I am not one of those guys who tries to compete in the race to the bottom with cheap pizza chains, or blowing out coupons, But…
Friday the 13th, we offered a large (16") hand tossed 2 topping pizza for $13.00 (excluding Tax, Title, Licensing, Dealer setup & freight) This was only advertised on our facebook page the day of the special
I truly expected to see the bottom-feeder crowd killing us on these $13.00 pies,
What happened instead is everyone got their mid $20’ish loaded pizzas, then they snagged a 2nd pizza at that $13.00 rate to go along with their loaded pie.
To be fair, pizza is only about 30%-35% of our total revenue, and we offer some unique combinations that are unavailable in this area.
What we have for local competition (besides the big D) is either using frozen pre-made sysco crusts, or a paper-thin, sheeted, very lightly topped pizza, we are not overrun by the big chains in this area. so that gives us some freedom in pricing. In no way are we gouging because we are using top-quality ingredients
Same here. Never done coupons and never will. Only promo I ever did was a Yelp Deal for an XL Pepperoni for $13.99 when I first opened. We have drink specials but that’s it.
That is awesome! Just posting the offer on facebook created a sense of urgency and excitement.
When I set up text clubs for pizzerias, they ask their customers to opt in then you can reach 98% by text instead of 10% on social. They still share with their friends which immediately grows your
List. You don’t always have to offer discounts to get customers, you can do text to win gift cards, free delivery, free tshirts or logoed pizza cutters… Plus you can discount to your VIP club privately and it’s more of a rewards or loyalty program and that way not everyone and their brother sees it , just your most loyal fans! Here is one big promotion one of my clients did to create a viral response!
Back in early 2011 (within our first year operating as a restaurant from catering) we did a “Half-Off dining” promo with a local TV station, the buyers got $50.00 in gift card for $25.00, the TV station kept all monies to pay for news-time advertising , and to post the offer on their webpage. The offer sold out in 19 minutes when most places have these offer be available for weeks before they sell out.
Yeah, sure it brought people in ONCE! and we never saw them again, then for several months after we continually got inquiries from those coupon crazies as to when we will be doing that offer again so they can come dine with us again…
After that one-time experience, I decided I will never ever do coupons again.
Groupon? Hell NO! I do not want or need that kind of customer, I have heard of places closing their doors due to groupon.
Long time since I’ve posted here… Retired a couple years ago and son now runs both stores.
I’m liking that I see a movement building here towards zero discounts/zero coupons. Never
issued a coupon. Never will. Printed Menu prices, period. Same price for all every day. It has definitely worked for us.
As an aside, $13 for a two topping 16" pie is right around my cost. That said, my cheese costs me touching $5 a pound. $1.50-$1.60?? Really? Next you’ll be telling me you pay less than $17 for a sack of flour…
