Google continues to make moves to infiltrate and replace your wallet, this week releasing a new “digital coupon solution” called Zavers. Zavers is essentially a coupon book tied to your phone: you add coupons to your account, and they’re automatically applied at the register with a single scan. If you use Google Wallet, Zavers coupons are redeemed as you tap or scan your phone at checkout. The biggest benefits seem to be for manufacturers and retailers, though: Google is touting Zavers as giving manufacturers a real-time way to see coupon performance and redemption rates, and the service also offers a personalization and targeting system that sounds a lot like Google’s AdWords.
Google launches Zavers, an ultra-targeted online coupon system
is editor-at-large and Vergecast co-host with over a decade of experience covering consumer tech. Previously, at Protocol, The Wall Street Journal, and Wired.
Zavers is less a new product and more a rebranding: Google bought Zave Networks in 2010, and is now releasing the company’s product as its own. Google’s partnered with Price Chopper, Pathmark, Harris Teeter, and others, and promises more partners coming soon. Digital coupon apps are a dime a dozen these days, but by combining its search and targeting prowess with Wallet, Google could quickly make a big splash in the market.
Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.
