Style Weekly
Chad Williams
Member since Oct 13, 2011
Recent Comments
Re: “Havoc Gives Way to Panic”
hopefully we have some more good years with Shaka #havocVCU www.havocvcu.com
Re: “Cuts Both Ways”
So since nobody else has taken the other side of the Groupon conversation I will just present some food for thought. Some of you may know all of this and others might be able to see the potential positives. I see the negatives, which most have commented on, but IF utilized correctly they can work. I'm not arguing for or against, but there are two sides to every story so let's at least discuss the other side as well. Seems fair right?
Just a disclaimer, I just looked in my Groupon profile and I've bought 2 food Groupons ever and they were to Sticks and Noodle & Company. Simply got a $10 for $5 to try a new spot. Did I have the $10, of course. Would I have gone otherwise, mostly likely so. But I saved a few bucks because they were offering. I do, however, go to both of those spots when I'm looking for a quick service meal so in my case this was beneficial for both of us.
Here we go.
If you run a small business, you must always compete for new customers. The cost of securing new customers can be high, and you can spend a lot of money on advertising that doesn't pay off in sales. However, with Groupon, you can offer a sale item. Your cost on the advertising is your discount on the item, which can be much more attractive than advertising rates. So IF you don't spend a lot on advertising in other formats that is money saved.
The main reason to advertise on Groupon is to increase your traffic especially at time when you know you aren't as busy as others. Restaurant people know that certain times of the year are just always less busy than others. By offering a deep discount on a sale item, you can POTENTIALLY attract new customers. Some businesses DO NOT try to make money on the sale item, using it as a loss leader to make customers aware of the company and its other products.
If you can price your sale item on Groupon with some profit left in it, you might make a little money on a lot of sales. You could make up for the lower profit margin with an increase in volume.
Even if people don't act on your offer your business can quickly gain visibility to a much larger audience.
Since most people will be first time (and as most everyone seems to feel last time) visitors it is the businesses opportunity to demonstrate quality customer service. Most people will come back for that even if the food is good (not great or exceptional). You will of course get the bargain hunters whose initial goal is to spend the minimum, but it's the restaurants job to make them recognize this is a place they would want to come back to at full price because it was that good.
You can use the sale as a way of capturing email address and other customer demographics. Then you can follow up with newsletters, your own special offers or news about events etc.
Finally, a good staff that's trained well knows how to up-sell. Someone with a Groupon might come in and be looking at the lesser priced items, but a good server will recommend items that have a better profit margin. They will suggest a wine or a beer that goes well with the food, they will say "ready for another one". You get the idea and many on this post I'm positive already do that.
So I hope even those of you that hate Groupon and think it lessens your craft, draws only one-time customers only looking for a cheap meal or any other similar situation can see there can be benefits. It just depends on what your overall goal is. If you know what you are trying to accomplish when you sign up, negotiate a more beneficial rate and train your staff properly on how to handle customers with Groupons it can be used successfully.
Anyone one on here that's a chef/owner that is in the RVA food scene has my support. Keep pushing the boundaries and making good food. At the end of the day there is a reason why we have plenty of restaurants in this town that are great and have been open for 10, 15, 20+ years.
Re: “Cuts Both Ways”
Great article, but this was bound to happen. I agree with K-Wag and Nathan, take a breath.
Lots of topics that could be discussed from this article and the comments.
An example if I may. Most Richmonders have probably been to Joe's Inn before and ordered Spaghetti a la Joe, but let's assume that you haven't. You go, you order and you get a mountain of food enough to feed the cast of 19 Kids and Counting. The cost is not relevant in this example, it's the portion. Now sure, would most take home the extra 2 lbs? I would, however, with my new found knowledge let's say on my next visit I want Spaghetti a la Joe again and so did someone else. Would you say "hey do you want to slit that?" Seems logical. Why? Because it's way too much food. I'm ok if you CHOOSE to provide that much food for the price, but you then shouldn't get upset when a customer understands that everything you serve can feed at least two people. There are plenty of restaurants in RVA that offer portions much larger than necessary and honestly aren't expected.
So sure sometimes people might be trying to save a buck by splitting a plate, but other times they are just making an educated decision from the portion you are providing, thereby eating the amount of food they were comfortable with and saving a few bucks in the process.
Re: “Next Taste”
Chaz, that's The Daily Kitchen and Bar. Look for it late February to early March (in a perfect world).
Re: “Punch Drunk”
Have you convinced your employers of the "whispers" to the point that you have a key in the system?
Other Publications
Re: “Short Order”
For those interested I keep an updated list of openings and closings here: http://www.30isthenew20.com/restaurants/20…