Coming Soon: Groupon Buttons on the Cash Register

Using your Groupon coupon for 50% off today? No problem, sir. I’ll just hit this button on the cash register and the machine will do the math for me.

Oh yes, according to Bloomberg Businessweek, Groupon is in talks with the major cash register manufacturers to have Groupon buttons added to all their machines.

The article goes on to say that Groupon is testing a number of avenues that “will let merchants account more efficiently for Groupon transactions and returns.”

Returns? Didn’t know you could do that? I’d like to return this tan, please. It’s a bit too orange for my liking. . .

Groupon is big, but is it that big that they need their own button? Says Bloomberg,

The U.S. daily-deals market will grow to $3.93 billion in 2015, from $873 million last year, according to a projection from BIA/Kelsey. Under the most favorable conditions, sales could reach as much as $6.1 billion, the Chantilly, Virginia-based consulting firm said.

Groupon is now under a lot of pressure from other daily deal sites, even Foursquare has added a flash deal option for merchants in their latest upgrade. But still I say, their own button on the cash register? How about a Paypal button on cash registers. Now that would be a helpful way to further online / offline relations.

What do you think? Is this really about making things easier for merchants or is it just a publicity ploy to get Groupon back in the spotlight?