Groupon Adds Reward Points Program To Further Entice Shopaholics

Groupon, the already incredibly profitable startup from Chicago, gives users a deal a day in their home city. A friend of mine recently used them to get a two day surf lesson for $50, for example. She’s hooked on Groupon and seems to get more fun out of buying stuff than even necessarily using it.

Now the site is adding a rewards program that will likely make it even more like crack for shoppers. The currency, G’s, are awarded for viewing deals and buying deals. And if you buy a deal early (a minimum number of buyers have to go for a deal or else no one gets it), you get even more G’s.

100G’s equals a dollar, says Groupon, and can be exchanged for discounts at partner businesses. Or, if you’ve accumulated enough of them, you can get that day’s deal for free.

Groupon recently closed a massive $135 million round of funding that valued the company at $1.35 billion. We expect Groupon to hit $350 million in revenue this year.