Groupon/Woucher/Travelzoo

[PSmith]

Does anyone use any of the above to get a discounted meal with a restaurant.

I have used TravelZoo a couple of time and have been pleasantly surprised. Once for a cooking course and once for a meal out - both were good value.

Might be an idea to post any offers that might crop up on this thread.

ETA - example here http://www.travelzoo.com/uk/local-deals/London/Restaurant/24911

Edited September 4, 2012 by PSmith (log)

[Edward J]

As one of the few restaurant owners on this forum, I beg you to see things the way I see them on my side of the cash register, and the only question I ask of you is : Why on earth would I do somehting so stupid?

Now, it is my undestanding that the folowing is the way Groupon works: Restaurant offes a special on a meal, offer is advertised in lots of 500 or 1,000. Groupon insists that restaurant MUST discount the meal at 50%. Customer pays groupon via VISA, Groupon takes thier 25% cut of this sum, restaurant provides the product and service.

In other words, restaurant is sole provider of product, but is 3rd party to the business transaction.

Fitrstly, WHY should a restaurant take a 50% cut on it's product? The three most expensive items on a restaurant's list is: Overhead, Labour, Foodcost. None of these items are discounted, yet the final product must be discounted by a whopping 50%.

Conclusion:

No sane, reasonably intelligent operator will use Groupon. Those that have, have quickly found out that the people who did purchse Groupon are only there for the discount, less than 5% returned a second time customers.

Groupon might work with last year's electronic devices, or a boat-load of 1970's era Soviet swimwear, but it doesn't work well with fresh food, live labour, and demanding landlords............

[PSmith]

I have a favourite restaurant which is close to my home. I love to eat there, but can't always afford the a la carte prices.

Four times in the last two years I have made use of the discounts offered via Travelzoo and TopTable (one I forgot to mention) to eat at my favourite restaurant, when I would have made do with the local pub.

And yes, if I have a special occasion, I will eat there on the full price a la carte menu.

Pretty sure that Travelzoo don't take as much as a fee - might be wrong, but I think one owner mentioned 5%.

Perhaps you are not looking at the bigger picture either. How much do you spend on advertising? If you look at the cost of these offers in the same way that you would placing an advert, then they might appear a bit more attractive.

[Edward J]

5%???

Last year I was pestered--no, downright harrassed by at least 4 such companies, some demanding discounts as low as 35% and as high as 50%. This year these companies have seem to have dissapeared--for which I am very gratefull.

No, it is not advertising. Say you buy your mother a bouquet of flowers, you include your card with the flowers. Whom does your mother associate with the flowers--you, or the person who made the bouquet and delivered it?

You have to understand the mentality of Groupon. They exist because they offer 50% discounts. Groupon is not making a loss, they are not compensating the merchant for a 50% loss, but are demanding the merchant take a loss in order to advertise with them. They make thier money from your discount, this is their reason for being--for existing, to offer discounts, not theirs, mind you, someone else's. On top of this they till take their cut-- a percentage of what ever is left over. They have access to this money, not you, as I said before you are a third party to the trnasaction, but provide the product. At this price it is impossible to make any money, every sale is a loss, and what's more, it will take at least 5 or six meals at normal prices to make up for the loss of one Groupon "sale".

I repeat, every restauranteur I have spoken to on this subject tells me that 95% of the customers are only there for the discount, they don't return, and what's more, many are reluctant to splurge on beverages or to tip the waitstaff.

It's a shell game.

Good luck finding a restaurant that doesn't offer Burrittos and a Coke for Groupon discounts.....

[thampik]

Thanks PSmith - your post caught my interest and I checked out (and signed-up for) for Travelzoo. I can see myself availing of some of those dining offers.

However, I am likely to be amongst EdwardJ's 95%.....

[Toliver]

I used a similar coupon/discount site for a BBQ restaurant that we had already previously enjoyed. To have coupons to this place was icing on the cake for us, so to speak. And when the coupons were used up, we still patronized the restaurant.

[PSmith]

I repeat, every restauranteur I have spoken to on this subject tells me that 95% of the customers are only there for the discount, they don't return, and what's more, many are reluctant to splurge on beverages or to tip the waitstaff.

.

Must admit that we are the opposite. We tend to spend more on a mid-range bottle of wine and also tip the staff as if we were paying full price.

[Holly Moore]

The insiduousness of Groupon and such is that many of the restaurants who use them are desparate for sales or cash flow. These restauranteurs may not realize that they may lose money on every Groupon customer and will likely never see that customer a second time until they again offer 50% off. I sense that for some restaurants the coupon deal may be the final coffin nail.

As a diner I am leery of Groupon restaurants both because they may be overwhelmed by Groupon toters and because the fact that they need to use Groupon could be indicitive of their level of competence.