TORONTO — Borrowing ideas from the location-based social networking site Foursquare and the growing group-buy shopping phenomenon, Facebook is hoping to boost its advertising revenue with a new feature, Facebook Deals, which launched Monday in Canada.
AMC Theatres, Chapters Indigo, Dynamite, Garage, H&M, Joe Fresh, Kiehl’s, Telus, Town Shoes, the Toronto Pearson International Airport and Wind Mobile have partnered with Facebook for the beta launch of the feature, which allows users to claim discounts while shopping in the real world if they virtually “check in” on a store’s special Facebook page with a smartphone.
A user can get a 40 per cent discount on books, a $5 pair of jeans, free facial moisturizer or free access to an airport lounge in exchange for a Facebook post, which is by default broadcasted to friends and family unless hidden with a privacy setting.
“(Facebook) Deals is free and that’s our plan,” said Elmer Sotto, Facebook Canada’s head of strategy, at a launch event in Toronto.
“We don’t take any percentage or back-end revenue from the deal . . . any deal creator can use our advertising product — which is available to everybody — to create advertising about that particular deal, so that’s one source of revenue for us.”