Infographic: Loyalty Program Comparison

When it comes to picking the right loyalty program, there are many options available. From solutions that focus on smartphones, iPad apps that utilizes Gamification, to the traditional physical cards, loyalty programs are abundant. Still, while there are many choices, the hard part can be figuring out which solution will fit your business best.

  • What sort of hardware does the loyalty program require?
  • Does the loyalty program support text/email marketing?
  • Am I able to capture SKU Data and/or capture dollar value?

These are the sorts of questions that business owners need to ask when picking a solution that best fits their needs. While the most obvious question is the ability to measure and track ROI with a loyalty program, there are many factors that need to be considered. Continue reading Infographic: Loyalty Program Comparison

A comparison between Belly and RewardMe – by the stats

RewardMe vs Belly Data-driven comparison by the numbers

Andreeson Horowitz recently invested $10 million into loyalty startup Belly.  I’d like to start off by congratulating the Belly team on their Series B – we wish you good luck in reaching Groupon-like scale.

This recent news warrants a fair and honest comparison between Belly and RewardMe.  We welcome the founders of Belly to write their responses in the comments section at the end of this post to continue the discussion.

Comparison snapshot: this post will compare Belly and RewardMe in the following 6 important customer loyalty program topics

  1. Customer sign-up rate: how many new customers sign-up to the program
  2. Participation rate: the number of check-ins to the rewards program
  3. Return on investment: measurable ROI that is backed by data
  4. Reward structure and customization: the ability for the business to customize rewards
  5. Data capture: the type of data that is collected from consumers
  6. Ease of use: ease of use for the business and the consumers

Continue reading A comparison between Belly and RewardMe – by the stats

What Businesses Need To Know About Groupon and Groupon-Clones

Groupon, the nearly $15 billion behemoth of daily deal websites, is one of the hottest internet companies today. From their $6 billion Google acquisition offer to their purported IPO valuation of up to $25 billion, Groupon is making headlines everywhere. More recently, news about Groupon has been turning sour with articles from the New York Times, Reuters, and other numerous media outlets reporting horror stories of small business owners upset and traumatized with their Groupon experience.

How It Works

Groupon and the hundreds of Groupon-clones vying for you to strike a deal and sign up for their deep discount offering can be too much for any business owner to handle. Understanding how Groupon works and what to expect are the first steps in realizing whether Groupon is right for your business. Groupon and the likes provide a service where they offer potential customers a deep discount to a good or service. These discounts to the customer range from 50-90% off retail or face value. As a business, when you sign up for Groupon, they guarantee you increased customers. They do this in 2 ways, first the deal only goes “live” if a pre-determined minimum number of people purchase it and second, they send out your deal to their ever growing email list of subscribers which can be millions of new potential customers per city. Continue reading What Businesses Need To Know About Groupon and Groupon-Clones

How good is your general manager?

My team and I have a favorite Japanese Restaurant on Castro Street.  We love it so much that we go about 3 times a week for dinner.  Average order value is about $15 and we usually go with a group of 4 people, which means each month we bring in $720 worth of business.

It’s not the best Japanese food in the world, but it does have the best General Manager in the world – Robert.

Robert is awesome.  He welcomes us by name each time we enter the restaurant and provides us with Hot Sake on the house.

That’s the reason we keep coming back: recognition and free hot sake.

On average, we drink 2 bottles every visit.  I asked Robert how much it costs him to give us a free bottle of sake.  He chuckled a little and said, “To be honest, a bottle of hot sake only costs us a dollar.”

It’s not the dollar value that makes my friends and I feel special, it’s that Robert keeps providing us with bottles of hot sake without hesitation – because he appreciates our business.

At a cost of $24, he is able to consistently bring $720 worth of business each month.  If you could invest $24 to make $720 in a month, would you do it?

How good is your General Manager?

Continue reading How good is your general manager?