For small businesses looking for yet another reason to offer their deals through Groupon, the daily deal site, now offers an online scheduler for appointment making.

Services, like a spa where appointments for various and sundry services are required, will benefit from the new tool, as merchants can book appointments while simultaneously reaching new clients.

The new tool is perfect for services like haircuts, guided tours, massages and such.

Customers can book appointments any time of the day, freeing up time for businesses to do what they do best – run their companies. Businesses can also track customer appointment history, send e-mail reminders of appointments and manage a schedule through Groupon – all for free.

“Effectively managing appointments and staffing schedules is critical for small businesses, but it takes a tremendous amount of time and energy,” said David Katz, General Manager, Groupon Scheduler. “Scheduler streamlines these time-consuming tasks and lets business owners dedicate more time to what matters most –developing a thriving business.”  

One Florida spa took advantage of the new tool, saying it was a big help in managing not only customer appointments, but employee schedules as well.

“It was extremely easy to implement and Groupon Scheduler has helped reduce the amount of time I spend on administrative tasks, giving me more time to do what I enjoy most – work with my clients,” said Jane Kane of Loving Lotus Center & Spa.

The daily deal site was under fire recently for “breached consumer protection regulations” and was told by the Office of Fair Trading to make hefty changes to its model after it was targeted for “misleading practices and unfair advertising.”

According to the report, the OFT expressed concerns over “pricing, advertising, refunds, unfair terms, and the diligence of its interactions with merchants.”

The complaints included exaggerated discounts and a time limit on taking up the offered discounts.

“Groupon has cooperated fully with our investigation and is making changes to its business practices to address our concerns. We will be monitoring the situation closely to ensure that consumers benefit from these improvements,” said Cavendish Elithorn, senior director in the OFT’s Goods and Consumer group.