Groupon revamps its website and updates its mobile apps with new search and browse features

Groupon has overhauled the design of its website and updated its iPhone, iPad and Android mobile apps with new features to make it easier for customers to browse deals and zoom in on what they’re interested in.

With its revamp, the daily deals site is now much less cluttered and has bigger images to draw customers in. The company is also upping its emphasis on personalization — a natural progression considering that it acquired SideTour in September. SideTour is a local experience startup that hand-picks and suggests events to users who want to touch base with hosts in a specific locale.

Here’s a list of some changes you’ll see on Groupon’s website:

• Personalized Homepage: Based on metrics such as the customer’s indicated interests and previous purchases, deals showcased are catered to individuals.
• Improved Search and Browse: The search bar is now prominently displayed at the top of every page, along with type-ahead suggestions.
• Cross-Channel Search Results: A single search pulls results from multiple channels including local deals, places to travel, goods, restaurant reservations and live events.
• Better Search Filters: Filters are shown alongside search results for users to sift them out based on specific categories.

The apps also take a leaf from Groupon’s website revamp with some design tweaks, and there’s a focus on making it more convenient to travel around with Groupon. Here are a few changes:

• Better User Experience: Like the website, the search bar is now placed at the top of every screen. The iPad app also gets a new personalized homepage.
• Local Explorer: The Groupon app now automatically detects when a particular user changes location, and sends a notification to highlight local deals.
• Deal “Favoriting”: This is only applicable for iPad customers, who can now “favorite” deals to save them for quick and easy future reference by selecting the new heart button on the deal pages.

Furthermore, the iPad app is arriving in a further 12 countries — among them Thailand, Philippines, Russia, Mexico and New Zealand.

Groupon’s move to upgrade its slew of products comes as it turns five years old this month.

Headline image Scott Olson/Getty Images