Everybody wants to save money. The phenomenal success of daily discount sites such as Groupon and Living Social draws on a shopper’s inherent desire to score an amazing deal – even if it’s on a product they might not necessarily have purchased in the first place. Case in point, the adorable pair of little sandals I bought last week with WagJag. Not because my little girl desperately needed new shoes, but they were over half off and they squeak!

 

 

Making it even easier to spend (I mean, save) money, is the proliferation of location based deals that allow mobile users to check in as they visit participating businesses to get discounts. Google Latitude, Google’s location-sharing mobile app, has recently launched a check-in offer system that rewards shoppers for repeat visits. As they check-in, consumers can improve their status level and unlock bigger savings for that store.

Some of Google’s initial partners include American Eagle Outfitters, Quiznos, Macy’s, RadioShack, and Naturalizer. Offers are available for Google Maps for Android and for Latitude for iPhone, although its iOS app doesn’t support status level achievements yet.

 

  
Latitude’s auto check-in feature is a big advantage, since it makes it effortless to be part of a location’s deal. Also, since Latitude is preinstalled on every Android device, Google has a definite lead as they compete with other location-based deal offerings, such as Facebook Places and Foursquare.

 

By presenting shoppers with good deals, and the added bonus of “earning” greater savings, it won’t really matter that Google is a bit late joining the location-based rewards game. The number of advertisers and businesses that will want to be promoted by the search giant will definitely continue to rise.