Jury Out on Online Daily Deals

CHICAGO — A foodservice researcher has found that independent restaurants have mixed views on the effectiveness of online daily deals.

Chicago-based researcher Technomic says that their recent restaurant survey shows that 51 percent of those who contracted with third-party daily deal providers were pleased. Daily deal providers are companies like Groupon or LivingSocial. 46 percent thought the deal provided a good return on investment.

The research also revealed that over 40 percent of restaurants have done daily deals with multiple providers, indicating a lack of loyalty to any single source. Restaurants that have not used a third party online daily deal believe other forms of promotion yield a better return; they claim a lower commission rate would encourage them to participate.

"In this challenging environment, restaurants are more actively and objectively assessing which promotional tactics work best," notes Bob Goldin, Executive Vice President.  He adds that "restaurants are open to testing new tactics, including online daily deals, but require solid proof of performance before making any of them a permanent part of their marketing mix."

The company also produced a report on how consumer behavior for restaurants is impacted by couponing services.