Local business owners who have claimed a Facebook Places Page can now get reporting on how many people are checking-in to their business, and how many are redeeming deals they’ve offered through Facebook. The new reports, announced today, can help business owners refine the deals they’re offering and track foot traffic from Facebook users over […]
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Making new data available is likely to encourage usage and refinement of the Place pages, and of the Deal functionality. Facebook announced the check-in to Places functionality back in August 2010, and the ability for businesses to offer deals — without Facebook taking a cut — in November. Users of Facebook apps on their mobile phones can see a yellow “coupon” icon, which signifies that the place has a deal, when they look at a list of nearby businesses.
The new reporting brings Facebook a little more in line with Foursquare and Yelp, both of which offer substantial reporting to local businesses. Foursquare yesterday announced an upgrade to its interface for businesses, which included the ability to offer different types of Specials and a revised analytics dashboard. Yelp rolled out analytics on mobile check-in offers when it rolled out the offers in November. Google just announced its own test of check-in offers, which will be taking place in Austin, Texas, during the SXSW interactive conference.