Social Deal: Bringing local experiences to everyone with Google Maps Platform

The experience economy is booming. Consumers everywhere are choosing to spend their money on unforgettable experiences, after having been deprived for so long during the pandemic. And while much of this thirst for adventure is driven by so-called 'revenge travel', with vacationers flying to far-flung destinations, there is a growing drive for memorable local experiences, as people take full advantage of the events and attractions on offer in their own backyards.

As the Netherlands' largest daily deal platform, Social Deal offers users a unique local perspective on towns and cities around the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. Social Deal's sales managers all live in the cities where they research and select their partners, helping to bring new, undiscovered local gems to the area's local residents every day, at discounted rates.

Putting local experiences on the map

Initially, Social Deal simply listed its daily deals, but with its emphasis on discovering local neighborhoods, the company realized it would benefit from a map function to allow users to see where each deal was located.

"We innovate on a daily basis, and our customized platform, developed in house, has helped to keep us fast and flexible," explains Mirte Andriesse, Personal Assistant to Social Deal's founders. 'When we choose to bring on an external solution, we only work with the best. Google Maps Platform is ubiquitous and most familiar system for our customers, so there was no question of us working with another provider. We knew the customer experience would not drop."

By implementing Google Maps Platform in 2018, Social Deal allowed customers to view the location of individual deals on a map, showing them where in the city the venue was situated. Soon afterwards, Social Deal introduced the Distance Matrix API, enabling customers to calculate distances and travel times to the site of their deal from their location, meaning they could choose the deals that were most local to them.

Placing the customer at the center of the experience with Places API

As Social Deal grew, it found that customers were increasingly using its platform when they went on trips to other cities, in the hope of discovering the best local experiences in those places, too. However, with deals being presented to them in a list format, customers found it hard to understand where deals were in places they were unfamiliar with. Even when using the app in their own towns, customers would often overlook certain venues in the list, as they were unable to see at a glance how close they were to home.

Keen to improve its customer experience, Social Deal set about developing a new feature, working with Google Cloud partner Localyse to incorporate the Places API. With its Nearby functionality, Places API now enables customers to view their location on a map and visualize the locations of all the experiences around them, which they can then filter to find the right deal for them. By zooming out, customers can get an overview of all the experiences the region has to offer, while zooming in enables them to explore their area in more detail.

"With the Nearby functionality, customers can explore their area in new ways," says Andriesse. "They can see local deals or find experiences that are close to each other and use them together. Customers are now spending longer on our site and coming back more often. Our bounce rate has dropped by 20%."

Happy customers, successful partners

Customers are also able to search the map for particular locations, with Place Autocomplete suggesting places across any region, allowing customers to explore experiences near to any location they choose. The Distance Matrix API enables customers to see how far any deal is from their chosen location, while the Navigation feature then provides customers with directions to the venue with Google Maps Platform. As a result of this improved functionality, Social Deal has seen customer satisfaction increase by 10%.

Social Deal's 24,000 partners are also benefiting from customers' improved experience of the site. With Places API helping Social Deal to consolidate its place as the market leader, businesses enjoy increased exposure to the platform's growing user base, increasing revenue and occupancy rates, while attracting new local customers. Venues are also less likely to be overlooked than when they were presented in a list format, with customers' ability to zoom into the map meaning that businesses can be discovered more easily by more users.

Improving back office efficiency with Directions

Part of Social Deal's uniquely local offering involves its local sales teams building personal relationships with local partners, so customers are always benefiting from the best deals. To achieve this, the Social Deal team regularly meets its partners in person at their restaurants, bars, and attractions. Previously, this meant the sales team would pull the address from the database and locate it independently. Now, with Google Maps Platform built into the back office system, the sales team is able to see all its partners on a map and navigate to them directly with Directions API, saving the team valuable time that they can use to find new experiences for their customers.

Expanding into new regions with a map without borders

As Social Deal grows its user base, it is also expanding internationally. As the market leader in Benelux, it recently expanded into Germany, and is now planning to grow further across the EU. With the global reach of Google Maps Platform, this means that customers in one country will be able to cross the border into another and continue enjoying the same Social Deal experience. Andriesse believes that scaling the business across borders has been made easier with Google Maps Platform.

"The most valuable thing about using Google Maps Platform is it makes it easy to expand your business," she says. "You don't even have to think if it's possible to move into new regions or not, because you already know it's possible. There are no borders in Google Maps Platform."

Social Deal's aim is to continue to expand throughout the EU, building its user base to meet its ambitious growth targets. As it grows, however, the business is careful to ensure that it keeps local knowledge and experiences at the heart of everything it does.

"Google Maps Platform helps us to be the best, and deliver the best service to customers," says Andriesse. "And while it can help us to grow into any region we want, it will always give us the local insights we need to succeed, helping our customers discover the experiences that are waiting for them around every corner."