There is no need to eagerly await the postman’s arrival with the familiar blue envelope of Valpak coupons, now that Google is enabling businesses to place coupons along with their listings on Google Maps.
Valpak has a website where they offer visitors the opportunity to do what they will be able to do on Google Maps: print out a coupon and take it to a brick-and-mortar business.
Google noted in a statement that adding coupons to an existing business listing will be easy to do. After logging in to the Google Local Business Center, an entrepreneur can freely add a coupon to the business listing that appears for the firm on Google Maps.
Users can print out that coupon and bring it to the business. This provides some measurement of the online listing on Google Maps. By making it free for businesses, Google likely hopes that a modest return from coupons can bring a company into search advertising.
A poorly-designed coupon, like any promotion, can be misused to the detriment of a business. Owners need to take care in creating their offers. They have to provide enough value to bring in a customer, but not so much that the coupon’s use quickly overwhelms any possible profit the merchant can make.
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David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
