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Here is my take on the whole Groupon thing. Every small business should give customers, especially first time customers, a discount. We used to print in the loc
by leak 15y ago
Here is my take on the whole Groupon thing. Every small business should give customers, especially first time customers, a discount. We used to print in the local news paper "buy 1 get 1 free ciagar" specials and pay the paper $250 for that ad. It wasn't really worth it but we did it every month because our competitor was doing it.
This is what I see is happening with a lot of small businesses. I don't think the issue is really Groupon so much as it is the businesses not understanding what to do with these new customers. If they're just in there for the deal, they won't come back after they get the deal. This is from first hand experience.
We got customers coming back because the deal was just to bring them in. That was all. It wasn't even to find new customers. We just wanted traffic. Once we got the customers, each of us who worked there had a responsibility to get the customers excited about coming back. We were masters at it. These small business lack that skill and it has nothing to do with Groupon or any other deal advertising platform (including newspapers).
- DanBC 15y agoI go to Starbucks every single morning. I buy a cup of coffee, and something to eat. I tip. I'm polite and friendly; I don't leave a mess and I don't leach too much wifi. One morning I get there and there's a long queue. People don't know what they're doing - they're taking ages looking at the menu and choosing drinks and trying to order them and arguing over the drinks they're eventually given. And they all get a pack of beans, ground to how they like. And then I notice that they're handing in a coupon from a newspaper. So: I don't get free stuff; I do get worse service; staff get a bunch of rude people who are only after the free beans. I was grumpy. Staff were grumpy.
- leak 15y agoCustomers don't care about "free stuff" or even prices. They care about service. This is my point. GroupOn may help bring in the customers with the coupons but customers don't go back because of prices (not so much). If the experience sucks, it sucks and that's it.
- untog 15y agoCustomers don't care about "free stuff" or even prices. They care about service. I would love to see some data on that, because I have a really hard time believing it. Otherwise I'd struggle to explain how Walmart has ever been successful.
- felipemnoa 15y agoIt really depends on the expectations that the business sets. Customers go to Walmart for the cheap stuff. Some people may go to Starbucks for the experience. If you go for the experience and you get bad customer service then you will never go back.
- DanBC 15y agoI care about free stuff if random fuckbags are getting it and me, a loyal customer, isn't getting it. And it is because I care about service that I don't want floods of idiots blocking my queue and being rude to staff (who then have to serve me) just so the can grab a free thing and go.