

Groupon will charge $10 a month for the Gnome iPad system. The new product, dubbed Gnome (pronounced GEE-nome), also includes payment processing (1.8 percent plus 15 cents a transaction for MasterCard and Visa purchases), integration with popular small business accounting software programs and the ability for businesses to build and automatically update a database with names and contact information for their customers. Customers who have downloaded Groupon’s app and have Bluetooth turned on on their phone will have their discount recognized automatically upon entering a specific store.

The system includes, among other things, software that lets businesses track cash and credit and debit card transactions, an iPad to replace a cash register and a tool that will allow a shop’s customers to redeem a Groupon voucher by simply telling a cashier their name at checkout.

Today, the company is introducing an iPad-based checkout system that it expects tens of thousands of businesses that run a Groupon promotion to use. Groupon has long said it wants to be known as more than a deals company.
