You know it's the beginning of the end when the daily deal sites begin to eat each other's young. And it's getting worse. Here's today's Living Social newsletter:
Of course, Restaurant.com is simply another daily deal site. For a couple of bucks, you buy a (Living Social) coupon that lets you buy more (Restaurant.com) coupons. Unbelievable.
There's a reason these outfits continue to operate: ignorance and greed on the part of small restaurant owners. But they are enabled by bargain-hunting cheapskates who see nothing wrong with trying to get the best possible deal. Bullshit. The best possible deal you can do is paying as close to full price as you can. This allows the restaurants to stay in business, to pay their employees a living wage, pay their rent, their suppliers and their taxes.
If all restaurant owners treated their customers right, like valuable clients, we'd have no problem. But all to many restaurants are going for the quick hit: more butts in seats, even if it actually costs them out-of-pocket. Self-fulfilling prophecy: look upon your customers as cheapstakes, and they'll act like cheapskates. Restaurant owners need to invest in ongoing promotions directed at their regular clients. Cafe Presse and Blueacre Seafood (among many, but not enough) know this. They deserve your support. Daily deal sites like Groupon, Restaurant.com, LivingSocial suck the life blood out of restaurants. Avoid them like the plague.
And should you need additional confirmation that a "discounted" price is not the determining factor in restaurant choices, read this, out just this morning. What brings people back? Quality.
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