Groupon Buys Presence AI

(RTTNews) - Groupon (GRPN) Thursday said it has acquired Presence AI, an artificial intelligence-powered text and voice communications tool that enables and facilitates messaging between customers and merchants. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Presence AI enables merchants to offer a 24/7 business assistant that integrates with a merchant's existing scheduling software to accept and manage bookings, provide instant answers to customer questions, remind people when it's time to re-book and much more.

"We're pleased to welcome the Presence AI team and their booking technology to Groupon. Booking is a key part of our voucherless initiative aimed at improving the redemption experience, providing always-on availability, giving consumers more reasons to buy through Groupon and opening up our marketplace to a broader range of merchants," said Groupon Chief Product Officer Sarah Butterfass. "Presence AI's technology is very complementary to what we've been building into our existing booking experience and will accelerate our roadmap with its text- and chat-based interface."

Presence AI was founded in 2015 in San Francisco and operates in the health, beauty and wellness space, which is one of Groupon's largest categories.