Research this week from Zolfo Cooper showed that more and more consumers are swayed to eat in a restaurant if they offer discount vouchers. In fact, the number of people who were more likely to visit a restaurant if they offered some sort of price promotion has increased by 39% over the last six months.
Do you offer a voucher scheme? Is there a danger that the culture of discouting goes on for too long?
neil_g: Research this week from Zolfo Cooper showed that more and more consumers are swayed to eat in a restaurant if they offer discount vouchers. In fact, the number of people who were more likely to visit a restaurant if they offered some sort of price promotion has increased by 39% over the last six months. Do you offer a voucher scheme? Is there a danger that the culture of discouting goes on for too long?
As a consumer using vouchers, when we dine out during the week for a quick meal we generally go to restaurants offering vouchers, there are so many to be taken advantage of you'd be mad not to. That said, Prezzo have been offering vouchers for ages (over a year) their initial offering was great any choice from any part of the menu, but now the voucher offering is limited to a choice from a set menu which isnt so appealing, we now dine elsewhere. Vouchers are good but they need to be for set periods only or intermittent to keep the consumer interest and good value being offered
Yes it's dangerous. If you're good enough and you price your food properly then you don't need to start dangling carrots in front of your customers like that. If you cheapen your offering I don't beleive you can ever get it back. The problem is when everyone else around you does it - I just worry that I lose regulars to other places where they know the food is just not as good but where they feel they are getting a 'cheap' deal. But you just have to rely on pple voting with their taste buds.
I agree with your last comment - you have to have faith in the principle that, in the end, quality will out. Sure, p[eople like a good deal, depending on circumstances, reason for eating out, occasion etc. But they also want tasty, well-cooked food, and they'll stop taking advantage of BOGOF deals if they feel that the quality isn't there. Of course, this is easy to say or write, but it must be hard to hold your nerve in a downturn, when you have an empty dining room and you can see your competitors are full ...
I think that restaurants that offer a discount are clever as it gives new customers a chance to try a new restaurant out for less than others. I think that a restaurant can obtain new repeat customers if they entice them in with an offer.
I use www.voucherchoice.com all the time as I travel a lot and there are some great discounts available .