At a press conference Wednesday, Facebook announced that it will be adding a deal service to Facebook Places that aims to help businesses alert customers who are nearby to discounts and other offerings.
"Check-in communication has been singularly one way," explained Facebook's Tim Kendall. With the new deals feature, Faceboook hopes to enable merchants to "push deals out to existing customers and attract proximate customers."
Deals will be available via Facebook Places, a location-based check-in service Facebook launched earlier this year.
Four types of deals will be available, Facebook explained in a blog post: "individual deals for a discount, free merchandise or other reward; friend deals where you and your friends claim an offer together; loyalty deals for being a frequent visitor to a place; and charity deals where businesses pledge to donate to a cause when you check in." (emphasis added)
"We launched Places to let you share where you are with your friends and see who's nearby. Now with Deals, you also can see what offers are nearby and share those deals with your friends," Facebook wrote in a blog post about the new service.
Over 20 companies, including the Gap, American Eagle, JCPenney, and H&M are planning to offer deals with Facebook Places (See the full list).
Facebook also announced that it will be upgrading its Android app and offering single sign on.
See how to find and redeem deals using Facebook Places in the slideshow below.