SmartPulse — our weekly reader poll in SmartBrief on Restaurants — tracks feedback from restaurant owners and managers about current trends and issues.
Last week’s poll question: Which online services has your restaurant used?
- OpenTable — 27.19%
- Groupon — 13.16%
- Restaurant.com — 7.89%
- A combination of the above — 7.02%
- We haven’t delved into these kinds of online services yet — 32.46%
- Other — 12.28%
Websites such as OpenTable and Restaurant.com have been around for years, but Groupon’s skyrocketing success with daily deals has a number of online restaurant services rethinking their strategies. Meanwhile, restaurateurs are trying to figure out whether these kinds of services are worth it. Industry opinions range from very critical (Restaurant Intelligence Agency Unplugged) to more even-handed (Restaurant Hospitality). No matter how small-business owners feel about daily-deal sites, the model is clearly successful enough with consumers to warrant consideration. Now reservation-management system OpenTable has joined in the game with its own spotlight coupon service.
Do daily-deal sites bring in enough traffic to make offering these kinds of coupons worth it? Do they generate repeat customers? Tell us all about your experiences in the comments below.