Groupon offers new way to nab deals with SmartKiosk experiment

By Trevor Mogg January 25, 2012

Groupon 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.

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.

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Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…

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