» Getting customers in the shop through online deals is only part of game. Convincing them to buy additional items requires a convinc- ing sales pitch and well-designed showroom like the one seen here at Perfectionist Auto Sound & Security.
» Tis Groupon deal by Perfectionist Auto Sound & Security was negotiated down so the shop only paid $49 out of the $199 offered, which is more than the traditional 50/50 split Groupon generally offers.
Overcoming the Odds Three Ivy League university professors conducted a study, which they published in the online journal arXiv (pronounced “archive”), to determine the effects on a business of using Grou- pon and Living Social. During the six-month time frame, the team monitored every Groupon and Living Social deal offered in 20 cities, making up 16,692 deals. They also collected data on Facebook “likes” that occurred while the deal was running, which showed that word of mouth greatly benefits the daily deal sites. Perhaps the most striking finding noted in the study was that
available at the shop. The salesperson then learns what else the customer might be interested in, and makes suggestions. “As far as our shop, since we’re Tint World, people assume all we do is window tinting,” said Callahan. “When they come in, they ask if we do window tint, then they see all the other things and it opens them up to do other things. Recently, we had a guy come in just for a remote start, but after he spoke to us, he upgraded speakers, radio and window tint.” Once customers come in the door, the store itself can prove to be a helpful tool in making additional sales, according to Callahan. “The owner, Michael Mayo, promotes a family-oriented
environment. He doesn’t allow loud house music you’d find at most stores,” Callahan said. “We play only easy listening music. It’s a more peaceful and welcoming environment for the customer.”
Yelp reviews mentioning the words “Groupon” and “coupon” provided much lower ratings than those without those terms. “Our analysis shows that while the number of reviews increases significantly due to daily deals, average rating scores from reviewers who mention daily deals are 10 percent lower than scores of their peers on average,” the study stated. “The 12-volt industry has kind of a bad rap. A lot of these shops are filthy, poorly stocked and don’t treat all customers the same. [Perfectionist] doesn’t treat a customer any differently, no matter where they spend their money,” said Schwartz. “These shops that get bad Yelp reviews need to take a look at their shop from the customer’s perspective. Right when they pull into the parking lot we’re working on our first impression. As soon as they walk in the door we do everything for them, and that’s how we get repeat business.” Since Groupon’s inception in 2008, the No. 1 complaint from businesses is that the site encourages single-visit customers only looking for deals. Although Groupon has taken steps to correct this by offering a rewards program for repeat customers, there’s also something that stores can do to prevent that issue from occurring. “Stores have to represent themselves well. You gotta make
customers feel welcome. Also understand it’s not a big profit kind of thing. Even if it’s a only a little bit of money, understand that a little money can turn into a lifetime customer.”
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