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Posts from the ‘Discounts’ Category

7
Sep

Group Restaurant Discount Site Tipping Point?

As the summer comes to an end, I have been thinking about a lot of things… will I kick up my running routine this fall?  How will I evolve or not evolve Jay’s NYC Restaurant Reviews? And what’s next for group restaurant discount sites? I will focus this post on the last question.

Ever since the beginning of Groupon I have been following every move of Groupon and all the Groupon followers (Living Social, Tippr, Scoop Street, DealOn, In Bundles, etc.).  I subscribe to all group discount alerts and even subscribe to aggregators like The Daily Flock. 

Last May, I wrote a post called “Beware of, But Don’t Ignore Restaurant Discounts.” In the post, I talked about seeking out and buying only the best “hidden gems.”   Now that the market has been so saturated with these discounts, it’s been hard to find the hidden gems.  As a matter of fact, I just haven’t found anything that piqued my interest in at least a month or two.

In the months before not finding any restaurant deals of interest, I noticed myself  buying a bunch of discounts that I have not used and likely will not use.  As a matter of fact, most of the money that I would have saved on the 50% off deals has went out the window in unused deals.  I should have known that I wouldn’t go to Brooklyn for that sushi place when I purchased (no offense to my friends in BK).

It’s  also hard keeping up with the deals.  Sometimes I just don’t remember which site I bought the deal on. When I do find out which site I bought the deal on, there are varying levels of difficulty in redeeming… Some of the sites are not as evolved as Groupon and LivingSocial and do not have iphone apps. If I want to use a discount and don’t have a print out, is it worth $5 at FedexOffice to print out (I don’t have a printer at home)? Or do I carry a “man purse” with all my coupons (not going to happen)!?

There is also the problem of the restaurants that are using one or more restaurant discount site all the time. Use one of these sites, fine,  twice ok, when I see the same establishment paying so much to get customers in the door (I hear groupon gets as much as half the coupon value), I begin to question the business.

Hyper customization of deals is also a problem- Do I sign up for midtown deals? East side deals? What about the deals in North Jersey? As in all businesses, losing focus on what you do best can compromise the quality of the end product. Scaling the process of sourcing and marketing deals is not as easy as it may seem. The more deals offered on each site and in the collection of all these sites, and the more time that goes by with the same type of deals, the less impact each deal will have.

Groupon recently evolved the game with their first ever National Deal – selling over 441,000 GAP Groupons.  The Groupon machine has and will keep on growing as corporations will continue to be interested in their reach and power as not only a group discount site but a media player.

With that said, I predict the landscape of local restaurant deals will change in the coming months. We will see less sites. The larger sites and the most creative marketers will prevail.  The sites that aren’t focused and lack differentiation will go the way of the roughly 60% of restaurants that close within three years of opening.

Do you agree? What do you think will be the next big thing for local restaurant discounts?

15
May

Beware of, But Don’t Ignore Restaurant Discounts

Internet based restaurant discounts are very popular these days. Here are the basics on the sites I have found that are offering the deals and how you can benefit most from these restaurant deals.

The Landscape of Restaurant Deals

1. The Group Discount - These group discount sites offer more than restaurant deals but you will find restaurant offers several times a week. You typically pay $15 – $25  for $30 – $50 off the check. This idea was made popular by Groupon. In recent months, some more have come to the market with thoughtful group discounts, including  Scoop St and Living Social. Then there are others like BuyWithMe and Tippr that  fall short by providing discounts on the leftover scraps. Gotta love when Tippr included deals to eat chocolate, workout at a health spa, and a visit the dentist in the same email!

2. Restaurant Only Deals –  Blackboard Eats (BBE) offers free discounts (usually 30% off) for new restaurants and “hidden gems.” They send their emails at 8:30 ET approximately three times a week. If it’s a deal you like, just click the button and take the code provided to the restaurant for the deal.  I find Blackboard Eats has the best deals at the best places most often. Another restaurant only deal site,  VillageVines (VV) is “invitation only” and typically charges $10 to get 30% off.  In my experience, the VV deals and restaurants are not as good as BBE.

3. OpenTable - Don’t forget about those 1000 points reservations on OpenTable. When you cash in the points, 1000 points is the equivalent of $10. The 100 point reservations also add up to valuable reward certificates!

Seeking out the Best Deals

With all these “generous” offers out there, I often wonder how can I resist paying $20 for $50, etc.

I have learned from experience that not all deals are the same.  The key to getting the  best deals from these sites is understanding that 7 out of 10 of the restaurants are offering a discount because they have to (please keep in mind 7 out of 10 is an estimate and is not scientific in any way).

Most of the restaurants offering deals aren’t getting crowds and they think that an influx of thousands into their already struggling establishment will fix it all.  The way to figure out which 3 out of 10 are worth it is to do your research. Some suggestions:

  • Don’t be fooled by the cherry picked reviews in the write-ups on these sites. The restaurants pay to offer the discounts and the websites offering  them will write up whatever will make the restaurant look good to sell more.
  • Do a Google search, look at what others are saying.Don’t buy a deal or make a reservation if the restaurant is not recommended by a friend or by seemingly credible reviews from others online.
  • Do make sure you are not falling for one of the OpenTable “tricks” by reading my guide to getting the most from OpenTable.

Here are a few of the recent gems I have found:

On the other hand, I bought two $7 for $15 at Mantao Chinese Sandwiches and ended up asking Groupon for my money back because the food was inedible.

Happy searching! And, if you are not interested in working to find the best discounts for NYC restaurants, just keep following Jay’s NYC Restaurant Reviews I will always post the best deals!