What Businesses Need To Know About Groupon and Groupon-Clones

Groupon, the nearly $15 billion behemoth of daily deal websites, is one of the hottest internet companies today. From their $6 billion Google acquisition offer to their purported IPO valuation of up to $25 billion, Groupon is making headlines everywhere. More recently, news about Groupon has been turning sour with articles from the New York Times, Reuters, and other numerous media outlets reporting horror stories of small business owners upset and traumatized with their Groupon experience.

How It Works

Groupon and the hundreds of Groupon-clones vying for you to strike a deal and sign up for their deep discount offering can be too much for any business owner to handle. Understanding how Groupon works and what to expect are the first steps in realizing whether Groupon is right for your business. Groupon and the likes provide a service where they offer potential customers a deep discount to a good or service. These discounts to the customer range from 50-90% off retail or face value. As a business, when you sign up for Groupon, they guarantee you increased customers. They do this in 2 ways, first the deal only goes “live” if a pre-determined minimum number of people purchase it and second, they send out your deal to their ever growing email list of subscribers which can be millions of new potential customers per city. Continue reading What Businesses Need To Know About Groupon and Groupon-Clones

How restaurants attract and keep loyal customers

How much time and money do you spend attracting new customers?  How many coupons, discounts, promotions, and deals have you created just to attract a new face to your business?

Now let me ask you this more important question: What steps do you take to turn a new customer into a loyal customer?

We asked 100 restaurants and cafes in Northern California this same question.  Unanimously, the answer was the following: “Our great food and excellent customer service is what keeps our customers coming back.”

In the age of new technology and a fickle generation, great food and great customer service just doesn’t cut it anymore. Continue reading How restaurants attract and keep loyal customers