Groupon will launch a targeted-deals product using beacons in 2015

During its fourth quarter earnings call today, Groupon announced plans to build a series of new products aimed at giving local merchants targeted access to consumers.

“We’re launching a product utilizing beacons. With pages and beacons, merchants will be able to upload content in real time, use proximity signals, and launch targeted promotions,” said CEO Eric Lefkofsky. Using this kind of mobile tracking could allow deals to be tailored to the day of week and time of day, he went on to say. Lefkofsky expects to deliver those tools before the end of the year.

He also mentioned intentions to develop a “suite of tools” including a mobile payment option for consumers, so they never have to take their phone out of their pocket at Groupon merchant stores.

Groupon has already launched tablet-based point of sale solutions for its merchants, which competes with payment offerings from Square and PayPal. A mobile payment option for consumers would create further competition with these companies.

The announcement comes as Groupon continues to push outside the realm of daily deals and into facilitating hyper-localized marketing for merchants, as well as other offerings.