Facebook Deals launches in the UK

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Using Facebook while on the go will no longer just keep you up to date with every banal detail of your friends lives, but will also save you a bit of cash now thanks to this morning’s announcment of the introduction of Facebook Deals.

Using Facebook Places, Facebook ads and the Facebook networks, the mobile app will pinpoint your position to offer you deal coupons in the area around you. You simply fire up the app, check what offers are in your area, and show the mobile coupon to cashier when you reach the counter to claim your freebie/discount etc etc.

Joanna Shields Facebook VP EMEA said it would help “brands and businesses share and connect with our users”.

She said: “The service will reward us when we check into stores and giving us deals for their friends.”

The UK is speaheading the platform’s launch in Europe, with five other nations getting in on the money saving action too.

Launch Facebook Deal partners in the UK include Starbucks (offering 30,000 free cups of coffee this morning), Debenhams (free mascara and makeover for first 1000 people on 14 February), Alton Towers (free entry on February 18th plus one night stay for first 100 people), YoSushi (1000 complimentary food and drink offers), Mazda (Win 1 of 5 Mazda MX-5 Miyako’s or get 20% off), O2 (recieve a free Xbox 360 or PS3 with your mobile upgrade or contract), Argos (£1 donation to Teenage Cancer Trust for the first 10,000 check ins), Benetton (2 Euros donation to Architecture for Humanity for every check in), and Usher (20 per cent off his latest album and a free re-mix of Hey Daddy). Others companies with deals planned include McDonalds, Clinique, H&M, and Vodafone.

So Foursquare’s social buying format has had its thunder well and truly stolen then. This one’s potentially massive, as is Facebook as a whole. We all love free stuff, right? And this all seems very simple and convenient to benefit from.

Gerald Lynch
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