Reflections on the O2O marketing of a catering person

From the public comments network to group buying, and then to membership cards, stored value card marketing, micro-blog, micro-letter, micro-life card, Comment card ... In order to get more guests, the catering people Wang and became an internet tide person. He has experienced many painful lessons and many real experiences, all of which are absolute dry goods.

Here is the food and beverage of the Wangs and the Readme:

I am a catering person, in the catering industry has more than 15 years of experience, from the waiter, shop long, operation, planning, marketing, until their own business, is also a small achievement. The most impressive is the Internet circle, feeling chaos, it is easy to make people smoke and mirrors. Here I share my experience of the years.

Limited marketing: Coupons for the ceiling

I have officially contacted the internet for about 2006 years. At that time, the public comment on the emergence of the coupon business, which may be the most initial catering internet marketing.

At that time I was in a chain to do operations, comments on the salesman found me. I think this is more novel, so soon signed a contract to start trying. For the first two years it was true that by downloading coupons we brought a lot of guests.

Starting from 2009, the effect has been decreasing, it seems that the browsing volume is very large, the actual shop usage rate is poor. Public comment Coupons are actually an advertising platform, only care about the amount of clicks, not responsible for the effect. Finally counted up to bring a guest, the average advertising costs, plus I for soliciting people pay the preferential cost, on average 200 yuan per person. We have a normal meal in this shop is fifty or sixty per capita, this pull a new guest pay 200 yuan cost is obviously not worth it. Moreover, our branch in the field, the effect of the comment is even smaller, because the comments in many two or three line area almost not operate the branch station.

At the same time I found a problem, the customer came here to eat, first asked "Waiter, do you have any discount?" "Oh, sir, we have, you can go to the public comment up to download coupons, when the meal can be reduced by 30." "Take, this hand of 30 yuan money is so lost." But if the waiter is silent, wait until the customer finds out, will say this restaurant is not authentic. This time when the meal has been reduced by 30, the customer has received the preferential treatment, the next meal you if does not reduce 30, the family probably does not come. This is how customers are "spoiled"!

Tintin offers also talked to me, this manufacturer more ruthless, so that each store in their stores to display their terminal verification, he said, this can be paid for effect. Well, the waiter basically doesn't have the sense to take this tool to play with. You put a terminal for me today, tomorrow reviews to give me another one, this front desk became the manufacturer equipment display. I think this idea is not reliable, I did not continue to talk about.

That period of time, coupons are also very much, the subway, shopping malls everywhere in the city, a group of young people around there under coupons. In fact, I also had a period of cooperation with the Victoria City, but when the smartphone is widely available, this kind of paper coupons gradually disappear, then I contacted the Victoria City's salesman now has changed his new job, he said the business department is now almost dissolved.

At that time many entrepreneurial team feel that the threshold of coupons low, set up a website, pull a few merchants together to become, but no one can find the profit point. In fact, coupons in general the strength of the situation is not very good, it can not inspire consumers a strong desire for consumption. Only to a certain extent to improve the customer to the shop rate, improve the restaurant revenue. To be more marketing, you have to think about new ways.

The normal marketing of restaurant Group is unrealistic

The era of Internet change is really fast. At about the end of 09, at the beginning of 10, the new term "group buying" came into being, and the summer of 10 began to fire slowly. This thing is said to bring a large number of visitors to the store, the short-term increase in revenue to make a performance or effect. Together with the catering enterprises in the group buying business, said "can improve the daily water", we also want to try.

At the beginning, we chose a domestic largest group buy platform cooperation. At that time, I attached great importance to this cooperation, as a major marketing activities of our group to do, so I arranged for the country's chief, chef, including some of the top executives focused on "group buying" business training. Make me laugh and cry is, this so-called domestic largest group buying site did not fancy us, at least we also have dozens of in the country chain! This site sent three small salesman to our training, industry experience is not Greek, has been saying "maybe" "maybe" "we are not sure" "We go back to the company to ask leadership," The casual attitude and level of my face in public, I flew into a rage, let them immediately leave, and then terminate the contract on the spot, and fiercely complained about them, vowed never to cooperate with them.

But the training has to go down. So I found a less-color group buy net, talked about the idea of cooperation, they immediately sent a large area general manager, technology, business full, completed the entire training, very professional. That time I understand, do not only look at the size of the company, second-rate companies send first-class people for you to provide services, far more than the first-class company to send the three-stream service effect is much better. Some group buy net every day in the so-called "month trading breakthrough how many billion", these slogans like propaganda and brainwashing education I do not think will have much contribution to the entire industrial chain, will not create social value of the company is not a qualified company.

Group purchase began, a large number of people poured in, let us unexpected. The beginning is really a prosperous ah, to the customers said, this has a group purchase, really cheap ah. These days people more and more refined, looking for a restaurant online to find out which one to buy, or sit in the restaurant to see if there is no buy, cheap not accounted for white. Prices are getting cheaper and expectations are getting higher, and customers from group buying are eyeing them, lest we be different from their services. And with the emergence of new stores, group buying is now more and more not the spirit of the past 50 percent group buy sold 2000, now hundreds of, and most of the group bought. The internet economy, is cheaper than the ruthless, customers do not want you 10 percent 20 percent to play, do not eat money for free.

Group buying allows restaurants to pour into a large number of price-sensitive customers in the short term old customers often do not enjoy the discount, so that those who follow the business behind the old customers are stimulated, and even turn to other restaurants, or, from a loyal customer into a price-sensitive, and the brand's own value has been questioned.

I usually also read the media reports, once the Thousand-Regiment war, now the few left. The closure of the closed, merged merger. Buy this thing too hurt profit, originally do food and beverage profit is thin, one of the group purchase site to pull the flow as far as possible to let you give a lower discount, said "No low discount will not pull customers"--have the ability you 90 percent can pull so many customers you are really cow!

To tell the truth, group buying for catering, is a loss to make a yell just, do not make money. It is a short-term promotion, as the normal marketing activity is not realistic, can't afford to hurt. There are many customers, but the more customers lose money. We did not carry it, and stopped.

Rational choice of "affiliate marketing"

I understand that the concept of "membership" starts with a stored value card. In my tour shop, found that there will always be some familiar faces, some customers seemingly and shop long mingle, it seems often come. Since these people often come to consume, the explanation approves us. I brainwave, let them like the bank card to save money to the food and beverage store deposit, but also to help enterprises precipitate some funds for catering enterprises to accumulate some money can do a lot of things.

I was the first to use the cash register software in the storage system, the beginning is very good, and later found that only a single store, can not be common between the chain, cross-shop use needs repeated telephone communication, extremely cumbersome. And it manages the card, only the card is not recognized. For a restaurant, it's more about who comes to dinner, so the system obviously doesn't meet our needs. I have been looking for it for years, but haven't found the right.

My request is very simple: first, to have a bank-level security performance, once the cashier system problems, the data leakage will be disastrous; second, the stored value card is "people", we need to record the details of customers, tracking them, there are "people" to have "money", we can slowly cultivate the loyalty of users.

Finally I found out that a company can provide the stored value cards I need, they also have a very good financial background, not only to provide storage tools, but also to provide post marketing service support. Through the industry to know, and its partners with the gold million, and good evaluation. Soon we established the store value card business cooperation.

Later, I gradually discovered that stored value card also has drawbacks. For example, lost, damaged, degaussing, they can not enjoy the rights and interests, which makes it easy for customers to cause misunderstanding. Although we can achieve the payment is to pay the card, but how much still make our customers have a bad impression on us. Times in the renewal, we will of course also with the times, to provide customers with more convenient service. In fact, the card is only a form, customers care more about the benefits obtained. With the popularity of mobile Internet, electronic membership card is becoming popular.

I choose the electronic Membership card has its own idea: must be a third-party platform, that is, not direct cooperation platform. For example, we in the litters group to do a group purchase, want to our various store reviews member mass A message notice, tell these members "we buy on the litters, welcome everyone enthusiastically buy", comments will support mass? Of course not. But the third party platform does not exist this obstacle, through the platform we may the different channel enters the customer data to carry on the effective management, and informs the store the activity marketing in time. And I am very mind whether this product can realize and cashier backstage full docking, because not docking, appear "cheat" is easy thing.

The current update is too fast, a new era for several years. A few years ago also the fire of the blog and fly a letter, has now disappeared; today, micro-blogging and micro-letters have become the mainstream of social media. However, micro-blogging is now increasingly relying on the public media, micro-letter out of 5.0 will significantly weaken the nature of the marketing platform, the nature of services will be greatly enhanced.

Some time ago propaganda hot "Chaoyang big Yue City" micro-letter marketing, now also fade out of sight, customers only in the shop will sweep two-dimensional code, and people are already in the shop, still need to sweep? The important thing is that Weibo or micro-mail is just a way to join the membership. Frankly speaking, we can not "hang" on an independent internet platform, one is that this platform will hold us firmly control let us into a passive, and second, if the platform fell or decline, our service will continue? I am in favor of multi-channel membership, in the background of data analysis, marketing activities, such as planning. Now our membership system is to be able to text messages, micro-blog, micro-letter and other channels to join, and the entity stored value cards to obtain the same membership rights. In the future, if there are other channels can collect members, like to get through to serve us.

In fact, for members of the understanding, I think the most important thing is: membership data marketing, is owned by the merchant itself, we can control it. Recent micro-life membership card and the public comment on membership cards have been to talk to me, they told me that most customers like to eat out to show discount cards, tell me how many customers with their cooperation will bring. I said to them directly, you this into the shop 90 percent, all the people into the shop are 90 percent, that member became a general staff, discounts into a positive price, you still hung a false pretence for what? All the prices are 90 percent good, direct. And these members do not have any threshold, do not give discounts to these members will come to eat, you a discount to the profit alive let go out, have lost the money.

Low threshold to join, customers not only ungrateful, but also very happy to say, wow, micro-life card, Comment card, really good, you can give me discounts in various stores. We gave up the discount, paid to comment and micro-life, the final result is to the two platform to increase the number of users, we can not find anything, is simply to do wedding clothes for others. But the merchant's own member that effect is very different, the customer thinks I am a member, the merchant occasionally has the dish product to give, the voucher gift, accumulates a cent, the storage value also delivers the gift, this merchant really is good, I must often come. More important is to comment on membership card, micro-life membership card is difficult to realize the value of storage, let alone and the cashier through. Membership is not for the drift, but for their own company's earnings. As a member, we must consider clearly "who we want to give concessions" to see the different customer consumption behavior, amount, number of times and so on. All members are not members. I think now more and more businesses are no longer "brush the bank card hit 50 percent", in fact, think carefully, a truth.

These years has been a lot of companies to see us this catering enterprises have a certain influence, comments and micro-life is always tired of chasing me every day, to provide our services free of charge. I refused. Free things, my interests will not be any protection, in case one day first on board and buy tickets, this lethality is even greater, we can not afford to play.

In particular, discount cards, low threshold, reach the point can join, in case the Hua Hua Hua to collect a large number of members, and then according to the development of membership in the amount of each member data to pay how much money, this kidnapping behavior is too terrible. In accordance with my temper will never pay, but people more users, users belong to the platform side, they should an angry, to our member users to send a competitor's food information and preferential information, I have no place to say this reasoning. I heard that there are individual businesses in these two platforms have developed a good hundreds of thousands of "members", if they really pay for this, it is Lei Feng reincarnation.

These are my heartfelt words, most of which I have summed up from the gory lessons. Actually experienced so much, I think with the internet manufacturer, you just see whether the service provided by the manufacturer will bring you continuous revenue and corporate brand exposure, and then weigh what I have to pay: funding? Preferential？ A meal? Gift？ Estimate the best way to invest in return.

Finally, remember to choose a team that will provide you with continuous service. The internet industry is no longer just to provide a tool to let you play, but need to include consulting, planning, services, systems engineering, only a complete combination to achieve a total win. We do the internet marketing at the same time, do not forget that food and beverage enterprises and services are the internal strength, is fundamental, to first play the Foundation to play marketing. Finally, I would like to work hard in the catering industry with the managers, can be in the "internet marketing" this huge circle out of the mystery of the Bureau.