Jeff Rodier
SPFG, Supreme Picture Framing God
What was your offer Paul.
Probably this was because you were listed as a side deal. For the main deal of the day Groupon sends out an email blast to all the subscribers for that city, which drives interested users to the site. Not so for the side deal... you basically get that subset of the main-deal folks who decide to check you out.By the way, it only took 12 hours for me to get 25 people to sign up for this thing and activate it. The friggin' ballet got there faster than me.
Nice! I took several Groupon orders the first day under the same circumstances. I told them that when they come pick up they'll need either the Groupon or a payment of $125.66, and I just took in my first order from a groupon, which technically is not kosher. Half down today, we'll deal with the groupon at time of pickup. Total order before Groupon: $297.
That is why at 220 your cogs is 40%ish and at $100 over 100%.
Yeah. As luck would have it, my Groupon ran just *as* I was going on vacation. Fortunately, I'd planned to be back for the Saturday-after, which was good. I'd *hoped* that we'd get fewer Groupon customers during the week I was going to be away, and that my assistant could handle them by herself.Groupon called me again today but I was too busy to take the call. The timing of this deal is important, but I assume there is no control over that. I have an employee on vacation and if 72 new customers came in this weekend we would be more than swamped. Interesting topic.
Well, the good thing is, every one of these voucher holders is a "sure thing," to borrow Julia Roberts' line from Pretty Woman. If someone has to wait, they will do so because they are already invested in the voucher. They aren't going to throw away $45 and go up the street to another place.Paul, it will be really interesting to see if the customers who redeem thier coupons become regular customers. I hope you are flagging them in your POS for future research. Groupon called me again today but I was too busy to take the call. The timing of this deal is important, but I assume there is no control over that. I have an employee on vacation and if 72 new customers came in this weekend we would be more than swamped. Interesting topic.
If you don't already have this, make sure you have a few boxes of crayons and some scratch pads to give the kids something to do while the parents are waiting. This is a good idea even if you're not running a groupon...Well, the good thing is, every one of these voucher holders is a "sure thing," to borrow Julia Roberts' line from Pretty Woman. If someone has to wait, they will do so because they are already invested in the voucher. They aren't going to throw away $45 and go up the street to another place.
My plan for this weekend (hope springs eternal) is to bring in some sodas, water, and cookies, so if I should double my normal intake of customers (meaning, if two people come in), they can snack if they have to wait around.
I speak from experience, though things may be different in your part of the country. Around here the "young" demographic includes young families with kids under 5. After one experience with a bored kidlet my assistant strongly suggested getting some crayons. It's worked very nicely (one of the kids even *gave* me one of the pictures she drew, which I promptly framed up as an example of kids' art)Jim, I'm betting this is going to be a younger, kidless crowd. If any kids do come in, they can amuse themselves with the broken glass receptacle.
Groupon has something like a 95% redemption rate. Paul stands a very good chance of having nearly every one redeemed. That's quite a return.One other thing to consider with this sort of thing is the redemption rate: not every voucher gets redeemed. A number of people buy these things on impulse and never get around to using them. While this is not something to bank on, it does lessen the financial hit.
Also a good idea to have something to clean the crayon off the walls once the little ankle biters get bored and decide to find a new canvas.If you don't already have this, make sure you have a few boxes of crayons and some scratch pads to give the kids something to do while the parents are waiting. This is a good idea even if you're not running a groupon...
Hopefully he's so busy handling customers that he can't come to the computerPaul, How was Saturday for you? Did you get the groupon customers. Inquiring minds want to know.
They also run side deals in areas that are outside main cities. San Mateo is not in San Francisco. Jim, were you in the Boston mailer?.
Groupon runs something as a "side deal" if they feel it's not up to the level of interest of a main deal.
I'm in Natick, a town 15 miles outside of Boston. I was listed on the Boston main site and my offer did get the email blast. Unlike SF, the Boston site is not split up into sections.They also run side deals in areas that are outside main cities. San Mateo is not in San Francisco. Jim, were you in the Boston mailer?
The SF Bay area is split into sections.
Interesting... they seem to go through phases of expansion and contraction. I was caught up in a major (30%) RIF in late 2002. Only time in my life (so far) that I ever left a job involuntarily...Funny you should mention Akamai. There was just an article in a local paper yesterday that they are expanding here, adding 50 or so jobs over the next few months.
It is timing. Last December I ran a two week similar special to my newsletter members for $75. and sold over 20 of them. I offered larger options as well.For anyone who wants to know. Earlier I stated that I was going to try an inhouse coupon. Buy a $100.00 coupon, but pay only $70.00. Someone here wanted to know how it worked. I didn't sell any! Weird, even paying customers who had nothing to lose didn't do it.
Good luck! If you sell more than 100 or so, be prepared for a busy shop the Saturday after it runs. I had myself, my assistant, AND my wife (who doesn't usually work the shop), and we barely kept up...Encouraged by this thread, we decided to give Groupon a try - fairly new in the Albuquerque area. Ours runs tomorrow $40 for $100 worth of framing. We'll see . . .