Today, Groupon, the go-to destination for local experiences, and Square announced a partnership that makes it easy for local merchants to leverage Square’s App Marketplace to create marketing campaigns on Groupon to promote their businesses. The integration will also allow Square’s Beauty and Wellness and Things to Do merchants to leverage the booking capabilities of Square Appointments for any Groupon campaigns they create, making the customer journey from purchase to booking to redemption more seamless.

“We’re laser-focused on improving the merchant experience, and by teaming up with Square, we are creating a new ecosystem that will make it easier than ever for the local businesses that use Square to launch new campaigns on Groupon,” said Groupon’s Chief Commercial Officer Brian Fields. “In addition, this partnership is aligned with our goals to lower merchant acquisition costs through self-service, expand inventory and improve the merchant and customer experiences. This partnership is another great example of how we’re bringing more high quality, bookable inventory to the Groupon marketplace, and we’re excited to explore other opportunities in the future with Square to help local merchants.”

Since the launch of the company’s growth strategy, Groupon has demonstrated progress by:

• Making wholesale changes to the way it works with merchants to bring more high-quality, restriction-free inventory onto the Groupon platform
• Expanding merchant self-service capabilities to make it easier for local businesses to create, update and manage their campaigns
• Launching a new user experience in North America to bring the company’s expanded inventory front and center
• Kicking off a new brand campaign titled “Grab Life by the Groupon” that repositions the Groupon brand as the go-to destination for local experiences

“By partnering with Groupon, Square is providing sellers with access to the tools they need to promote their businesses, attract new customers, and increase sales," said Willem Ave, GM of Square Appointments. “Square's Booking API enables businesses to unlock a new, integrated channel to drive round-the-clock bookings, while also offering enhanced customer experience to buyers who can now seamlessly purchase and book appointments all from one place.”

The ability to connect directly with Groupon via Square is now available to all Square merchants in the United States. Local businesses interested in taking advantage of the partnership can do so through the following steps:

• Visit the Groupon app under the Marketing & Analytics category of the Square App Marketplace
• Create or Connect their Groupon Merchant account and sync with Square Seller account
• Choose the right Groupon campaign structure that meets the needs of your business and launch your pay-for-performance promotion to Groupon’s 15 million active customers in North America*
• Leverage Groupon’s proprietary Merchant Advisor Tool to gain insights on performance and new recommendations to drive further growth

Groupon and Square are exploring ways to launch their partnership in other countries and expand the combined feature set to more types of businesses in the future.