discounts on large orders?

[califpizza]

Hi. I was wondering what your policies are about people who order 5+, 10+ pizzas. Do you give them a discount automatically or when they ask or not at all? What if they are repeat customers and it would be a monthly standing order? If it’s a school? If it is a non profit? Thanks for your input.

 

[NY_Pizza]

We have separate catering prices for orders of $100 plus which are placed 24 hours in advance … for regular customers, we let them get by with a couple hours notice & $75 minimum, but preface it by saying something like “Weeeeelllll, since we really like you guys, I suppose we can let it slide this time”

 

[brad_randall]

I want my employees to look for opportunities to generate Good Will.

People are so used to suggestive selling that when someone says, “hey, I can save you a few bucks by giving you this or that package deal” it grabs their attention. That’s really hard to do anymore… create a true ‘wow’ moment. In addition to our bundles, we also have a standing 20/50 Deal - 20% off the menu price of orders of $50.00 or more - which employees are supposed to offer to everyone ordering close to that amount of food.

The easiest sales to make are the ones you know about in advance. As such, I consider standing orders to be marginal sales and am willing & able to offer some pretty deep discounts to get them. Same goes for schools and non-profits having fundraisers - view these sales as sampling or marketing or community service and try to do your best by them.

 

[bodegahwy]

Any of our phone people can offer $3 OFF per pizza on orders of four or more pies. Since our average “coupon expense” is about 14% this is not a lot extra. A typical 4 pie order is going to run about $70-$100 so giving $12 off is is right in line.

Really big orders of 10 or more pies are handled by a manager and we have a set of guidelines for that based on how much and who as well as what time of day. A mid afternoon order for 15 pies to the local kids lacrosse program gets a smoking deal. 10 Pies to a local company for a meeting at dinner rush still gets a deal, but not as good.

 

[califpizza]

Why do you offer different discounts at different times? Is it the amount of pizzas they order or the time of day?

bodegahwy:

A mid afternoon order for 15 pies to the local kids lacrosse program gets a smoking deal. 10 Pies to a local company for a meeting at dinner rush still gets a deal, but not as good.

Does the person that gets the lesser discount know that another group is getting a better deal? Is is a percentage of the total amount or a dollar amount?

 

[Rick_G]

We have a similar practice. The difference is the type of group. A non profit such as a church, Sister Care, school groups and civic groups get a much better price. These are the type of people that you would make a donation to.
Companies get a good price, but not nearly as good as non profits and charities.
Large private parties get the same deal as companies.

A large order better utilizes your labor and , as stated above, puts your food in front of several potential customers. It is so much better than a post card or door hanger since it makes you a little money rather than costing money, and it can make a lasting impression.

Rick

 

[bodegahwy]

Cali, how would they know and why would I care?

 

[BCPizza]

I push my people to treat our rewards program as a special deal… for example someone calls up and says im looking to order 10 large pizzas for today. If they happen to be a rewards member we say well you can redeem your rewards points and get $XX off todays purchase plus you will earn $XX more that can be used on your next purchase. This worked rather well with a large local factory that fed the entire factory for employee appreciation. They now buy large lunches on a regular basis and the only discount they have EVER gotten is there reward money for being a loyal customer.

If they are not a rewards member once we get the order we will encourage them to sign up by telling them how much they will earn on that purchase.

I handle most of the large orders myself. However I have a coupon section in my computer that only management can access. Some of the coupons are past specials i have ran some are current but everything in there has been calculated to work with food cost. So for large orders my managers can get an idea of what the person is looking for and offer them one of the deals that is programed into the computer.

 

[pizza2007]

Hi. I was wondering what your policies are about people who order 5+, 10+ pizzas. Do you give them a discount automatically or when they ask or not at all? What if they are repeat customers and it would be a monthly standing order? If it’s a school? If it is a non profit? Thanks for your input.

NOT AT ALL! Does McDonald’s give you a discount if you buy 5 burgers? No. Do you get a discount at your favorite Steak Restaurant because you have a party of 10? NO! You get a gratuity charge of 15%!

You Pizza places that insist upon insane coupons and discounts are a disgrace to all indies trying to make a fair living. Price your product fairly and you don’t have to worry about discounts.

 

[paul7979]

pizza2007:

You Pizza places that insist upon insane coupons and discounts are a disgrace to all indies trying to make a fair living. Price your product fairly and you don’t have to worry about discounts.

Yet another operator who thinks they have the only magic key to this business. I do price my product fairly, and discounting volume orders to account for lower labor costs plays a big part of those discounts. But as far as being a disgrace, I do what works for me, and if it affects your business, I couldn’t give a sh!+. Your attitude of my being a disgrace just makes me think that you are an a$$hole who can’t compete at reasonable margins. But obviously, what I consider reasonable and what you do is going to be different.

 

[Pizza_of_the_Month]

^^ Well said. Our business is about deals and discounts. Mcdonald’s business is about everyone getting a cheap product at a cheap price. A steakhouse business is about getting great service and a great steak. The only reason they put a 15% gratuity (which is a bargain IMO) on there is because many times people are not sure who is leaving the tip.

 

[RobT]

pizza2007:

You Pizza places that insist upon insane coupons and discounts are a disgrace to all indies trying to make a fair living. Price your product fairly and you don’t have to worry about discounts.

Come on Guy, Really?
Get a clue.

 

[bodegahwy]

2007, We did not create this industry… we just have to survive in it. If you are able to be in the delco business without coupons… good for you. The first question our customers ask on the phone is what deals are going on. Since they come from out of town, the customer views are shaped by the experience where they come from. We do not get the chance to try to reshape the model of the pizza business.

I guess you pay sticker for your cars?

 

[Rick_G]

I have never seen a high school sports award delinquent order from McDonald’s or from Outback. Same for half a dozen large manufacturing facilities near me when they have large meetings or training, and for PTA meetings. All of these order pizza from me, orders of 10, 15, 50 or 125 pizzas.

I can sell 50 large pep for approximately half of menu price to a school function, generate goodwill that turns into home orders, get people that normally order from my competitors to taste my pizza which turns into home orders, and make a profit. So we are talking about increasing the customer base and providing a service the community, while making a profit. If that makes me a disgrace, I will wear that scarlet “D” with honor.

 

[bodegahwy]

Those of us who do mostly delivery business know that the cost to deliver 1 pie is essentially the same as the cost to deliver 5. We also know that the delivery charge does not cover the total cost of delivery. (At least around here, delivery charges are in the $2 range which is roughly half the cost of delivery). We can afford to give a customer ordering several pies a couple of dollars per pie and still do just fine due to that factor alone.

Furthermore competing for orders at a slow time of day or duing the slow season has its own set of realities. In our town, starting today, (ski mountain closed for the season yesterday) almost every restaurant is offering buy-one-get-one free entrees or similar to drive traffic. If you decline to play the game you can count on a very slow mud season indeed.

Perhaps some of us think of Macdonalds as the competitor, but we do not. We are not in the low price food game… but that does not mean we are exempt from the prevailing business model of our industry or the local food service realities… so yes, we offer deals. Our off-season deals take us down to more or less the standard pricing of the pizza nationals. They have off-season discounts too, but the relationship between our prices and the low price places stays intact. We are more, but not so much more that we loose customers to them.

Pizza Hut went out of business here last Fall. My own theory was that the national progam low price deals they had to honor were not compatible with the rents and wage scale around here (pizza cooks $11-$12, rents $20-$24 per foot) We have survived now for 12 years in this market. I think I’ll keep doing things the way we have in the past.

 

[Rick_G]

Just got a call asking for pricing for a 70 large pizza order to feed the teams in a regional sports tournament held in our area. I did not quote full menu price.

 

[NicksPizza]

All I have to add to the conversation is this: Today’s prevailing market is different than it was 4 years ago . . . in what I assume is nearly every market. There is a different dynamic, need and expectation from the same customers versus 4 years ago. Those who are able to adapt effectively to the market dynamic changes will most effectively survive and remain strong.

We each gotta figure out what that all means for our given marketplace. Then figure out how to drive the most money into our coffers.