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- Brand Officer
- Author|Brand Officer
Introduction: Recently, the controversy over low-cost group purchase coupons on the Internet has become more and more significant; Many netizens expressed this: "I thought I saved money in the merchant, but I didn't expect it to be the boss's blood? ”
Low-cost group purchase coupons have also become popular in the past two years;
As long as there are customers who have placed an order on the catering platform, they must have heard of it: "9.9 yuan to eat hot pot, 60 yuan to eat grilled lamb chops, 139 yuan to eat a meal for four people, 300 yuan can even eat Australia lobster; ”
Pictured: 9.9 yuan hot pot set
In the first two years, when a series of discount packages of group purchase and coupons first came out, it was synonymous with affordability in the true sense.
Pictured: 9.9 yuan buffet
The past two years have also been a year of rapid development of the catering industry;
Store explorers on major platforms are also rushing to various stores to promote them and get traffic; But is this really a good thing for the promotion of the industry?
Pictured: Professor Zhang Liangren changed careers to visit the store
It is understood that recently, many merchant platforms and stores have made various "clever" and improper reasons for the behavior of issuing coupons to consumers during the bonus period of catering, and made a fuss about the so-called group buying.
Source: Meituan Mini Program
low-cost group buying of catering,
Is the boss's money really easy to make?
2024 is the most chaotic year in the development of the catering industry;
Pictured: The restaurant owner bluntly said that business is not good
Not only is it not easy for merchants to make money, but even their platforms are not easy to make money;
With the decline in passenger traffic across the country, bosses have even started a so-called ultra-low group buying price war in order to grab their own business.
It is said that there is no profit and no early breakfast, and there is no free lunch in the world; If a restaurant wants to use a coupon with a very low price to attract you to enter the store, then you must be aware that there may be a "trap" that you will step on; ”
I believe that many netizens have seen such a picture on some catering platforms!
Pictured: 99 yuan snowflake beef package
Maybe most of my friends will be tempted when they see a double set meal of snowflake beef and beef tongue hanging dragon for 99 yuan?
As far as the author himself is concerned, if you see the so-called 449 yuan package on the catering platform, you may also be impulsive to place an order if it can be reduced to 99 yuan.
But netizens who have a little ink in their stomachs can imagine that a package like this with a large price reduction may be very watery.
The actual original price of 449 yuan is a 1% discount on the surface, and it looks like it is earned; But as we all know, the price that the merchant falsely advertises is actually just to highlight the strength of its discount, nothing more.
And when I place an order, I go to the store to spend a small 200 yuan, and then go to eat a meal of environmental experience and very ordinary dishes; only to find out that he was actually cut wool by the capitalists, and he regretted it after his heartache.
If the price reduction is just a means for merchants to attract customers on the surface; However, it is not known whether the dishes that I actually ate after arriving at the restaurant have also been changed.
Attentive netizens found themselves using the special coupons given by the platform, and after going to the store to eat, they found that the amount they gave had become a little different; And said: "I just ordered a beef noodle in the merchant's store, and I bottomed out before I ate it with my friends for a while." ”
Pictured: Some beef shop owners produce in violation of regulations
As far as the phenomenon of shrinkage of ingredients is concerned, the response given by major restaurants across the country is very unified, saying: "The economic growth rate of the domestic catering industry is indeed not very prosperous; It's not easy to make your own money. ”
Source: Sina Weibo
According to the author's local restaurant uncle in a third-tier city, "Even the most well-known catering brands in China are using coupons and group purchases to attract traffic, so why can't we do it?" ”
The lower the price, the more attractive it is, but the cost is a hurdle that cannot be bypassed.
When the author heard the idea of the hotel owner, I had no choice but to say here: "Boss, you use coupons to drain the store, of course I agree; Don't also shrink in your own dishes, isn't this a big deal for consumers? ”
Therefore, what we need to know is that merchants can issue coupons with such high discounts to customers; Then there must be his own reasons and reasons, and his money will definitely not be very profitable.
But we can't rush forward and let ourselves be a big injustice in the end.
Is the platform middleman the "culprit"?
Netizen: Helpless
The reason why catering people are competing to participate in group buying activities is not only the fierce competition in the industry itself, but also because it has caused a strong sense of crisis in the transmission of other information; But the main thing is the influence of the platform service providers and promoters behind it.
Pictured: Merchants complain about the Meituan platform
I believe that the vast majority of netizens are still unclear about the relationship between merchants and service providers, right? On the whole, as far as catering stores are concerned, service providers are their most important partners.
To put it simply, the door-to-door service providers are mainly Douyin, Kuaishou, and Meituan platforms;
Source: Sina Weibo
As we all know, in order to develop the brand market, Douyin has authorized some third-party service agencies to help local businesses operate and manage.
It is understood that compared with the issuance of coupons, it is the most basic way of cooperation between service providers and stores to help merchants sell group purchase orders by cooperating with the organization of experts to visit the store.
Pictured: The proportion of urban store explorers
However, in the process of service, it is generally necessary to extract a higher commission from the merchant, or take the initiative to ask the store to lower the price of the dishes, so as to make the group purchase coupons easier to sell.
Generally speaking, the price of ordinary service providers for the suppression of merchants' coupons is normally 3-4 discounts.
As far as the author knows, the 58 yuan double package and the 98 yuan four-person package listed in the new store will be discounted by three to four percent to the merchant;
In other words, if each store owner in the catering industry has to cooperate with a third-party service provider that issues coupons, then the original 50 yuan dish needs to be reduced to 30 yuan for sale.
Source: Sina Weibo
In this way, it is no wonder why the owners of restaurants say that the business is not profitable, and indeed the store drainage will really hurt the vitality of the merchants!
Is low-cost drainage good or bad,
Merchant: The store is still not open!
Catering group buying was originally a benefit enjoyed by various distribution platforms to merchants;
As we all know, Douyin is actually the third-party coupon distribution platform with the widest audience; And exchanging massive traffic for merchants' "low-price" group purchase discount coupons is also a way for them to operate.
However, this method of issuing coupons with a third party will actually affect and reduce the original selling price of the merchant's dishes to a large extent; And it is common for the store to continue to operate at a loss.
So, after a long period of torment by coupons and third-party platforms; Most of the restaurants in China expressed their dissatisfaction and helplessness with it, and said: "It is not the peers who defeat themselves, but the coupon distribution of the platform!" The money was all thrown to the platform. ”
Pictured: The restaurant owner complained that the store could not be opened
The author also wants to sigh to the merchant here: "It's not easy to be a boss these days!" Not only should we consider whether we can make money from consumers, but we also have to think about whether the third-party platform will take a cut of itself. ”
In fact, from the perspective of business model, it is easy to understand why 90% of restaurant owners still insist on doing it, knowing that they often issue coupons to customers, which will make them lose money.
Because the vast majority of merchants, they sometimes just want to attract more traffic to their stores by giving coupons, and make their stores look more lively.
Source: Online video
And there are a small number of store owners, who simply want to be able to transfer their stores more quickly, and use the way of issuing coupons, hoping to find people who can take over more easily, and by the way, packaging their stores into the image of a prosperous shop.
However, in the author's own opinion, the behavior of "low-price drainage" in the catering industry cannot directly solve the operation problem of its own stores from the root.
We all know that group buying can usually be done in the catering industry, but it is only one of the ways of publicity and promotion; If the restaurant wants to go up in the real sense, then it can't take the so-called low-cost group buying as its own lifesaver.
Blindly buy low-price group buys, and then attract traffic for this purpose, then there is a high probability that you will fall into the bottomless abyss.
Write at the end
With the increasing economic pressure on the catering industry this year, most stores are thinking about whether to turn over with this "coupon"; This phenomenon is not so much to attract customers at low prices, but rather to say that the restaurant owners are expressing their heartfelt feelings to the platform.
Source: Sina Weibo
It is understood that more than one owner of the catering industry believes: "The customers attracted by this kind of group purchase order with great discount are basically wool parties; And it may not be able to bring new customers, and it will also make its store lose money because of the previous price reduction. ”
Indeed, from the author's own point of view: "If merchants want to develop their stores in the real sense, then the so-called issuance of coupons and low-price drainage is definitely not a long-term time." ”
Only by letting their stores do a good job in quality and letting more customers be able to consume and pay for them sincerely, is the strategic plan for sustainable development; Not just want to rely on a single coupon, but also hope to be able to gain a firm foothold in the catering industry.
Do you know about the recent incident of catering group purchase coupons being exposed to stealing customers? Or do you often use coupons to dine on the platform? Or maybe you have your own opinion on similar group buying orders? Everyone is welcome to leave a message in the comment area to discuss and share their views.
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