Portland, Oregon — Yesterday we published that Google’s +1 social feature is fully geared up for launching, but it seems that today’s biggest announcement is that Google officially unfurled Google Offers, in a market that is bursting at the seams, the company’s new Groupon competitor, exclusively in Portland Ore., with its first deal for–you guessed it–a coffee shop.
Initially, Google Offers was released in February, and the beta first went live in April. Google, on Tuesday announced via its blog that its daily deals site would commence beta testing in Portland, Oregon, and consumers in Portland can get a deal, or…an offer, beginning with 70-percent off at local café Floyd’s Coffee.
The beta service will initially be offered in Portland, Oregon, and other cities will likely be expanded to New York and San Francisco later this summer, though Google has not divulge dates.
Google has made no secret of its coupon curator ambitions. Google attempted to buy Groupon for several billion dollars months ago but was rebuffed. Undeterred, Google formed its own version and has been busy recruiting and building the project — though pretty much like established coupon mongers like Groupon, Google Offers will give subscribers access to daily deals, especially focusing on the local element that has worked so well for the likes of Groupon and LivingSocial.
Perhaps surrounded by the highly caffeinated lifestyle here, some people who snapped up the “Offer of the Day” raced over to Floyd’s Coffee Shop only to discover that the coupon can not be redeemed until tomorrow.
Floyd’s Coffee Shop in Portland, Ore., is the first business to be featured on Google Offers, a new daily-deals service. (Credit: Anne Dujmovic/CNET)
The first offer comes from Portland coffee shop Floyd’s Coffee. “Husband-and-wife team Jack Inglis and Cris Chapman opened Floyd’s seven years ago, offering up espresso, coffee, breakfast burritos and more,” says Google Offers Product Manager Kyle Harrison. “They now have two convenient locations–one cozy, brick-lined shop in Old Town and another Stumptown watering-hole in Buckman.”
“Within 10 minutes of the deal went live, someone was in the shop to redeem the offer,” Jack Inglis, co-owner of Floyd’s, said in a phone interview to Cnet.
Those with coupons will pay US$3 for $10 worth of drinks and food–is good for a year at either of the two Floyd’s locations.
Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt and VP of Commerce Stephanie Tilenius walked participants through the simplicity of the service during Tuesday’s D9 conference in Palos Verdes, California. According to the presentation, a user has only to select a desired coupon online to save the deal via his phone’s Google Wallet, which can access the coupon once the user has tapped the device at the point of sale.
Tilenius also said that Google will charge a listing fee proportionate to the cut that other coupon services take. However, Google would not charge a fee for the transaction between customer and merchant or for the app that enables the transaction.
Also it is pretty clear that Google will combine Offers with its recently announced Google Wallet, a “single tap” payment system for smartphones equipped with NFC technology, which Google also plans to roll out in the coming months.
However, before noon, more than half of the 2,000 coupons had been bought, with the window to purchase the deal expiring at midnight tonight. Google says it is working with other local Portland businesses Le Bistro Montage, Powell’s Books, and Ground Kontrol Classic Arcade on other offers.
Moreover, Google holds few aces to its advantages (search, Place Pages, and Android to name a few) that will come into play for Google Offers, but it is going to have to expand quickly to cover a lot more ground to give Groupon a run for its money.
{iframe width=”620″ height=”390″ align=”top”}http://www.youtube.com/embed/BQlq6B0ZFHY{/iframe}