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> My mother, is trying to figure out how to attract new business into her Coffee Shop for a new line - just to let people know it exists, and is considering a g

> My mother, is trying to figure out how to attract new business into her Coffee Shop for a new line - just to let people know it exists, and is considering a groupon deal. Have you read the cautionary tale from Posies Cafe? There will be tons of people who will try the new product, but most of them won't stick around long enough to pay full value. Gotta be careful with this form of advertising. (Disclaimer: I know the owner of Posies.) http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1698833 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1698833

brandnewlow 16y ago
It's the footraffic version of Digg. Publishers never figured out how to convert Diggers into return visitors. Then again, Groupon appears to be working harder on that front than Digg did.
- chrisaycock 16y ago
  Yes, Groupon is the brick-and-mortars version of Digg. But I will point-out that Digg links are good for SEO, so there is at least some degree of permanence. I guess the Groupon equivalent would be word-of-mouth referrals, though I'm afraid that many reviews would be, "I went to this awesome place [only after artificially lowering the price] that I found on Groupon". The implied sweet deal from Groupon might be something that other potential customers would expect as well before trying a new place out.
  - brandnewlow 16y ago
    I respect that Groupon has more resources available for businesses than Digg had for publishers. I still don't hear many stories about businesses BUILDING THEIR BUSINESS through Groupon. I respect the heck out of what they've done, but don't see how it can last 4-5, 10 years once the fad wears thin. Feels like tulips, not railroads.
ghshephard 16y ago
Yes, in fact if you notice, I'm one of the top commenters on that thread - it's how I discovered most of what I know about Groupon, in fact - reading that story, and hearing about other ycombinator comments informed my thinking. I don't really understand how any small business who spends more than 10 minutes googling can spend unwisely with Groupon. My mother and her partner identified a ton of concerns they had with groupon in about 60 seconds, and how they would deal with it. Small business owners are amazingly sophisticated when it comes to these types of deals. (With the exception of the $1400 on Door-Knockers they spent 5 years ago, that didn't show a great conversion rate, and I hear about every time I visit.) Here are some of the issues they brought up: o How badly will her regulars be impacted by a huge surge in business. o Will their "vibe" be negatively impacted by large crowds of people (she runs a very intimate coffee/tea shop) o How should she price her product so that a 5% conversion rate shows an ROI in about 6 months. o How much staff should she have on hand the week following the Groupon to make sure that they can handle the business. o How much should she spend on collateral, marketing, packaging to leverage these new people, and convert them to regulars. o Preparing the staff for the lousy tipping (Though, they already knew people coming in with coupons never, ever tip) I'll report back if they execute their groupon. Be interesting to see a real world execution from the side of the small business.
- chrisaycock 16y ago
  Ah, I hadn't compared usernames. Your mother thought of some very detailed gotchas. I too would be interested to hear how it goes in the end.

brandnewlow 16y ago

It's the footraffic version of Digg. Publishers never figured out how to convert Diggers into return visitors. Then again, Groupon appears to be working harder on that front than Digg did.

chrisaycock 16y ago
Yes, Groupon is the brick-and-mortars version of Digg. But I will point-out that Digg links are good for SEO, so there is at least some degree of permanence. I guess the Groupon equivalent would be word-of-mouth referrals, though I'm afraid that many reviews would be, "I went to this awesome place [only after artificially lowering the price] that I found on Groupon". The implied sweet deal from Groupon might be something that other potential customers would expect as well before trying a new place out.
- brandnewlow 16y ago
  I respect that Groupon has more resources available for businesses than Digg had for publishers. I still don't hear many stories about businesses BUILDING THEIR BUSINESS through Groupon. I respect the heck out of what they've done, but don't see how it can last 4-5, 10 years once the fad wears thin. Feels like tulips, not railroads.

ghshephard 16y ago

Yes, in fact if you notice, I'm one of the top commenters on that thread - it's how I discovered most of what I know about Groupon, in fact - reading that story, and hearing about other ycombinator comments informed my thinking. I don't really understand how any small business who spends more than 10 minutes googling can spend unwisely with Groupon. My mother and her partner identified a ton of concerns they had with groupon in about 60 seconds, and how they would deal with it. Small business owners are amazingly sophisticated when it comes to these types of deals. (With the exception of the $1400 on Door-Knockers they spent 5 years ago, that didn't show a great conversion rate, and I hear about every time I visit.) Here are some of the issues they brought up: o How badly will her regulars be impacted by a huge surge in business. o Will their "vibe" be negatively impacted by large crowds of people (she runs a very intimate coffee/tea shop) o How should she price her product so that a 5% conversion rate shows an ROI in about 6 months. o How much staff should she have on hand the week following the Groupon to make sure that they can handle the business. o How much should she spend on collateral, marketing, packaging to leverage these new people, and convert them to regulars. o Preparing the staff for the lousy tipping (Though, they already knew people coming in with coupons never, ever tip) I'll report back if they execute their groupon. Be interesting to see a real world execution from the side of the small business.

chrisaycock 16y ago
Ah, I hadn't compared usernames. Your mother thought of some very detailed gotchas. I too would be interested to hear how it goes in the end.