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The anticipated integration between check-in utility Foursquare and daily deals service Groupon began displaying their first deals in Chicago Friday, with an anticipated national rollout to follow later this week.
The relationship between the two complementary social utilities had been announced this May. Foursquare will include both standard daily Groupon deals and the newer Groupon Now offers. However, this isn't the location-based service's first foray into social coupons: they began offering deals from Groupon competitors Living Social and Gilt City earlier this month.
Whether this partnership can help either service find and sustain a viable revenue model is yet to be seen. However, as Liz Gannes of AllThingsD.com noted in an earlier report on the arrangement:
"Groupon has a working business model, local merchant relationships and an ample waitlist, and a salesforce numbering in the thousands.
Meanwhile, Foursquare represents the areas where Groupon needs to grow. Foursquare has innovated around GPS and the mobile application experience, which is obviously where local is headed...
Put more simply, Groupon excels at recruiting customers, while Foursquare’s emerging strength is loyalty and retention."
If the partnership can provide an effective means for local businesses to grow both trial and loyalty, it could be a major win for everyone.