Windy City.

The move by Groupon to put its service on a relatively small number of kiosks in one city may seem like an insignificant move to some, but with the daily deals business as competitive as ever and the Chicago-based company desperate to maintain its position as market leader, an experiment like this is of little risk and could develop into something big at some point in the future, especially if SmartDigital’s expansion plans come to fruition.

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
How to download a video from Facebook
An elderly person holding a phone.

Facebook is a great place for sharing photos, videos, and other media with friends and family. But what if you’d like to download a video to store offline? This means you’d be able to watch the clip on your PC or mobile device, without needing to be connected to the internet. Fortunately, there’s a way to download Facebook videos to your everyday gadgets, although it’s not as straightforward a process as it could be.

Read more
How to undo reposts on TikTok (and why you should)
Undo Repost button on the TIkTok app.

TikTok, like many other social media apps, including Threads, allows its users to repost the content they enjoy to share it with their followers. However, unlike apps such as X, formerly Twitter, which provide clear instructions on how to undo a repost and indicate when it has been successfully undone, TikTok’s process is not as straightforward.

Read more
Instagram shows love to smaller accounts that post original content
Notifications related to Instagram's new algorithm to surface content linked to smaller accounts.

Instagram is starting to show some love to smaller accounts that post original content. The Meta-owned media-sharing platform announced in a blog post on Tuesday that it’s making a number of changes to give more prominence to material posted by “smaller, original content creators” over those with large followings and aggregators of reposted content, which up until now have received greater exposure in recommendations.

The move to give those with smaller followings more reach on Instagram involves making four changes to the current way of doing things, the company said.

Read more