Aol News is reporting that Facebook has recently updated their mobile application, adding new features to Places, which is their location check-in service. One of the new features is Deals, which is designed to allow business owners to offer special discounts to consumers who use the check-in service. As the article explains this can lead to a more connected experience for the consumer as well as free marketing for your business:

Deals allows small-business owners to deliver information about discounts and special services to customers and reward them for checking in at a business. It also allows customers to announce promotions and their own savings to their online friends. Customers walk around their town, open the Facebook app on their mobile phones and get information about a few companies nearby that are offering mobile “coupons” for Facebookers. Once they check in at each business partnering with Facebook, they unlock the discount.

According to the article, Deals has three categories of rewards, “loyalty”, “friends” and “charity” with each category allowing consumers to take advantage of the rewards in different ways:

Deals tracks each time a specific person visits a store and takes advantage of a deal and offers deeper discounts the more loyal a customer is. Those who bring friends with them when they check into a restaurant or store can get different deals from those who come solo. The app also offers a check-in for charity option that allows customers to donate money to a charity as a reward for visiting the business.

Many in the tanning business community already use Facebook as a way to stay connected to their clients. With the added features to Places, the location-based service could prove to be a powerful tool for connecting to customers.

Read the full story at Aol News